El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-19

1Or some time out only succeeded In
killing eight horses and wounding one
man. Our next fight was an attack up
on General Cables camp. the insurgent
leader. Cables got away, he and his
followers left so quickly that they left
many of their possessions behind them.
Gen. Cables left his clothing and Cap
tain Kipp of our troop got his pistol
and some of his jewelry.
The fighting out there is over rough
mountains and swampy country. The
enemy's mode of fighting is entirely of
the guerrilla kind. They take advan-
tage of the thick jungle grass, cane
brake and anything that will afford an
ambush. They won't stand for the cold.
steel and on the approach of our men
they melt away, so that 1t is difficult
to get many of them. They are very
poorly armed, their weapons consisting
of few Mausers and old Remingtons,
bow and arrows, bolos, and anything
else they can get. They have no am
munition, but make their cartridges
from tin cans and load them with
match heads.
In answer to the question as to
whether he thought the war would
soon cease, Mr.. Witt replied:
Il don't believe it will close until
the authorities adopt more severe pun
ishment than at present Let me illus
trate. The martial law now in force
says that if an insurgent surrenders
and declares his intentions of becoming
an American citizen. and afterwards is
found with the enemy he shall suffer
the death penalty. On July 10, 1900,
thirteen men of my troop were sent out
to fix the telegraph wires and We're
surrounded by lis insurgents. They
were attacked on three sides but held
their ground. They had three horses
killed and one man wounded. They
were about out of ammunition when
k company of the 37th came to their
assistance. The insurgents. as soon as
they saw that reinforcements has APP
peared. took to their heels.
In the meantime, however, tele-
graph operator had cut in on the wires
and telegraphed the state of things to
| our troops at Santa Cruz and Pagsan-
! ham. &c" troop saddled up and met
| the enemy as they were about to cross
the river. They captured 43 guns and
twenty-five prisoners. Among the pris-
oners was an insurgent lieutenant who
| had declared his intentions of becOm-
| ing an American citizen and had taken
the oath. He was tried by court mar
tial and sentenced to 50 years impris-
onment. The reviewing lizard c'sNi-
muted his time to ten years.
! THAT sort of a thing only encOura Ses
them, for it teaches them that the au-
thorities don't mean what they say
The policy of transporting the leaders
to Guam, however. is having mighty
good effect for there they can't do any
more mischief and have to earn a !iv-
ing. General Mac Arthur is a good
man and much better likel by the sol
diers than was Otis
How are the volunteer soldiers
treated?" the reporter asked.
well, personally, don't care to
say much for the reason that people
might say I have some spite against
the officers. l have none, whatever.
but the truth is that the men are badly
treated. Al 1.-The money 1 have drawn
out has gone to buy something to eat.
! the rations served out being anything
but satisfying. We and other troops
had troop fund which came from the
profits OF the canteen. Some of them
ran as high as $500 a month, and this
money was supposed to be distributed
among the troops to buy little things
we did not ge with our rations. This
fund was in charge of the troop COM
mander, but in several instances the
men never got any of that fund. Ii the
good Lord will forgive me this time
for having enlisted 1 promise that-UN
never do it again.