The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-10-16
HERO TITUS MODEST
How He Writes of His Feat at
Pekin'S Walls.
BRAVE BOY ALMOST CRIED
When He Saw the People in
the Legations.

sour company has the honor
of being the first to scale the wall
Surrounding Pekin, and as fate
would have it, | was the first OF
them to go up"
In such modesty Calvin Pearl Titus, the
Wichita hero tells Of deed that set the
civilized world ringing with his name.
He gives his company credit and ascribes
his own deed TO fate.
And in all his letter, the first received
from him since he scaled the wall. that
is the extent Of his pride
Yesterday Mrs. Lee and Mr.. B. F. Smith
of South Laura avenue, this city, recelv-
ed from their distin guished relative the
letter they have 50 anxionsly awaited.
For it VIII be remembered that the ca
bles said that young Titus had been
wounded in the neck and his relatives
here could not tell how severely he might
have been injured. The letter relieves
them. He was not badly hurt That the
young man is as tender hearted as he is
bravo as sympathetic as he is modest, is
lates, that when he saw those in the le-
cations he had to keep his mouth shut or
he would have cried like a baby.
Here is the very interesting letter from
the valiant lad:
Pekn, China, August 26, 1900: Dear
FoEzsI was very glad indeed TO get a
letter from you day before yesterday,
here If it was dated june 18th. OF course
you knew long ago thar we came to
China. and that we captured Pekin. So
neeN not tell you much about it.
The second battle our regiment, two
battalions lost So killed and wounded,
and most of Us never fired a shot 1t
was a fearful day but never a better line
faced a fArcer fire than we did there.
Our company has the honor of being
the first to scale the wall surrounding
Pekin. and SIS fate would have it I was
the first Of them to go up. I'VE routed
them and secuted them lpor lost a single
man We did lose som but not many
there. When we march ed into the lega-
ton where the people had been penned
up for So days, I had to keep my mouth
shut or I would have cried like a baby.
How glad these women and men and
children were to see US! Then we forgot
the forced marches where men were rag
ing mad from want of water and from
heat and thought only Of the ones we hal
saved. That night we slept out in the
mud and rain and next morning took
four Of the gates leading into the For
hidden City They would not allow us to
take the last one, leading to the palace
itself for some reason or other. It was
fine. We blew the gates open with the
big guns and then rushed through and
at EN-. I was hit at the first gate,
Our battery was on the wall firing over
our heads at the center gate when a de-
,fective shell from one of the guns burst
over US. A ragged piece went in under
my chin and gave me a scratch about
an inch long under my Adams apple.
It went through the next mans hat and
hit the next one IN the leg. Our COM
pany had two killed and two wounded.
counting myself. Ny partner Bugler
Baker, was hit in the thigh
We now do police DUTY in the city,
ard guard duty on the walls. Our offic-
ers tell US that we will eat Christmas
DINNER in the states. We hope so. as
since we started we have been on one
third and one-half rations- Once for Sc
hours we had to live on one can of sal
mon and five pieces of bareback doing
terrible mrclring most of the time.
I don't even know that you'll get this
letter. and I must close now. Please
try and make this out for it is the best
I can do here. God bless you all. Yours,
PEARL