The sun., 1902-03-10

tnsurgent line after this shot had rung
out, and the First Nebraska was called
| out. or course there was a great deal Of
excitement, and everybody Thought IL was
like the incident of the attempt to assa ssinate
| the sentry OF the Montana regiment which
resulted IN the shooting Of tho Filipino
Captain In Manila. We also thought that
| the thing was ended for the time being
hut within minute or two riAo Are broke
| out from the insurgent trenches In front
| OF the First Nebraska Regiment, and war
| had begun
| OH, THE SENTRY BEGAN THE WAR, DID HE !?
IL is said that that sentry began the
! war by firing the hrst Shot, but ! think
| army officers here will bear me out in the
statement that II he had sho, his own
! Captain under the same circumst ances
/ no would have gone scot free lapplausel -,
! or even II he had shot the General COM
manding the army OF the United States.
| The Secretary OF War, or even the Presi-
! dent himself cannot force his way past
sentry Of our army. The men have in
| strictions that they cannot disobey, and
that sentry, II he had allowed this man TO
rush his post and get bv him. could have
been dishOnOraby discharged from the
service and sentenced TO term OF inn
prisonment. Under the circumstances,
there ia no possible doubt that he was
Justified ia shooting this man, and the in
cident should have been closed right there;
but the excited insurgents In the trenches
on the First Nebraska, a fire that spread
like prairie fire Oh the plains Of Kansas
for Ave miles 70 the right
AND SO THE DANCE BEoAN.
II may possibly interest you to know
IA voice You het II Will Just what ex-
periences one would have on an occasion
Of that kind You will understand that the
regiments were quartered In the city OF
Manila, each regiment maintaining out
side the city certain portion OF the line OF
outposts. The Twentieth Kansas, of
which was Colonel at that time was sta
toned In district known a. Penango,
the commercial part OF the city of Manila.
We had on outpost about sevent Y five men.
| had just retired that evening, when Major
Metcalfe, afterWard Colonel Of the regi-
ment, came TO my door and knocked. /
got up and went 10 the door and he said.
We'll. Colonel. the dance has begun
! said; What dance?' lLaughter.l
And he said: Come out on the porch and
listen 10 It,"
We went out and heard that old familiar
sound, the rattle OF the Mauser rife
| shall not attempt to take up your time
with any history Of the campaign from
Manila north. IL II an old and well-known
story. | am sure that 1t has been talked
about and written about until there is
nothing more that can be said. A voice
Talk about Funston
Five PER CENT or ARMY LIARS.
| wish 10 say to you something, how
ever, about the class of officers and men
who are serving in the Philippines, and
about some of those magnificent men who
have lost their lives there OF course,
there are all sorts OF men in our army,
Regular and Volunteer, good, bad and in
different but | believe that II Is a pretty
safe guess 10 say that % per cent.
of the men who constitute our army are
a brave and humane lot of men, who are
a credit to the service. Long applause
The other per cent ~ the men are the
kind that write letters to the newspapers al
home and tell big stories and think il
can be taken for granted that that class
OF men-the men who spread this informa-
tion that Is so prevalent here in the States
regarding affairs In the Philippine Islands
| say that they are the class Of men who
have onamented the inside of guard
house more often than they have distin-
guished themselves in the field Applause
SOME OF THE GOOD MIN WHO ARE GONE.
l wish 20 hold up certain officer
who lost his life In the Philippines as
fair type of Our army officer, as humane
and kind a gentlemen as ever lived. Capt.
George j. Godfrey Of the Twenty-second
Infantry. who was born here in New York
city, was appointed to West Point from
here, and served under New York men.
He was a very popular man, beloved by
his own soldiers, and beloved by the natives.
too. popular with his own comrades. hu-
Inane and just, without such a thing ss
hatred in his heart.
was on a campaign one day with God
frey's company, and owing 10 the conditions
here-ambuscades being abso lutely GER
taln-we ran into an ambuscade and had
a fierce fight, lasting for about half a minute,
and Godfrey was shot through the heart
as close to inc as the President OF this club
is / heard the curses Of his men and saw
them crying, and knew what they had lost
in their beloved Captain.
Another type Of man was certain Ser
a d.. - To.
of the Fourth United States Cavalry,
twenty five years an enlisted man in the
army, magnificent type Of the profess
sional soldier, sober, attentive 10 his duties,
courteous, and with great pride in his occu-
patton. lie had started at one time on a
scout from the town of San lsidro with
Troop q, now az Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
O'Brien had been Ill in the hospital for
some days, he heard that we were going on
a scout and he wanted 10 go with the troop
But his Captain. Capt keeler, said: mo,
sergeant, you cant 60; you are not well
enough" O'Brien replied:
Il have been IN every fight with NV
troop for twenty-five years, and hope /
don't have to be left behind now"
Capt keeler said: Well all right. |
We marched out 10 the town Of Sampaloc.
We had information that $50 insurgents, |
under Lacuna, were going to attack the
town that night; the town had very small
our detachment, with which we finally |
struck them. numbered only about fifty
men We obtained information from the !
native scouts as TO the exact position of the !
insurgents and where they were lying in |
wait.
Within TWENTY-FIVE minutes after leaving |
town we struck them, and there was one !
OF those wild minutes that are worth ten |
years OF an ordinary humdrum existence. |
and when il was over there were forty-four |
dead insurgents on tho field and among |
our own dead was Sergt. O'Brien, shot |
through the heart, shot of from his horse, |
| simply wish 10 hold up those two |
soldiers, Godfrey and o Brien a. fair sam
pies Of the magnificent men who are being |
sacrificed in the Philippine Islands.
SHOT IN THE BACH.
And now | am going TO say something |
which hope you gentlemen will not criti-
cise | am going To say IL jus, as mildly |
H. | can, but We who have seen our men |
killed, who have seen our men die Of typhoid |
fever, die of dysentery in the hospitals,
and who have buried them IN hundreds Of
naIneless graves ia the Philippine Islands,
feel bitterly about this subject. All OF |
f..1l. -. A.