Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-07-11


up looking Malays with greasy black
heads. The men are clad In spotless
white shirt and trousers. the shirt being
IL every case outside the trousers The
women wear bright red skirts and loose.
light colored waists
We have been fond Of writing home
10 our friends that 20 far ~ actual
fighting and danger 20 there 10 no more
sign Of war In Manila than In Oshkosh ]
Soldiers abound. but otherwise Manila
Il as safe and sleepy NJ q mossbsck
country village. There Is and has been
ever since the 9Th Of February constant
diminishing. occasionally fighting more
serious. ont along the ineA But that 10
seven miles away.
On Palm Sunday morning We had,
however. q grimmer reminder than
usual that war was not far away. The
day before decided advance had been
made by the Americans against the
Filipinos at Malabon. Hidden behind In
their bamboo jungle and protected BY
their iptrenchmsnts, the Malay mig.
gers" had killed some 30 Of our men
and wounded 300. We saw some Of
them st the hospital where nurse and
doctor were dressing their wounds Two
Of them belonged to the Fourth United
States cavalry. One Of them had bsen
struck In the cheek BY fragment OF
bullet. only half an inch below his eye,
yet the eye had been spared clear and
untouched
"You'n be all right In . day or two
said the surgeon. "You won't need to
come TO me again.
''Seven Of my company were wound
Cd in 30 minutes" said the young Eel.
low. "Our first sergeant II dead by this
time. I'm going back to the front To-
morrow"
The other Fourth cavalryman was an
Irishman. with q merry twinkle In his
blue eye Il was an odd sort Of wound
he had. A Mauser bullet had plowed
straight through the soft aesh under his
chin. going in one side and ont the 9th.
u. making . smooth tunnel
"And Il could have killed three men
sitter Il went through me. II they had
been in the line Of It, be told rs He
described the part Of the battle that hs
aw.
"We dismountsd and left our horses
behind rs when we went against tho
Filipinos In the bamboo thicket. It's 90
Close dog couldn crawl through where
We had to advance The rebels hide In
this brush. and Jon never can tell whore
they are or when they arc going to firs
on You. We didn't know there was one
In q mile Of m when. pingI we got II
In our facea I had this hole bored
through my chin quicker than you could
think. and that wasn't enough. but
little brute Of q Filipino horse kicked
me In the face and gave me black eye
I'll be even with EN- yet"
The surgeon examined his wound. Il
was doing we'll The chief danger in his
case appeared to b Lest be should dis
figure himself by dropping his food
upon the spotless bandasing that cover
Cd bis chin. The doctor cautioned him
duly on this point and dismissed him
'I'll be back at EN- the last Of this
week, " were the parting words Of the
Irishman.
But there were others who would
never be black at them" Some Of the
bravest men and officers had died OF
their wounds on the way to hospital
In one corner apart surgeon and nurse
confer in low tones over man who has
received q gunshot wound below the
knee The worst symptoms have super
vened. and the poor lads leg must be
amputated below the knee to save bis
life. His fighting days are over.
Our house II situated on the edge Of
the bay in the ,Erinits district. on the
side Of Manila opposite where the
sighting ia Particular quiet seemed to
reign on the morning Of Palm Sunday.
A few miles out upon the bay we saw.
o. usual. the American and foreign
warships. There was the Olympia. with
Admiral Dewey's Gag flying atop. along
with the stars and stripes There. too,
was the famous Oregon. painted gray
and red. French and Germas men-of-
war lay close together, friendly and
peaceful. A little apart from the rest
swung at anchor the Powerful. the ire
mendous British cruiser. the largest OF
her class in the world. with her huge
black hull and four yellow funnela To
the left of this fine naval show could b
ssen another craft lying low in the wa
ter and scarcely discernible above It.
She was small and insigni6cant looking
compared to che Other ships that made
up the iine show. We noticed her be-
cause she moved occasionally. seemed
10 be fusuine around shout something.
Some eight miles away. following
the curving coast Hne, was the village
Of Las Pinas- I'm English. "Ths Pineap-
plea" In Z straight line across the cree
csnt shaped arm Il TIE by. howsver.
Il was not 70 FIR. We nw plainly IT.
buil1ineA glistsning white Two wers
especially outlined The church, with
round tower q ous coguer, and another
hcuse. Ione. four ouensrsd s.ructure
Tie sun blinking over them.
An ct once there cams tbe deep boon
~ I canpen acfoo ths water.
ssEl salve. senosars cried Tie litt1e
hown Malay nurssgiri. running h
With IL baby. We hurried - the BAL
envy cvsFlo6ting ~ boy. 4 cloud q
white anoks enveloped ~ low lying
my M veossI that he'd bssa fuming
|1bout IN ny II ~ mosning. 1he A.
|ing NJ fFon ~ ~ Looting throeGb
Z lalfx1sok ~ ~ ~ voE1Sl NJ .