The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-07-24
&c. Wichita Boys Battle Experience.

You hear a great deal about the gen
erals movements in the battle OF San
tiago; about this division swinging TO
the right flank, and that division rein
forcing the extreme left In all the stories
so far published there is very little OF
detailed experience Of one man in the
great battle. For that reason Chauncey
Humphreys narrative from the time he
left Tampa until ne was taken down with
fever, comprising as i does apprehen-
sion, hair-breadth escapes and long
marches, is intensely interesting.
When he was placed on the transport
at Tampa he expected TO pull out for
some place IL Cuba Porto Rico or any
of the West Indies Immediately. The
transports nOsed out one afternoon be-
yond the lighthouse Toward evening the
word spread through the transports that
three Spanish gunboats were lying out
side for them. With a great deal Of
rustIing and fear the transports swung
aroun,i and mOseyed back TO Tampa. The
Spanish gunboats proved TO be English
and Brazilian merchantmen, so again
the transports swung ont and away. The
men and the officers did not know their
ESttl4i -l-'lL- 4 --ts t3pt|ltu 4AOAAAg OH d.
tack from Spanish cruisers. This appre-
hension was most alarming the first day,
gradually diminishing for five days when
the fleet rounded the eastern end Of Cuba
and the boys knew they were off Santiago,
and felt perfectly safe.
The landing was uneventful and rather
without regularity or order, the warships
Smelling some houses on the shore and
creating something Of a diversion 10 those
on deck. The first night in Cuba Chaun-
cey slept in a tent pitched on the white
sand of the beach. TIE next day they
pushed out TO the town Of Siboney (SIb-o-
nayJ Chauncey's company camped next
70 a railroad track. The great need OF
the camp was water. This was secured
about a half nile further on and up in
small creek. While examining the sur
roundings Chauncey saw a cast-iron pipe
running along the railroad track. He
went TO his colonel, Page, and told him
that he believed it was a water pipe and
ne could get water through it. The pipe
ran up a hill. Colonel Page said:
1T would be a great aid to the troops
TO get water here
Chauncey asked for a detail OF thirty
men 10 investigate the source of the pipe.
He secured the thirty men and started to
follow it. Further on he found that some
Spaniard had taken a sledgehammer and
knocked a hob in the pipe. A little water
was trickling out Of It, so he knew there
must be other holes wasting the supply
from reservoir which the Cubans told
him existed up in the mountains. So his
men took some canvas, wrapped up the
hole and then set out farther up 70 find
more. They did find them and patched
them. At the same time water began to
pour into Siboney, to the great JOY Of
everybody there. A little beyond Siboney
Humphrey saw a well preserved. deserted
rOundhouse with three locomotives in il
and one outside He examined the engines
and found that the Spaniards had built
hot fires under them and then let the
water run out Of the boilers. expecting
thus 10 ruin the machines. The fires had
died too quickly and the plan had mis-
carried. There were a number Of passen-
ger coaches around and many little mar
row gauge ore cars. ChaunCey figured
around and found some cars with coal
aboard. He then went back and reported
his water-pipe adventure TO the colonel,
and told him about the locomotives.
The colonel gave him a detail Of loo
men TO get the railroad in running order
Chauncey took his hundred men and they
tramped up the little narrow gauge rail-
road. He noticed that a small, one-span
bridge had been badly torn up, the upper
and lower stringers being cut, by the