The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-01-23

ders FOR Havana harbor. People hadn't
lort interest In this little man then. he
had made a record and gained a pet name
IN real war, half a century ago. and there
was something about the texture Of this
record which stuck in peoples brains. and
they sJiil spoke about him and liked him
much.
Then In July year and half ago
newspapers in the States completely
wrapped themselves about him They had
done the same thing before, but 10 was in
mat other war. Other editors handled the
copy and other correspondents sent II in.
But the little man wds making his pres
cnce felt and his record SINNER I'm the
same old way-Walkng up and down in
'front.' OF live, hot. smoky trenches. making
= mark out Of and Tor himself: talking 10
us Inen IN the tones he would tell a Bible
story tu his SInday-school class. and re-
questing them occasionally to raise he'll
with e block house Oh top Of certain
cuban hill
Ana the strong point about this was
that the night before this little man was
mumbiing and burning and freezing with
the Cuban fever. But he didn't have any
time for fever that morning And the
glory OF all these things was charged into
wires and headed nOrthward. and tine
wires were hot for many days. while the
newspapers rubbed on a dazzling polish
10 the shiny record Of this little man.
Watching Wheeler.
And now over here. where the Tagalos
and several dozen other torfid tribes are
shedding much sweat and a little blood
we find this same little man working out
his own peculiar lines in his own quiet
way while correspondents prodded by
wire and letter. are keeping one eye upon
him. and reserving the other for the rest
Of the archipelago. but chiefly for the ca
bic Office on the Malate road.
There he goes"
II was correspondent who spoke. and
all ! could see under a great brown cork
helmet Was a very wee, very pompous.
and very shapely red stallion, and the
lower part Of a gray beard That helmet
by the way. has a record of its own. The
hive on top OF the Cuban hill sent forth
several swarms for its especial benefit, but
none ut. If il hadn't been for that hel-
met, the little man under IL might never
have come here, but il was such a perfect
thing 10 aim at that naturally il was safe
in itself. Otherwise, it might have been
punctured by a stray atom Of the swarm
1t was up In Capas four miles this side
OF Torlac. where the helmet was pointed
out. ] felt inStinctively that Gen Wheel
ct was under il, though ! could only see
the gray beard. The little red stallion
danced his way through the steaming
puddles and though it was late in the
afternoon, the sun was still cooking mud
pics in the roadbed and showing up the
fiendish tempers OF wet and wilted Amer
lean soldiers.
Even for a bunch OF correspondents, we
were not good TO look at that day We
were wet. We were also hungry and
thirsty Our feet felt as if we had been
wading through several miles of lime
beds. 4 hot foot in the tropics ALWAYS
affects white man this way Moreover,
We were as muddy as a dredging gang.
and it was no comfort to remember that
several regiments OF infantry and several
troops of horses, all Of which had lust
crawled into Capas. felt exactly as we
did. The men packed themselves in the
shade Of bamboo clumps and palm foliage
and tried TO bl'!y the sun into cutting OUT
his demonstrations for the rest of the
day.
Following the General.
We arrived at the place in Capas which
had been picked out for the generals
headquarters for the night. Ii was an an
Gent church, remarkable for many things.
bot chiefly for the advanced and thor
ough state of its decay. 1t was our plan
TO besiege the general as soon as he got
into quarters. We wanted many things
from him, and the least of these things
was not supper. You couldn't buy a cigar
cite in town. We had been chasing the
general for two days-since the fight AT
Bamban-and following an army column
through a country direly devastated by
The pounding OF three months rains is
novelty. for about ten minutes. After
that il is work
And now the general and his staff wer.
pulling out for the headquarters of Gen.
Macarthur. a mile on toward Tarlac. and
all we could do was 10 watch how deIiber-
ately the sun sank-untn he came hack.
We speculated upon the interviews and
the supper We would get-if God were
good. And from under several thousand
mud-spOtted campaign hats there arose
murmurs Of English, decidedly new 10
Capas town, and hardly pretty enough 10
print
That night, in the ruins OF the old
church, The general told us many things
how great and good his BOYS were. and
The fellows 10 whom he referred were
snoring an accompaniment TO the dirce
Of the blood-Sucker in every shack and
sheltered place in the town. He told rs.
IN his quiet Way. the manner of lifa il
was, floating a campaign in LuZon, when
the whole land il soft and swollen like a
spOnee-when the rains continue weeks
after scheduled time, out Of pure spirit
Of deviltry. He told MS much about the
little bare. brown men, who built me
trenches for the white soldiers TO occup-
and he pointed out the pathos Of their
attempts 10 keep their legs from whir-
ring hillward in the face Of an American
advance.
And all the while the sentry paced m
and down in front of the ancient church
and the troop horses of the bodyauard
crunChcd drowSily Al their forage And
all the while We watched the candle-Tav
playing IN the finc blue eyes of this liz
lie man, and smoked has cigars and
Tried 10 draw him out on another tack
ReIicrnI. but PaIiIs.
Gen. Wheeler carried cigars 70 give
away. but he did not smoke himself. He
talked about many things. but he did not
mention himself
| cannot conceive Of Il Cholcer evenings
Il
man talk as he pleases. but We hal not
ford@d three rivers and walked sixteen
miles that day for an evenings enter
tainmcnt We wanted the general 10 tell
what he had done: hut mostly We wanted
him 20 tell what he was going 10 do And
IL IL "A true saying and an ugly fact that
a great man will usher you into the
closet whore his family skeleton is snr0ud-
"a before he viii tell you what Is on his
mind.
II was getting late. and the general
had been la The saddle all day He did
not say that be was tired. but We knew
that he was not the same unkillabis
young cavalry leader VINO led charge
Tor The South thirty-iiye years ago. Ne
knew that the stan was hating US FOR
keeping him up They guard him like "a
baby. and We knew that Fighting Joe
ought 10 be under his mosquito bar get
ling ready for another day He would
90 into Tsrlac tomorrow.