The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-06-09
.UNDAUNTED MRS, BOIS[N
SHE AND HER SON FOUGHT SIDE
BY SIDE IN PHILIPPINES.
How She Followed the Fighting Line
From Trench to Trench and Took
Wounded Soldiers Place.
New York WORLDLY

Years ago one of. the strongest and most
| striking characters on the Pacific coast
was Andrew Jackson Stevens, master me
chanic of the Union Pacific road. He was
the inventor of the famous ten-wheel Mo-
| gul. the type of heavy-powered engines
that drag the freight of all the world
! across the backbone of the continent.
May Stevens BoySen was his daughter.
In her youth, Miss Boysen had ali that
money could give. She was witty and
| beautiful belle of Sacramento. A taste
for private theatrlcals led eventually to
place upon the stage. Here she married
A. ID. Billings. character actor or years
gone by, ana when he died she SUISSE
quently became Mrs. Boysen.
One child-a boy-waS the result of the
first marriage. His name is William Bay
SEN he took his stepfathers name.
Young Boysen is Independently rich; or.
at least, has more money than he needs 10
spend. He is heir of both his father and
grandfather, and at the beginning of the
war was manager of the New DIRK Man
ufacturing company of York, Pa, of
which his guardian, Z. IL. Sinclair is
president.
The call for troops found Boysen willing
and waiting. he resigned his position OBJ
tanned a commission as assistant surgeon
with the Pennsylvania troops. and in Au-
gust was at work in the trenches before
Manila.
flag came to Mrs. Boysen. Without count
ing upon the cost. she flew pOst-haste TO
an Francisco. The next steamer bore her
westward TO Hongkong; then, by the next
stage she was in Manila.
1t was Mrs. BoySen 5 intention to obtain
place in the government office in Manila.
But no place was offered Then there
came "A suggestion that all American WO-
men might be excluded from Manila Mrs.
Boysen acted promptly; she asked for and
obtained a place as nurse in the reserve
hospital corps. Then came the outbreak
Of the insurgents. Opportunity had come.
AS the tilipinos fell back under the ad-
vance of the Americans Mrs. Boysen fol-
lowed elbow 10 elbow with our troops.
From trench to trench went the heroic
woman. Then when the rush of the Am
erican soldiers went splashing hot-footed
across the paddy fields. in their train
went Mrs. Boysen, ministering TO the
wounded, working under fire and all I'M
conscious of the bullets singing and pur-
ring about her head
eyed.
Look out, lady" they told her. '.one of
those bulletsll catch you If you don't look
out
oh. guess not" she said, going on
with her work.
Beyond worked her son; she was with
him. and that was enough The crack of
the hrags. the whining of shells over
head, the shrill screech of shrapnel, were
all one to her From trench to trench
she went. doing good at every hand, but
forever with one eye on the young Penn
sylvania volunteer.
Someone at. first protested.
we don't want any petticoats hanging
round here. said they. First thing yo"
know, there'll be a muss-up some day
with the Filipinos. and you know what
they'd do to a woman"
Mrs. Boysen knew and nodded her head.
But she had calculated the perils. or,
rather, she had forgotten all about them.
She was on the firing line. and she was
going to stay there And she stayed, too.
So. trench by trench. village by village,
the front advanced toward MalabOn.
Then came the memorable fight in front
of the insurgent headquarters. Before
the first hour had passed, the wounded
came fiocking TO the rear. and eVery
nurse or surgeon in the corps was hur
ried up to the front. No need OF hurry
ing up Mrs. BOysen. She was there at
the time.
once the FilipinOs. goaded to des9era-
ton by the Calling fire of our men, made
a rush to Tecapture the trenches. Then
for a few minutes there was need Tor
every hand TO do its work Crouched In
the trench Mrs. Boysen watched the
turn of affairs, cheering the men along
the line and wandering here and there
with hands full of cartridges.
Then one of our men fell back from
the earthen embankment his rifle clat-
tering down beside him. In an instant the
woman was at his side But glance
showed there was no need OF her atte1-
ton: the poor fellow was dead SEEING
the rife. Mrs. Boysen crawled up 10 the
front. and there. in moment, was
cracking away at the head OF the rush.
Along the line of trenches the men
caught the color of her skirt and the
red cross on her sleeve. They saw the
rifle peering out from the earthWorkS
and heard it crispiy bark.
Hoo ray!'' they yelled. "Hoo-ray Tor
your
Mrs Boysen smiled grimly and kept on
shutting the bolt of her krag till the
rifle spouted lead The Filipino rush died
away; the rebels suddenly retreated to
their trenches within the town. and Mrs.
Boysen went back to her work
But General Wheaton had seen and
marked her bravery. Ii was sight he
had never seen before. Lifting his hat
he saluted her, and Mrs. Boysen. with
flaming cheeks went back to the charity
of caring for the injured.
But as if this was not enough. the
BY desperate fighting the troops had
managed TO move up on a train toward
the front, near enough to gather in the
wounded Then they called for volun-
teers to care for the wounded on the re-
turn. Mrs Boysen responded briskly.
Under guard the train toiled back to-
ward the hospital at the rear. a tar-et
for the gun practice of marauding Fiji
pinos.
upon as it puffed back through the cane
brake and rice fields. but through all this
Mrs. Boysen. they sag. stuck TO her work
A soldier at her side was shot through
the head and fell Splintered woodwork
fell about but she did not finch. Again
and again the singing bullets thudded
upon the iron, but until the ambulance
train arrived at the hospital safe. Mrs.
Boysen stuck tosher place.
man when her work carries her along the
fropt Tbara iS no moro talk of nprfi-