The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-08-26
CAPT. SMFDLEY BUTLER,
BOY HERO OF THREE WARS.
Hard Service in Cuba and
the Philippines Res
(ued by a (Omrade
at TipntSin.

WV Darlington I Butler, q West
$50 ~set ~ ~ a boro
~ three wars. He has served with dis
tnction in Cuba, the Philippines and
China. When the cabie brought the news
t..a. ne had been wounded in the attack
-. Iientsin the people in west Chester
said
well. young smed Butler is up against
1t again Wonder what he'll be doing
next"
Everybody in West Chester knows young
smed Butler, and when he comes back
from the wars II will seem queer to them
10 call him captain. For that matter they
may have occasion to call him colonel or
even general. when he gets back. Who
knows. Until the outbreak Of the Span
fsh-American war he had lived In the
peaceful town OF West Chester all his
life, except when he was going to school
at Hayerford. He came of good old Qua
ker stock, and no one had even suspected
him Of warlikc proclivlties. But he must
have had sanguinary ancestors. Away
back somewhere some Of his forefathers
must have cast their lot with the fighting
QuAkers'' OF tho Revolution. There IL no
other way Of accounting for H.
The Meager cable dispatches from China
would have been quite sufiicient to estab-
fish tho record OF Capt. Butler as gallant
soldier, even had that record not been SUI
pcrseded by other reports from Cuba and
the Philippines. His promotion from leu
tenant OF marines to captain came d.
rcctiy following the engagement at Tien-
tsin. In which he was wounded, and makes
him the youngest captain In the service
Of tho navy department. and that before
he was ~ years old.
Intertwined with Capt. Buffers laurels
there IL tinRe Of sorrow. in the misfor-
tune of his chum. Lieut.. Harry Leonard.
whose widowed mother II a resident Of
Washington. Leonard and Butler are
about the Same age, They passed the
competitive examination together. and
have been constant companions in the
service Butler. whose injuries. so far as
can he learned. are comparatively slight.
has been promoted. Leonard. who car
ried him after he had fallen In that bloody
charge. 10 a place OF safety. was shot in
both arms
CONGRESSMAN Thomas q. Butler. Capt.
Buffers father. went to Washington a
few days after the battle TO condoie with
Lieut.. Leonard's mother. 80 far as I
can LEARN he said. my boy is not In
serious danger. But I have received adj
vices 20 tho effect that poor Leonard.
who perhaps saved him from torture and
death after ne had been wounded. has
had both arms amputated. This II true
heroiHm. tho herolsm we might attribute
20 Damon and Pythias,"
In that terrible engagement against a
foe OF yellow fanatics. In which Col. Lis
cum fell, Mt the head OF the troops. these
two plucky boys, scarcely more than
children. must have felt that they were
upholding the dignity OF their country
and their coors. They had been under
IRE before. and II was no new expert
ence to them.
Don't retreat. boysl Keep on firingl"
were tho last fords OF the colonel as he
fell pierced through the vtals-words
which are destined to become historic.
Butler and Leonard must have heard
them and rushed forward with feverish
impctuosity.
Z-y-x-s-p. A Mauser bullet from the
rifle OF Chinese sharpshooter. schooled
In the handling Of the modern implements
OF war, dropped young Butter In his
tracks. Leonard must have been quickly
~ his side, for the dispatches recount
that he carried him 20 the rear. The
figures OF the two boys one bearing tho
other across hts shoulders would natur-
ally present a pretty target. Before he
had accomplished his purpose Leonard
had been shot through both arms. and
now Il out 90 u forcvcrl
smedley Darlington Butler. whose pro-
motion came directly on the heels Of hts
engagement at Tientsin, Is the eldest son
Of Congressman Thomas =. Butler. He
springs from two OF the most promiu-
ent Chester families, his grandfather on
the paternal slide being former state
Treasurer Samuel Hutier. Hts maternal
grandfather was the late smedley Oar
lington who for years was the recognized
Republican leader In Chester county. and
who represented the sixth district IN con-
gress In ise0-as. He Is also grand nephew
az former United States District Judge
William Butler. and couein ~ William
Butler. judge % Chester county,
when the spanish American war broke
out young Butler was a student at Hav-
srford college. hu, becoming imbncd with
the spirit ~ patriotism. he determined TO