The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1899-04-15

THE RUNAWAY PIC At e. cANEY,
An Episode Not Down in the OnlctaI Re-
ports OF the Battle.

An Episode Not Down in the Omcaal Re-
ports OF tho Battle.
On July /, 1898, when the battle at
Caney was hottest, curious commo.
ton among the Spanish soldiers was
visible in one of the trenches which
defended the town. These trenches
were all on the outskirts OF the town
and frequently were Immediately in
front of buildings. The place was in
habited at the time of the attack, and
bullets and shells went flying through
the fimsy houses. There were sew
eral horses in the town, some of which
were seen rushing about the streets
during the bombardment. There were
few cattle, including a superb bull
+ kept for the performances in the bull
ring at Santiago, nearby. This fine
animal was uninjured during the fight,
but he was 'looted" by the Cubans
after the town was taken, and ignom-
iniously led by the nose to the main
Cuban camp, to be slaughtered for
food for the insurgent soldiers.
There were also animals of another
sort, as the incident to which allusion
has been made proved. Toward the
middle of the day the watching Ameri-
can soldiers on the nearest line saw q
half grown pig come running out of q
low-thatched building inside the Span
ish trenches, and rounding corner of
the ditch take to fight outside the
trenches, in the direction of the
American position.
Evidently he had been lodged I'M
der the thatch-roofed house just be-
hind the trench, in the free-and-easy
domestic manner in which Cuban pigs
are generally taken care of. A bullet
or q shell had invaded his retreat,
shattered his Enclosure, set him free
and scared him almost to death at the
same time.
The Spanish soldiers ceased their
firing as the pig escaped, and there
was commotion among them. Pres
emily this commotion resolved itself
into q rush of several soldiers out of
the trench and in the direction of the
pig. Soon there were fifteen of them
out in the open, in the full sweep of
the American fire.
Some of them ran to head off the
pig and others rushed up behind to
catch him. The pig wheeled and
lodged and the soldiers wheeled and
lodged after him. Their voices rose
in q chorus of Spanish shouts. Up
and down went the pig; when sol
DO him h ny1v
make twist and wriggle himself
away. Once he made q long run
straight toward the American lines; it
did not help him, for the soldiers were
after him entirely disregarding the
battle. Some of them headed him off
again, and in another moment an
athletic young soldier had seized first
his tail and then his legs. Still an
other moment and the pig, firmly
held, was on his way back to the
trenches, riding on the shoulder of
this young man, his foreless gripped
by one hand and his hind legs by the
other.
The soldiers resumed their places in
the trench; the one who had the pig
put him back into the thatch-roofed
building, and presently returned to
his own place and took up his gun.
It is safe to say that during the
chase of the pig no American soldier
who saw the affair discharged his gun
at the group. The Americans who
saw it were too full of admiration and
astonishment to add to the dangers
which the audacious Spaniards were
under; but thousands of Americans
who could not see the incident were
blazing away in that direction, and
the Spaniards who were chasing the
pig must have heard great many bull
lets whistling about their ears during
their performance.
The Americans who were within
view of the occurrence were confirmed
by it in the opinion which they had
begun to form already, that the peo-
pie at home who had told them that
the Spaniards were towards did not
know what they were talking about.