Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-08
ECnoEs or THE war,

The characteristics OF the yellow bat
talions pitted against the American troops in
and about Manila arc entertainingly sketched
by soldier Of the Fourth cavalry stationed
at the seat of war He accidentally strayed
among them before the Americans and
Filipinos came together in battle array, but
friction existed between the outposts OF the
two armies. Il found a big crowd OF ma
tives from the city" writes the soldier,
who were watching some Kind OF a pro-
ccssion. This, as it neared. proved to be
200 or 800 OF Aguinaldos army 'parading
under arms. My feelings were somewhat
mixed as l discovered myself in such sur
prsing minority. | was among an odd 1000
Malays. but the white shirted rascals
crowded about me. and grinning said,
-Filipno-amigo?' and laid their
two forcfingers side by side in token OF our
fast friendship l thought it wise to agree
with them. The marching soldiers were a
sight The only uniform thing about them
was their guns-45- calber Remingtons. For
the rest, they wore all manner of hats, from
old yellow-pith helmets to broad-brimmed
straw and ragged felt hats. Their coats and
shirts aud trousers were as different as
could be. They were alike again in their
spreading, bare black feet. The noise they
made as they stamped the ground marking
time was quite like u DOOleu regiment
They were withal. a very serious looking
crowd-mostly all boys, marching to the
monotonous squeak of a half breed fife,
They paraded in column of fouTs up and
down the road three times, and then went
out again to the bush where they came
from"
He had served under the flag in a regi-
ment OF infantry and blew into a restaurant
with a friend for lunch. Long counters
stretched along each side OF the room, with
a third curved in front in the center. Guests
were seated at each of the counters busily
disposing OF food
| The two friends moved down to The coun
ter to the east, fronted by the piano stool
accompaniment They were about to take
seats when sound smote their ears which
caused the soldier to perform like a trick
monkey One of the walters shouted out
| instructions TO the cook in the rear. The
| words jumbled and this is what they sounded
| to the soldier:
| "Guides-posts!'
| Hearing this the soldier backed from tue
| counter, faced to the right and walked rap
| idly to the end nearest the door. Here he
| took position and carefully gazed along the
line Of feeders. His friend realizing that an
instructive military sense had moved the
! man, went after him.
what the dickens are you doing, Bill?'
| asked the friend. This is no barracks nor
parade; it's a hash foundry. Don't make a
spectacle of yourself. Back with you"
Didn't that fellow YELL 'Guides-posts? I"
queried the man. in dazed manner.
"Queer how you soldiers think everything
is for you was the reply. "He yelled Dry
toast, If you must know"
| Joseph L. Stickney relates in Harper's
| Magazine the eccentric movements Of the
| only Spanish shell that hit the American
| fleet in the battle of Manila bay 1t was
a sixty-pOund armor-piercing shell and the
| Baltimore was the target. The shell EN-
| tered the Baltimore about two feet above
| the upper deck on the starboard side be-
| tween the after six-inch gun and the three
FOUNDER mounted on the rail- This shell,
after piercing two thicknesses of steel one
| quarter of an inch thick, struck the deck
and penetrated until it reached one of the
heavy deck beams, which it cracked clear
through. 1t was then DETECTED upward,
coming out of the wooden deck, and tearing
| its way through the steel combing of the
| engine-room skylight, again passing through
| two quarter-inch plates. AS 1T had turned
| sideways on rising from the deck, the holes
| it made through these plates were about
| eighteen inches long by six inches wide
| ragged, torn spots, very unlike the clean
cut punctures made by such a shell when
entering point foremost.
| Leaving the skylight, the shell, ranging
slightly forward, struck the recoi cylinder
OF the port six-inch gun on the quarter
deck, disabling the carriage. At last 1t
met an object strong enough to resist its
| attack-the steed shield, which curved in
| front of the gun in complete semi circle.
| Following this curve the she'll came out
| on the forward side OF the ship again, when
| it struck a steel ventilator, and was finally
stopped. In other words, this shell passed
| through one inch of steel, ripped up deck,
| broke a deck BEAM and bulged shield
| about an inch out of its original shape. 1t
| crossed the Baltimore from starboard side
| to port and back to the starboard SIDE and
yet had hit none of the many men engaged
| at the guns near by. 1t is true, it was the
| cause of woundng two officers and six men,
| for in it's course it exploded two three
FOUNDER shells which were lying on the deck
| ready for use in the small gun on the Balt
more's rail; but directly it injured no one,
| and it is regarded as holding the record for
| eccentric action.
| S. Nicholson Kane. who hid his identity
| on the st. Paul during the war under the
| name of Samuel n. Kane, entertained Sc
| lect party in the ward room of the New York
! Yacht club with tales from the fleet. He
was one OF Sigsbees trusted lieutenGnts, and
was in the cabin OF the st. Paul when Can
| .,... 10 GIynI to fnlt