The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-04-10

lets were as thick as flies in a butcher
shop. At 1890 our first platoon was
ordered to proceed to blockhouse No. 10
TO support the guns OF Battery d,
Sixth artillery. We were assigned TO
a position on the left Of the cannon,
and warm time we had, too, for three
hours. The insurgents were very lervy
for as soon as the shrapnel shell had
burst they would rise up and fire, only
to meet perfect hail of lead from US
and the boys from the Fourth Cavalry
and Fourteenth Infantry / noticed
one lnsurgent especially, who tried to
run across the road. Before he had
gone fifteen feet he dropped. There
were about two dozen shots fired at
him, and when l saw him after the
charge he was full of bullet holes.
On the left, where We were, there
were only sufficient breastworks to
shield SIX men, so the rest of us had TO
lie down in the road with only a few
scattering shrubs to shield us. While
lying there | had a bullet strike the
heel OF my left shoe, doing no dam
age. After lying in this position for
over an hour, l went over TO the block
house to take a rest. | let a young
was comlcal to see the way he would
kneel down in the road and shoot
while he was trembling like a leaf.
While L was sitting near the block
house eating a piece of plum duff,
heard furious buzzing in the air,
coming toward LIS. One of the Battery
men shouted: Lie down." which most
OF us did IN hurry. We had no SOON
er done so than we heard heavy
thud, and saw a piece of a 1O-inch
shell, about IA inches long and inches
wide, laying in the road. 1t struck
within ten feet of one of our boys.
AT $3.50 p. M, we received REINFORCE
ments, and charge was made, sweep
ing everything before us. At o'clock
we received orders to join the rest of
our regiment, who had been stationed
on the Left of Fort Malate and had
charged at the same time We did. When
we arrived at the fort we received ord
ers to proceed to our quarters. We en-
Joyed a good nights rest, for we were
pretty tired. On Monday morning, the
9th, we started out to join our battal-
ion at Parnada. That afternoon Com
panies [ and K deployed as skirmish-
ers, with Company 1 on the right from
the beach. We marched through old
Camp Dewey to within quarter of a
mile of the Paranaque river. We had
orders to search every native shack
and burn all containing arms and am
munition. We also captured eight
horses and sorle carts, harness and
saddles, which were taken possession
of by the authorities Company l
marched back along the beach and
Company K along the road. We stayed
in camp at Parnada until Friday, the
10th, when We were ordered back to
our quarters at Malate.
On Saturday afternoon, the 18th, we
heard heavy vol1ey firing in the direc-
ton of Camp Dewey. in fifteen min
utes we were on our way to the scene
of action. One company in each bat
TALON was left to guard the barracks
and Fort Malate. Companies D and X
were marched up along the beach.
When we passed the fort we noticed a
steam launch heading for the scene of
action at full speed. When the launch
got within 200 yards OF the shore she
let fly three shots from her bow chas-
ers and then turned her broadside to-
ward the shore and started in to work
her rapid firing guns. When we ar
rived at the scene of action everything
was qulGI. WO Vi Inc cavalry men
were wounded, one in the arm, and an
other in the shoulder After dark
Companies.I and K advanced ahead of
the regulars and formed a skirmish
line from the beach. We lay there until
a. m. when we received orders to
move back to Parnada. During the
next nine days we threw up a mile of
breastwOrks and cut down a good deal
of timber.
On the Goth we were relieved by the
Fourth Cavalry and we took posses
sion OF their trenches, about one and
half miles east of Pasy. The sharp
shooters have been keeping up an in
cessant fire on the left Of our line. This
morning a battalion was sent to rout
them out. Two of the cooks from the
Fourteenth U. S. Infantry, while bring
ing out dinner for their company at
Pasy this morning, caught a sharp
convent. This sharpshooter had been
shooting at our officers and men for
the last three weeks, but had not hit
any one. We have built hunks back
of our breastWOrks and have put up
and are fixed as comfortable
as can be expected under the circum-
stances. We are getting sick and tired
of our job and would like TO get back to
our barracks.
| remain "a Honolulu Boy
OSCAR J. OLSON.
Co. I. First North Dakota Vols.