The times., 1899-02-05
CHATS WITH THE PLAYERS.

I gent tnat a IGneS man came dcfOsS Aiaioi
Mitchell the other day and claimed his at
| tention for a few moments. The request
for an interview was readily granted and
the actOr-soldier laid down his paper pre-
/ paratory to a brief talk. Mr.. Mi;chell Is
the ideal fighter in appearance-tall AMI
! splendidIy put together with a Ene face
and dark hair slightly tinged with gray.
| No one would ever mistake his vocation.
having taken casual look at him. and No
one would doubt his courage or inteili-
gcnce after prolonging that glance.
Tell me some OF your personal expe-
| riences during the conflict
We'll, replied Mr.. Mitchell, shifting his
position a trife. They were not greatly
different from those of my comrades and
of men in other commands. You know
how the regiment of Rough Riders was
/ formed and OF the ordeals through which
1t passed before finally arriving in Cuba.
| You know. too. of the battles in which it
| took part while away-of the skirInishes
that preceded and of the events that fol-
lowed San Juan. Though there had been
little cunning before the boys took that
I hill, 1t saw what was really the FIRST out
] and-out combat in which Colonel Roose-
/ Neits warriors figured on the enemy's soil
"a combat waged under most distressing
I circumstances. Our troops had not only
! been Gagged for days in crowded transports
! but they had made forced march of nine
miles in order to be at the scene of action
! and had slept in driving rain during the
night before the conflict There was no
| ehilds play about the affair from begin
! nlng TO end, and most of US realized that
tact as soon as We saw the Spanish block
houses, the rife pits. the barbed- wire
| stockades, and learned OF the numerical
strength in opposition to us. Then, too.
4 haat haI t,r-. III. II
/ out OF the men, and. while they obeyed
orders and fought diligently. it was net
/ with the spirit that might otherwise have
been displayed"
| You were wounded while in Caba?''
Yes, and an uncomfortable wound 1t
was / had that experience at Las Quasi
mas ard | am not likely to forget it in a
hurry We had arrived in front OF the
Spanish outposts early in the day and had
| pitched camp. AS cne of the scouts /
was sent out to reeonnoitre, and. in COM
pany with Cuban. was walking about the
| dlnerent trails surrounding the posit on
held by the advance guard OF the patriot
army when l noticed that two Of the
ensIny's forts were in flames The
negro informed ME that this meant
that our regiment had broken camp and
that the Spaniards knew it. And
sure enough, We soon met several bod
les Of troops on the march friend
lolu me tnat we were moving forward ami
that l had better return for my baggage
and catch up again, but l knew that my
bunkee had probably got the little Of my
property that l had not thrown away and
so sat down to wait for my command,
which presently arrived.
Later in the day the attack was made
in pursuance with orders from General
l Shafter. There were only 96i Americans
in the action while several thousand Span
s--fN= saTT Il.l fh..
moment the battle began our side suffered
severely. The enemy had our range to a
dot. and the first shell that was fired ex-
ploded right in our midst. second
burst about sixteen feet ahead of Us and
then the messengers OF death came
screaming over the men and pIowing up
the ground under them. Great burrows
were cut in our ranks but we kept on ad-
Vancing, lying down every now and then
until yoliey OF proiectiIes had passed.
When this sort of thing had bzen going On
for some time grew tired of dropping on
my face after every few steps. Finally
an order came TO get down and instead /
turned half way around and bent over. At
that moment shell exploded directly in
front. \ fragment OF iron struck the man
at my side and killed him. another b
tore open the arm of our sergeant, 4 third
touched the ground. and, bounding up. in
ficted painful wound on the back OF
Colonel Roosevelt's hand and a fourth
caught me in the shoulder blade
The shock of the blow was frightful I
felt as though someone had hit me ter
rifle whack with a baseball bat The pro-
jectiie knocked ME completely off NV feet
and l fell bleeding on top OF a man who
was coming up the hill Then 1 rose AID
tried to walk but could not. The coneus-
SIGN had daZed ME, and. while | knew that
was injured, could not seem to get my
bearings. After few seconds nv sanszs
came back. however. and l managed TO fol-
low the men. l found the captain of my
company. and, advancing to him, saluted
He raised his hand TO his hat. 1 told him
that had been hit and he ordered me Ia
lie down Then one OF my comrades wet
his handkerchief and stuffed it in the gan
in my back. Another covered this wad in
the same way, stTapping the impromptu
bandage on with his belt and so I re-
! mained until some time after. when the
hospital corps got me and carried me to
where the operating tables We're
| Here all was hurry and confusion
| Every one of the doctors was busy and
men were waiting outside to be cut into
l sat in chair and young fellow got the
bit of shell out of my breast Ii had en-
tered the back hit the rib giancing blow
that had saved my lung and then lodged
in my chest. After a few days in the hos
I pLt'I was sSHt UdCh nome anu nave been
in this country ever since.">
Anything else?"
Just one of those laeghable things that
occur TO us in desperate moments and are
remembered after. l believe l mentioned
| having fallen on man when / was wound
ed. This fellow was New York police
man, and he had just invested in a new
uniform that would have attracted atten-
tion miles away. He was very proud OF IT,
| Well. l am full hlooded and when 1
struck the CLAP l covered his clothes with
gore Two days after l entered the hos
pital he was brought in suffering from
sunstroke. l greeted him and asked how
he felt. Not badly he wept-'Not badly
at ALL But, Mason. when you fell on me
the other day you ruined my uniform
damn you-you ruined my uniform
1t was Big Bill Devere who spoke. AMI
with an iily-conceaied attempt to keep ths
tears out OF his eyes. he said: The pass
ing OF Charles Hoyt is the saddest chapter
in the theatrical volume. Fifteen fares
the brightest ever dOne-and now the man
who has made the whole world laugh r. IN.
saddeSt person in it
"The desire to be a prima donna is re-
spoGsible for the dearth o; con,raltos."
was the statement made last night by
Helene Mora Every girl has an inherent
desire to sing high notes. As a result her
lower register rises and there are hun
dred poor sopranos to one good cont alto
Harry Bulger was leaning back in 4 big
chair enjoying quiet smoke and J. Sher-
rie Matthews was busy with Gustayr I.lI-
ders, his musical director. when The Times
man found his way up TO hotel room oc-