The sun., 1899-02-12
AyOLD CAMPAIGNER'S WAY
ur.LTH AND LABOR SAVING TRICKS
TfUGHT ny A REGULAR.

.crbnn experiences when some one put In a
vord about the regulars.
81 vent though the Santiago campaign, u
aid tbe volunteer without putting In a day
In the hospitals, and attribute my good for
,rne 10 tho fact that was always ready to
,otc the tins Of the old-tlmers among the en-
Hated men of the regulars. You see, was a
raw recruit and not an old National Guards
man and I was ready and anxious to follow
the advice of 6nv level-headed man who had
,een real campaigning.
,Thc day OF the fight at Las Guasimas my
reyiment was ordered out in support. We
didn't get within hearing OF the engagement.
M, We went through day OF toll that would
b.ve tired out Government pack mule. 1t
ras blazing hot and we were ordered out
In heavy marching order. We scrambled up
,he biggest and stcepest hill / over tackled
with A load ON my back. And then we went at
. keen gallon for three or four miles. Then
~. stretched ourselves out under the burning
sun snd painted and let our tongues loll out OF
our mouths like so many dogs I'm August.
Finally we turned around and marched brisk
ly hock to Siboney All this in heavy march,
inc order on the hottest day l saw in Cuba.
''Our Captain evidently sized up tho situa-
tlon prctty accurately and made up his mind
that the men wouldn't stand much campaign
night before We started to march to Sevilla he
assembled the company and told the men
,hey might use their own judgment about
tightening their loads. leaving behind blankets.
shelter tents or anything they chose. except. OF
course ammunition. rifles or rations.
Il tell YOU, 1t was big temptation to dump
tbe heavy blankets and shelter tents. Nine
out of ten OF the men did so without mo-
ments thought or hesitation. The days work
had taken all the tuck out OF me and i was q
very weary Willie, indeed. But l had seen
some western and southwestern camp life, and
some way the idea of thro wing away shelter
and bedding didn't seem to appeal to me.
had all night before me. so l made for camp
OF regulars where | knew an old Western cam
paigner. | found my man and stated my case
| had rgged myself up In heavy marching or
der, so that he could Judge the situation ac-
curately. The regular sized me up and ask ed
me how much weighed stripped. told him
l43 pounds.
well he said. you should be able to tote
that load easily II 1t was packed on you so that
1t would ride. You see, the way you've got 1t
strung!onto you makes you drag it instead Of
carving it. II you've got blanked pound Of
the whole load over your centre of gravity or
your ackbone or your hips. I'll eat that pound.
even II IL cartridges. II you start out that
way in the morning you'll trot all day with
your head and shoulders n foot and half
ahead OF your hps. like a volunteer fireman
dragging hosecart. Dump the load and I'll
reload you
Il didn't need second invitation. First he
cut my heavy blanket in two and threw one
half away Then he began to throw superhu-
Gus toilet articles in all directions. He showed
aside big bulky, sharp-edged. half gallon
can o, tomatoes. l remarked that our Cap
tain had ordered us not to throw away rations.
" 'Don'tn he replied. Swap that man. killer
for rice with some fellow who doesn't like rice
but does like load. Before tomorrow night
he'll throw it away for you. Ten Of those cans
would cut a pack mule to pieces
Finally the regular came to my cartridges.
There were JGO rounds. If remember right
". there were 90 in my cartridge belt and the
other 100 were dumped in my haversack.
That haversack weighed a ton During that day
the strap of It had cut furrow in my shoul-
der an inch deep. The regular took broad
strip OF heavy canvas and cut 1t to the shape
OF a sort OF jacket like woman's corset cover.
He cut 1t full of Sits and poked the extra hum
dred cartridges into the Sits. Then he laced
the Jacket snugly around my chest with stout
cord. To my surprise. l found that the entire
l60 cartridges didn't seem to weigh pound;
got coat OF mail and you weigh thirty pounds
more than you did. but your load weighs thirty
and ride evenly over your hips
Next my military mentor showed ne how to
make snug easy riding roll OF my blanket and
forming my haversack into knapsack so that
It rode snugly on the back OF my neck at the
apex OF my backb instead of dangling and
fopping on a narrow strap that would saw a
hole in one shoulder. These little changes
eenabled, me on the following day to march
70 lln and n a H.
post post under br9illnG sun without serious ia
~ tlRue: In fact. ! neglected to take adyantage
and that night had half Cf a blanket and
shelter half TO roll up in. And the fcIlowing
day. when the afternoon rain came. blessed
that regular for my shelter half
11rWhile, we were on outpost duty near Sc
WIZ vilia we found our first manages They were
promptly warned the men that, either green
given to understand. in effect. hat one man
while ,skirmishing On the outskirts OF our
81 SGhmp came across my friend ~ tho reRulars
rrssn e was q up in mango tree knocking down fse
the tree. | inquired whether he proposed to
commit suicide by eating the things. ne said.
about the warning OF our surgeons and that
me mangoes were green.
w, N.Y. friend said the regular. "a green n apple
green ample sqssS You did And yo0 are
gather these mangoes. Then take some into
camp and skin them and boil them with water
and plenty OF sugar. You will find that they
make bully good green apple sass and you
SrIa wont get scurvy. which is about as bad as
i followed his instructions and twenty-four
hours lator saw Que OF our doctors eating
green mango sauce. This incident reminds
me on another mango story. 1t was, after the
surrender and the men were beginning TO
slcken IN whole squads. BY this time the
manages were thoroughly ripe. but hard to
tIhn The doctors and hospital corps were
nelng worked to death and seemed TO make
iittle headway against the sickness Suddenly
IheY raised hue and cry against the man
goes They attributed everythng-yellow Jack,
tHiehGueiever. malaria. dysentery and the whole
Hsb 81 compIa aints-to mango eating.
:. NY 'iend of the regulars laughed. He
hai located two hitherto undstur bed mango
trees thai were full Of ripe fruit. Armed with
guRhy sacks, We slipped out OF camp and
stripped the trees On our way back we en-
c0uhtered volunteer surgeon. one OF those
VINO had started the anti mango campaiGp,
/ Men,' said he, eyeing our loads what
hhhr you got in those sRcksY
, NlangOes,' said the regular.
, Inc surgeon looked pained. He gave us n
!qhs lecture and warned US that II we ate
tthercot W" would surely die: Then. seeing
tI Una! ne had = made any serious Impression
Do yuu kIow where there are any more OF