Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1899-05-31

h'Oht Nv WV Eulf. It wan " hi''-
looking f,llow. very young. aud 1t
seemed such "a pity that one who ap-
pearcl to he 81 intelligent should be
sacrificed In such n useless struggle,
preclpitated by a lot OF scheming pol
iticians. | am glad to say that some
of Go. rs men made him as comfort
able as possible, but | doubt II he
lived more than an hour or TWO. The
church showed the effects of the Utah
boys work. They had planted four
shells In one corner of the building In
a space not eight feet in diameterand
the masonry of both church walls
was pretty thoroughly dilapidated
in places. In the corner where these
four shells struck the wall OF the
building was SO thick TINT they did
not penetrate the entire thickness of
the masonry. The men picked up
many pieces uf shell and some OF the
copper bands which fit into the
grooves of the gun and catch the
rifling. The church seems to have
been regarded by the natives as a
safe place OF refuge, for when our ad-
vance started them on the run n
crowd oi them broke for the church.
Just as they reached the gate n shell
from the battery exploded near the
corner of the building and "Mr. Mig
ger" changed his opinion and his
course. After that they gave the
church a wide berth. Soon after the
companies fell into line | left fortown
to relieve Lieut.. Foster. The COM
pany followed some hourslater. tired
and hungry. but rather well 'tisfied
with the days work. Col. Wallace
told Capt. Preston that he had the
opportunity to make a report such
as a volunteer officer seldom had a
chance to-" and the company GER
tainly deserves great credit. Not a
man but what kept up, with pOssib-
~ one exception, altho doubtless all
felt nervous One man insisted that
his hat had been shot from his head,
but as the same hat IL now in pos
session of another member Of the
company and there il no sign of a
bullet mark upon 1t. | guess he wasa
tritle excited. Pete Johnson had a
piece of his hat rim shot away, but
his escape il the only one of its kind
in u company or that date.
The regiment established a good
reputation and was complimented
by the Harper's Weekly correspond
ent, who was on the line with US. L
am told that when the general makes
his report the regiment will come in
for quite a boost.
Since then much has happened. L
was not In the Caloocan fight on
Feb. 10, hut know that Sergt. Cheadle
covered himself with glory by dis
obeying orders-fact, and il now first
sergeant. He has won a great deal
of credit with the men and at head
quarters, which he modestly asserts
IL not all deserved, but he il decidedly
self-possessed and observing under
fire and il really enti led to all credit
given. He has been recommended
for a commission repeatedly, and
hope he will get it at once. The men
of the company have done splendidly
and rank high, being called the
Fighting Co. l."
Thus far my experience is limited
to the Binondo church affair and ~
few night attacks on our trenches. ]
have not u away yet. nor have !
felt like il, but | have wished that
some of those dikes we're just a little
higher. / did see the windup Of the
Caloocan fight, but what | saw was
not much. | know the happenings
OF that day will be described by 9th.
ers more %conversant with the facts
than ! am. Poor Fred Hall was
killed in this battle, as you already
know.
Just now we are In Manila doing
guard duty for "a period of five days,
at the expiration of which time we
return to the front, provided they
don't get too far away for us to
catch up or some other company
takes our place in the line.
Well. | have written you a longer
letter than was my intention. prob
ably longer than you will care tn
read, but | promise never to do so
again. With kindest regards to all !
remain Sincerely yours,