The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1899-1900, 1899-12-13


And .h;s was the reason Ehy. after the
tr.nsnor+ hsd .lsarad Honoluiu and was
on tbe last tacs for Manila. that John Sloan
fornd himself detached from his company
and on dutv in the ofIicers' quarters, where,
mrcb N lie sururise. a certain captain
often snoks kindly 10 him and cave him en-
couragement.
st e. ,r.tobod vou enough. Sloan. to
Lravr tb.+ vo,, are mortallv afraid of what
~ ", ao;,,s, 49, Won are bundle of non
sons;ooi G rsryss. Int whatever is going to
bonnsn when we are on shore. remember
,his Sloan don't runO
NJ rrav oven IN those hard days. and
Tobn sinar nraved that night for strength,
nravad 40 only a man can who knows that
r. oo,rard vet ;s determined 10 fight to
the end In the morning. while looking over
he III he came across a Northwestern
ra;lroad folder which was the only one re-
ma;n;ng 81 several he had provided himself
,n;th ,shon starting from home. and some
~. n cave him cheer and comfort to read
~. old Familiar names in the states. and 10
49,, tbat bacL there MANY were thinking
and Ev;ng for him
The landing was rough. Their transport
h.d n,ssed un. the barbor bv the OLYMPIA,
tbe Rale;oh the Boston. flags fying, bands
nIav;nc and the great admiral on his bridge
ho,.,;rS and raising his hat as the troops
cboored which had come To his aid. Even
sloan forgot his fdeets. and waved his cap
bioh in The air and yelled:
SHurrah. Deweyl"
| NIorilo was stilI in the hands of the Span
;sb Aminaldo was seeking to secure recog-
milton from the United States, and at the
sama time N capture Manila and loot the
city. Dewey was holding the insurgents
in chect and nrenarinp TO take the city. The
Tenth pennsvlvania was landed at Cavite,
ond tbor marched IN the trenches at Malate
n front Of the Spanish outposts. Active
sor,,;ce was commenced at once. The first
dutv that came to Sloan after the regiment
was in the trenches was that OF picket. His
most Was on tbe edge of A thicket. scarce a
Tn;ie from The snanish line. The tropical
rams had Commenced, and the fever
,vos olraadv unon some OF the men.
He was Uiven particular instructions to
,vstcb ont for n surnrise. the Spaniards hav.
inc d;snloved great activity during the day
aiong he front OF their line.
Wranned in his rough weather coat, hold.
;rr bis gun underneath II to keen il dry,
Sioan naced nm and down his most. splashing
in the wafer. wondering at the briliiancy OF
the lightning. and shiyering in dread an
t;c;nat;or az trouble A fash of lightning
showed him figures on the plain, in front OF
him roov;no toward him.
Only the enemy could come from that di
rsct;on Sloan stood still as if welded to the
oround His hair rose ON end. He yelled
snJ fred in the direction of the advancing
foe
Strange. is il not. that that shot-fred by
Jobn Sloan coward-Qaye to the American
army its notice of the advance Of the
Snaniards at Malate defeated the enemy
and made a hero of A trembling, frightened
bolf.bov. half mani
Sloan. after firing. ran back towards hi.
o,vn lines and stumbled or fell at the feet
of that cantain who had first encouraged
him 10 do his duty. He Jumped up out oi
the slush saturated. and was ordered to take
position with his company. Twice during
the hattie did Sloan have the widest desire
IN ruu. But. as il has done many times be.
fore in the worlds history, that namC
"Marv'' held him to his place and duty
When morning came and il was realized
that American pluek and valor had won thc
day II was Sloan's captain, who, sending fol-
him. said:
avon knew your duty last night. Yor
have placed Yourself in line for promotion
The colonel knows of YOUR service as picket. ,
Then. out of the bows heart rushed al
those wears of misery and doubt; all thos,
unnamed fears that held manhood back anC
kept him the child. There came message.
from far-away home. At the end of hi
mothers letter there was penciled line:
"The Dodd boys have written home Of
your bravery at Malate. We hear you may
be promoted. Keep up, John. Mary Carr.
That kind of love letter would not sat
isfy all men, but it did satisfy John Sloan
who tucked it away in his blouse and read
it many times in the days to come. HI
would sit in the shade of his tent, read the
short lines from Mary Carr over, draw out
his Northwestern railroad folder, and on
the ground work out the Typographical MAJ
of the long range Of country from the Colder
Gate to the Juanita region.
Other soldiers came to watch his self-ap
pointed task. Some suggested the outline.
of the Missouri valley, others the location o.
Ames and Clinton, still Others the topo
graphical building of that beautiful SWEEP
of Illinois from Clinton to Chicago. The
little time table and folder from which they
drew their general plan was preserved al
though priceless in intrinsic value. Nos
talgia, that dread disease of all armies called
in the German "Heimweh," in English
"Homesickness was fought off with thi,
strip of printed paper and these rough trac
ings on the face OF the earth, time and time
again.