The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1900-01-11
~ ECRUITING business did nc
- proceed with lightning-lik
PUBLISHED EVER.


A dozen regiments were encampcd
here, and not one of them had its full
quota Of men. There were officers in
plenty, but of what use were they
without q command? Each regiment
took on one or two men a day, but at
that rate it would take a year for some
of the regiments to reach full strength.
SO it was that keen rivalry sprung
up between the different regiments in
the matter of enlistments. Any man
that looked like possible applicant
was besought by dozens of men to join
this or that regiment. II he seemed
ut all timid, he was pulled aud hauled
and ut last carried off bodily by the
biggest man in the crowd of solicitors,
unless some other regiment happened
to be represented by two or three men.
"Say, Jack (every strangers Jack
in the army, don't you want to join
the Ninth, the fighting Ninth 2 +"
shouts some one on the approach of n
possibility"
u Nav, he don't. OF course not, "
bellows another, "'the bloody Tenth
is his game"
"The fighting Ninth, the bloody
Tenth, wouldn't that jar you? Why
say, Jack, the 'scrappy Twelfth is
the only outfit around here. You
never heard Of them others, did you +?
OF course not"
And then cavalryman would open
mp on the merits of the bronco Dustin
Sixth, and others would join in until
the poor applicant often wished the
war was over or had never started, or
that he had had sense enough not to
think of enlisting.
Ii was during these troublous times
that n squad of recruit catchers one
day noticed q rather peculiar looking
individual vending his way toward:
camp.
Looks like QUE, said Mango Pete
after critical survey of the approach
ing form.
Trouble in the family, though,
commented another.
"How's that?"
pants at half mast. You never
was anything but q laud-lubber.
No one deigned to smile, even.
'Ah-ha," said Pete, jumping to hi.
feet, 81 know who he is now. 1 wa'
'ookin' fur him."
"Who is hc?" chorused the other,
incredulously.
HE, why he's the Maine Guy"
And the Maine Guy he was from
that day, although it was never know
absolutely what part of the country h,
was from.
As soon as he approached within
speaking distance it was seen that hi
was no youngster out for holiday
He appeared to be about thirty year
old. His clothes were ill-fitting ant
his face unshaven, but the glance 0
his eye showed that he knew his bust
ness and wanted no interference
Consequently, he was not hare
pressed to join more than half dozel
regiments, and he went off will
Mango Pete, tho had been the frs
spokesman.
To the officer who enlisted him b
gave the name of ST Bender, and hi
home at Jacksonville, Fla. How
ever, it was easy to perceive from tn
manner of his speech that he was n
Southerner. He answered all ques
tions promptly, said he never ha
been in the army, had no family, etc.
and was then sent to the awkwar
squad for drill.
The first day in the awkward squa
he had the drill sergeant swearin
mad most of the time But the mex
day he had improved to such an e1
tent that he never made even one mi:
take, and no order given seemed t
feaze him for IN instant. Whe
asked the cause of his remarkable in
provement he said he did not want t
stay in the awkward squad foreve
and had dreamed out all the tactic
of the regular army during the nigh
The Maine Guy was q good-nature
fellow, and never objected to his nicl
name. In fact, he rather seemed |
like it, aud, to certain extent, trie
to talk with q down-east nasal twan
in his voice. In this he was on1
partially successful.
When the regiment had Olsen
barked at Siboney it was noticed thu
Bender was soon on terms of il
timacy with several Cubans. Z
would jabber at them in an unknow
tongue and they would jabber bac
aud, while others could not unde
stand what was being said, they r
allied that the Maine Guy kne
Spanish. When asked about it
said he had been in Mexico coup
of years and picked up smatteril
OF the language there.
AS soon as his fluency with SPANS
became known Bender was the mo
sought man i'll the regiment. He W
wanted to bargain with the natives
behalf of one or another, and som
times even the officers, who were su
posed to know everything and lit
more, would condescend to ask Be
der to interpret for them.
Sometimes, after conversing wi
the Cubans, Bender would sit do,
in front of his peep tent and tell VIC
drous stories that he had heard.
the terrible vengeance of the native
How each one in the so-called Cub
army kept a necklace ON which "
strung a tooth from every Spania
killed by the wearer. The owner
the largest string held the awe a
admiration of his comrades and CIV
ranked with the officers in their ey
Then there was the story of
red machete, a wonderful weapon C
ried by Spanish officer It's owl
was immune to bullets and could
taken only by capture. But thou
many times the officer and machete /
been seen and many plots had be
laid to trap him he had eluded til
all. Whenever no was seen at
head of q column of Spaniards
Cubans fed precipitately, for he ,
terrible fighter aud was never kno
to have been beaten.
But it was not long that the tro
remained in camp at Siboney. S,
the march on Santiago was begun ,
within week the American army
at La Seville, suburb of the fam