Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-08-05
On the second Day
Al San Juan.
CURIOUS OBSERVATION BY a ROUGH
RIDER ON HOW IT FEELS TO
BE SHOT DEAD.

BE SHOT DEAD.
How it feels to be shot dead i:
the subject of some rather curious
observations on the part OF q
trooper OF R6osevclt's regiment,
which was intended to he
made up of rough riders, but
from force of circumstances has
been transformed into an orgaDi1a
tiou of rough walkers since IL has
heen in Cuba. This particular
trooper has been in HE thick 0i
the fighting all the time and he re-
lates his most peculiar experience
III letter recently received 10y a
/ friend IN this city.
"TOlstOi dOcsn't know any thirg &
about being g shot dead,' he Writes.
SIN that description he gives ne's
away ,fi. There's altogether too
much of il, He n,ver went through
it, so how should he Know The
real thing is very short and simple:
any body could DO It. Tbs Is how |
come to ksOw all about it. 1t was
the second day at San Juan, and
my troop was stretched out at inll
length on its very much attend, q
stomach shooting over The top OF
the hill The Spanish were also 10
ing all the shooting hat seemed t
Ms necessary, an1 my own notion
was that any OF us who got Olt
whole would he mighty lucky, ter
the Spanish aim may he bad, Tut
there is II whole lot OF people n
tins vicinity vino wish 1t were .
dam sight worse, the underslgned
alnOug lle DumOCI.
"The chap on my left was ,lote
up 10 me and firing fast, getting
up on one knee each time lie lei
oil aud then dropping back Tor a
few seconds. Bullets were dIOi-
ping all around. ami so were men.
and | had spotted one SpaniarG
who seemed 10 he responsible for
a lot Of it. Well, was Inst getting
a goOd bead on him when it ha
ueued. There was a sudden shock
that d.du't seem 10 strike any
place in paI ticnlar on my head, bnt
all over Il. Ny teeth ground to-
getber aud my eyes tried to g {
out Of their sock kets and escape, and
no wonder, for my head was tuI
of flames. Then every thing wen
black and felt myself falling.
That's the end of me- !
thought to myself before lapsed
into total blankGesS, and as Ie
mem ber 1t didn't care snap.
50 fier that rolled down thu
hill. 1t might have been any
len 9Th of tue for all | knew when
consciousness began TO return. ]
wondered what world | was in and
reckOued that | ought TO have a
pair uf wings of one Kind Or an
Olher on my shoulders. lt was
something of a surprise to me TO
find that there were none there,
brt my dismal suspicion that
may be had gone wrong WAS iol
lowed by suTmise that ] was still
III the land of the living. But ]
had felt that bullet 90 through my
head, and | couldn't figure wi at
right had to be alive at all. BE
sides, it was no fun, for | had a
headache that you c0u!dr't ha' e
crowded INTO beer barrel. As
soon as found | could move | felt
around for The bullet hole, bnl
couidD't fad it. While | was still
searching and getting pretty mad
over ii (uOt being able to find al
escaped collar button is nothing To-
not being able to find a mortal
wound in your own head a coup e.
or fellows came along, picked me
up, and poured come wdtor over
me.
"LOt k ont said: 'iI'll get in 0
my braiu, aud explained about
the wound.
They explored, and they
couldn't find any hole, either, and
that made me madder than ever.
for a bullet that goes clean thrOul b
man without leaving any open
ing to show for it is robblng him
OF the glory OF dying Tor his COZ n
tiv. All The time my head was
feeling like The inside of a mint Q
pie, but | finally crawled back to
;he fling line, aud there they told
me what had happened. The chap
on my lett, in rising to fire, had
got Mauser builett through his
heart. and in falling bad swuug
his gun with great force over III
my direction. The bntt caught mt