The Savannah morning news., 1901-02-02

ueatness and precision the Rochester
youth decorated first one eye and then
the other Then he spoiled two front
teeth Finally the bully was carried to
the hospital
Vanquished Five in a Day.
Before SchoeffeI had compelled recog-
milton as the undisputed fstic champion
OF the academy his friends of the upper
class subjected him TO the trying ordeal
of meeting FIVE picked bruisers success
lively in a single day. This test was ex-
ped,ed to humble his pride, but Frank
sent one after another down and out,
and then asked if anybody else had as
plrations After this his supremacy was
very generally conceded and he had some
available time for study.
SO deep an impression did Frank
Schoeffel prowess leave upon his com
rades that when, a few years later, MS
brother Bernard came along as a pleoe
and the cadets observed that the strip
Ling was butt on the same lines as the
redoubtable Frank, and learned that ne
had enjoyed similar athletic privileges,
he was accepted on his apparent merits
and did not have to fight his way to
fame The elder brother had established
the family's status in a class by itself
and thenceforth it stood unchallenged.
Shoulder 10 shoulder these sturdy
brothers have since fought their way at
Santiago, in the Philippines and at Pc
kim sharing in all the honors of the
glorious old Ninth Infantry. 1t was their
fortune to be detailed to the same regi-
ment. When Brigadier General Hawkins,
bare headed. his long, snow white hair
streaming like the plume of Henry of
Navarro, led his regulars up the bullet
swept slopes of San Juan, First Lieuten-
ant Frank Schoeffel and his company
were among the first to gain the summit.
They made him a captain after that, and
Bernard was a lieutenant in his broth
er's company, when the fighting Ninth
was ordered to Gen. Lawton's command
in the Philippines.
Only about fifteen per cent. of the men
now in the Ninth were the veterans of
Santiago. The regiment had been recruit
ed with lot of good but raw material
that had never stood under fire. 1t was
during Lawton's famous turning move
lnent, directed against the towns living
south of Mania. The boys called it the
"trip across the desert"
Fighting Under Difficulties.
Not a drop of water to drink the hot
test day of the season; sweltering, parch
ed, the troops had struggled behind or
fallen out by hundreds. Their officers
rallied them, and after a night of rest the
advance was resumed the next morning
along a creek bottom. Emerging from a
bamboo thicket into a valley covered with
swampy rice fields, the skirmishers were
greeted with a hot fire from one of the
hills that f1anked the valley. The Fiji
pinos were there in force.
Lawton was between two fires. The men
advancing to the assault were being shot
at from in front and behind. The Gen
eral here achieved remarkable evolu-
lion with command under double fire
He ordered the Ninth right about face,
and started it charging toward the hill
from which came the second attack
while the rest of the command continued
to assault the position first heard from
As the Ninth advanced it was met with
such CALLING fire that the men were or
dered to lie down in the rice fields. Dur
ing this trying ordeal many of the raw
recruits lost their nerve and We're on the
verge of panic When the fire slackened
slightly the order came to resume the as
sault But some of the men of Capt
Schoeffels company, in common with
others, simply refused to rise and face
the fire again. They buried their noses
in the rice roots and lay low. 1t was
critical moment.
Athlete Brothers to the Rescue.
Then down the line like pair of aveng-
ing furies strobe two giant figures. The
West Point athlete was again on his met
tie. Cursing them roundly for towards,
Capt. Frank Schoeffel and his brother,
Bernard one after another, lifted those
scared recruits bodily, as an irate par
ent lifts a naughty child for punishment,
| and swinging them to their feet as though
they were mere pigInies, the officers plant
ed them erect and then with a shove or a
kick from behind forced the laggards for
ward.
The crisis was past. Once on their feet
and in action, their fighting blood aroused,
the men of the Ninth Strengthened out in
good form and cleared that perilous hill
in a style worthy of its best regimental
traditions.
Once their men were upright and ad-
vancing the Schoeffel brothers no longer
pushed but led. But what they had done
during that panicky moment in the rice
field none but men of steel thews and
giant strength could have done.