The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-21
ON THE FIELD AT SANTIAGO.
HOW 1T FEELS TO FACE A RAPID
FIRING GUNS DEATH SPRAY.

BedfeIIoOv of the Dead-ROueh RI
ders Letting on stenm-Bravery
shown by OmcerS-Memories of n
Can of Potted Ham.
From the New York sun
THE thing about that fight that paral-
yzed me-" said a lieutenant now in a
hospital an this city recovering from a
wound received at Santiago, was that
we couldn't get at the fellows we We're
fighting against. Why. do YOU know,
never saw a live Spaniard in my two
days of fighting. The next time 1 get
in a shindy l hope il win be a hand-to-
hand affair with bayonets. Any fellow
can do that sort of thing if he has red
blood in has veins; but its different to be
a target for bullets coming from the ord
knows where. There's something mys-
terious and frightful about it. and il gets
on mans nerve. Ms a wonder to me
that any fellows could stand up to It as
our men did. and I'd have had some
sympathy for a man who flunked .
TN never forget the few minutes before
I got this hole in my side We were
going forward under a scattering fire from
the front, and all at once, off at the
right, a rapid-frlng gun opened on US.
There was no smoke, SO we couldn't locate
the battery exactly. but we could see the
bullets playing over the long grass like
spray from a hose. They didn't have the
range at first, and the shower of bulle5s
went swinging back and forth, clipping
off the tops of the grass and coming
nearer us with every sweep. You can't
imagine the sensations 1t gave US to watch
that death spray driven by some invisible,
relentless force, creeping on and on,
reaching out and feeling for us. There
was something unnatural about it, and
we watched as though we Were fascinated
by 1t. l didn't feel as il men had any
thing to do with 1t. IL was an imper-
sonal deadly enemy that 1 couldn't fight
and couldn't escape. There wasn't a ilv-
ing enemy within sight.
"At last, with one big sweep the shower
reached us. Men all around me dropped
and then 1 felt a sting in my side, and
down / went Somebody ripped out an
oath. and l was glad to hear 1t. 1t
sounded so magnihcently human. I be-
lieve we were all thankful when that gun
found u.s. 1t relieved the tension-but IL
ended my lighting"
IT'S very wen for him to talk about
being nervous" commented a wounded
corporal in a neighborlng cot, but ne
gave a mighty poor imitation of a ner-
vous man down there. A man with
record like his can afford to own up to
having felt creepy"
IT'S queer how men can laugh when
they're expecting any minute to be shot
into eternity" said wounded regular;
but some way or other funny things
seem even funnier than they are when
ones nerves are keyed up to G. Now,
our men simply doubled up with laugh
ter over the Massachusetts chaplain that
day at Santiago.
II tell you he's a dandy He's tire
mendous big man-splendid mark for
sharpshooters-but he was right up in the
thick of things, jollying the boys along,
helping those that were down and hand
ing his canteen around as coolly as though
he had been passing ice water in his own
parlor.
Il don't know whether the Spaniards
paid special attention to him. but the bull
let's went tipping around him like hail,
and tore through his clothes any number
of times. The funny thing about 1t was
that they all seemed to hit MIN, Somewhere
below the belt, and, by JOve, those fell
lows shot his trousers clear off of him.
It was shocking, and IL worried the old
gentleman. He didn't want to stop for
repairs but he felt he ought TO set an
example to the men, and at last he says:
'Bedad, boys, 1t isn't decent and made
for the rear The fellows adored him,
but they fairly howled at the figure he
cut and he appreciated the joke as much
as any of us.
He went back and got pair of paja-
mas and then he looked about as funny
as he did before. He had been wearing a
regulation black clerical coat, but, when
ba pOf % CIIhan hr1Gh ba WhapkpH
the tails off in a ragged sort Of way; end
1 tell you the effect Of that coat above
those giddy pajamas was immense. A grin
followed him everywhere he went-and
he went everywhere a brave chaplain was
needed. He doesn't know the meaning of
the word fear, and he's so jolly he'd cheer
up stiff. Some body called to him as he
went Topping along the rear, looking for
water:
Praying that our men Will win. Fa-
ther?'
I'm not praying to-day. my boy. I'm
packing water, says the chaplain, and off
he Topped to the front"
Luck was against me, for got knocked
out at the start" The private looked
vicious as he thought how he missed the
cream Of the fight. 1.-TWO Of the men car
ried me out of the lines and put me down
on the ground; and l couldn't do anything
but lie there and curse my luck and envy
the fellows who were going on up the hill
without punctures. 1t was beastly hot and
my wound panied me badly and / thought
I'd die of thirst. / thrashed around for
while and then / got SO weak that 1 just
shut my eyes and lay still. The fellows
had left me a blanket, and when the Gun
sets In Cuba and that awful chill takes
hold of a fellow he needs blankets and
feather bed and hot water bottles.
There was a man lying few yards
from me- He had been horribly cut by
piece of shell and groaned every little
while though he was mighty plucky. for
his wound must have been terribly painful
He didn't have many clothes nor any
blanket, and / knew he must be deadly
cold. 1 couldn't walk or even crawl to him,
and didn't know whether he could move
at all; but / sung out and told him that If
he could roll toward me I'd try to oil