The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-04-10
The FIRING Line
A Honolulu Boy Tells Of Ills
Experiences.
HAS SEEN SHARP FIGHTING
A Continuous Exchange of Shots
Deeds of VaIor Tired
of the Job.

The following communication has
been received from a former resident
of this city who is now at Manila. He
gives an interesting account of his re-
cent experiences:
On the Firing Line, March 4, 1899.
l take pleasure in giving you a brief
| ~ccoun- II my personal experiences in
this war or rebellion. My company,
q, First North Dakota Volunteers)
happened to be lucky enough to be on
| outpost duty when it started at Singa-
lone church. This gave us ample OPP
portunity to be on the firing line from
the beginning. Our company was to
make the church our quarters for the
night and act as reserve in case of an
outbreak.
Troop e, Fourth Cavalry, and Com
pany |, Fourteenth U. S. Infantry, were
also on outpost duty on the same road.
guarding from Gale Real to Block
house No. II. Capt. Wheeler, of Troop
e, Fourth Cavalry, was the field Of
ficer of the day. At o'clock that
night February 4th) a mounted mes
senger brought the report that several
shots had been fired on the other side
of the Pasig river. We were ordered
to fall in under arms quietly, which
we did. We had no sooner done this
than we heard heavy volley firing In
a short time a telegram was received,
announcing an attack on the Nebras-
ka's outposts. We were all eager for
the fray, but it was almost 10 D. M be-
fore we received our orders to proceed
to breastwork between the block
houses twelve and thirteen, where eight
Of the cavalry boys were on outpost. A
furious firing was kept up for over two
hours between the insurgents and the
Nebraska boys, when it stopped.
Shortly after a. NJ the insurgents
commenced a general attack all over
except at blockhouses No. Is and IA,
where it commenced at daybraak. l
was leaning on the breastworks, trying
to spy an enemy, when ping, ping, -
went the Mausers, and / could hear the
bullets sing over my head. 1 ducked
down in a hurry, you can be sure. Our
captain then gave us orders to Load
ready, aim, fire." and ''bang" went al
most all our rifles at the same mo-
ment.
We had the company divided into
three sections, so that one of the sec
tons would be firing while the other
two would be loading. We kept up this
kind of volley firing for half an hour,
when we received orders to cease firing.
The insurgents, thinking there was
only a small outpost there, advanced to
within fifty yards before they were
discovered by us. You can be sure
they did not get chance to advance
any further. There were over two
dozen dead natives found in the woods
ahead of us the next day. After we
got through with this firing the natives
let us alone for a long time. They at
last got up enough courage to let us
have three volleys, and we then re-
ceived orders to shoot at will three
shots. We kept on exchanging compli-
ments with the insurgents all the rest
of the night.
The firing was furious on our right,
especially at Pace bridge, where the
Washington and Idaho boys were sta
toned. At daybreak one of the guns of
Battery d. Sixth Artillery, started to
shell the insurgents in the woods ahead
of us, which drove them towards block
houses 13 and IA.
At about7 a. m. the Washington and
Idaho Volunteers made a charge, and
a beautiful charge it was And the
way they cheered, Only as patriotic
American boys can cheer. 1t was a
grand sight, which those who wit
messed and participated in will never
forget. From where we were we could
see it all. Requirements came to
their aid and skirmish line about
mile long was formed. They kept on
advancing by rushes, until they disap-
peared over the hills of Santa Anna
and San Pedro Macati. Our company
did not have a chance to do any more
shooting that. forenoon February 81.
Between S and a. m. we were subject
TO a heavy fire from our own troops
that had advanced on the right of
blockhouse IS. We sent two men over
to warn them of our danger. 1t was
about this time that Companies I and
NJ, Fourteenth U. S. Infantry, charged
on blockhouse II and gained the COW
eted position. These two companies
had thirty-four men killed and wound
ed.
At o'clock we received our break
fast, which had been brought to US in
a cart under a heavy fire. An hour
later | was detailed with some others
to proceed to Singalone church to
fetch our blankets, that had been left
there on the evening of the 4th The
church was being used as hospital
and l saw a good many of our brave
boys lying on their cots waiting for the