The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-11-10
FIGHTING JOE STIRS
UP THE PHILIPPINES

Manila. September 21.-An orderly stood
in the middle of the road pulling with both
hands on the bride of a stubborn little
native pony that reared and plunged and
tried to jump away from the strange
sounds that went shrieking and whistling
by his ears.
The horse dragged the struggling ORDER
ly farther away into the pitehy darkness,
until, although they were only fifteen or
twenty feet from the little patch of light
that fell into the road from the window Of
a house. nothing of them could be seen.
'.Stand still, d-n YOU" said the orderly's
voice in the darkness. "Stan' still fore
kick your fool head off"
There was the sound of some one coming
down the steps of the house, and a little
man, clanking his spurs, past and
stood in the circle of light in the road. He
was pulling on brown kahki coat as he
waited, while the orderly dragged the un-
willing horse over to him.
The light fell full on the little mans gray
hair He jerked the horse away from the
orderly and yaulted lightly into the sad-
die Two more horsemen rode up to his
side A shot sung in the air overhead.
The orderly ducked his head and then
Strengthened up. -
Lie close" he said.
The little man on horseback went clatter-
ing down the road.
1t was the third baptism of war for Gem
eral Joe Wheeler. The orderly and the four
soldiers decided that 1T had been success
full.
He's game, Joe is said The orderly.
you can see he's all right Them bullets
were a-hEtting fire out of the pike clip
petty, clippety clip, and old Joe he just
gathers up them reins, and away he goes
light into jt, and so darned black you
can't tell but what the niggers are in the
house or up on the trees, where in ell
they are"
This all happened in THE little town of
Santa RITA on September 9.
General Wheeler was in command of the
brigade and in the saddle under heavy
fire wiShin two weeks of his arrival in
the Philippines. This is good, considering
that there are many people i'm the walled
city of Manila who have been there a full
year and have not yet been under fire.
General Wheeler said ne would not join
the coffee coolers" He did not have much
of AN excuse to give except that he
did not like stiff-starched white suits. The
collars made his neck sore. So, in the
army vernacular, he 'fplked out"
1 was at tlhe train the morning he left
town. He looked as full of life as a school
boy, and swung himself up i'm the car with
one jump.
There goes old joe" said an officer.
Hes the same old Joe-always looking
for trouble"
l followed the general in a few days He
the conclusion that he had grabbed up a
regiment somewhere and started off into the
insmgent country to see what the insur-
rectionists would do If they were kept NOV
ing two days in succession
AT San Fernando l was told that the gem
eral lad gone to Angeles, our extreme
northern point the railroad. 1 followed
only to find that ne had mysteriously de-
parted the evening before. L rode over to
Bacalor This is where Colonel Bell and
the Thirty-siXth volunteers are stationed
and is on the way to Porac. 1 figured that
as the next move would be on Porac L
would find General Wheeler out that way.
At Bacolor / was told that General
Wheeler had been there, but that he had
gone on to Santa Rita, which is two miles
and half nearer to Porac than Bacolor
The next day 1 went to Santa Rita and
found the general His coat was off and
he was sitting in his quarters, a frame
house, on the piazza, and painted white
and blue, like second class barber shop
in the states.
He was fighting the mosquitoes with one
hand and writing statistics of the sugar
industry in the Philippines with the other.
Since his arrival he has been to Guaga,
Belts and on several scouting trips toward
Porac. He was eager for the long planned
movement against Porac to begin.
After we clean up Porac and the terri
tory south of that place and Angeles, then
We'll be ready for Tarlac," said the gems
eral.
He was enthusiastic over the idea of an
early move against Tarlac, which is now
Aguinaldo's headquarters.
It'll be a good job taking that place."
said the general. up there in the noun
tabns, steep hills both sides, they'll roll
rocks down on us they did on the Span
iards. Got big guns there, too. Rascals
will make a fight. But We'll get EN-. We
will get 'em. But we ought to do some
thanking
Then he got off on his favorite theme:
eve ought to have plenty of cavalry for
tnat movement. we must get cavalry
here, big American horses that can eat
these little rat-tail ponies in one mouthful.
Start cavalry after these rascals and then
push things along
The next night General Wheeler routed
the regiment out to repel an attack on
the outpost, but no was hurt in the
thousands of shots fired by the insurgents
except a 2-year-old child and a woman.
who was wounded by Mauser while in her
house.
General Wheeler sent his aides to trace
the woman. They found her at the house
of a native doctor. She was poorly
dressed and apparently belonged to the
lower class of the villagers. The fat,
brutal-looking doctor had left her lying in
the a bench after a careless dressing
of her wounds.
fol raf ba