The National tribune., 1902-10-16

hours off duty and see if they could not
get into action somehow. They would
run the guard lines at night so as TO De
OH the firing line in the morning. one
of these men was Killed whlle WIN lhe
California regiment. When the Kansas
regiment charged the Filipinos at Calico
can one company had about 100 men III
II. more than half of them Oregon men,
OF course this eagerness for battle got the
men into trouble. They were absent from
quarters at night, from retreat, from re
yeille roll-call, and at other times OF check
ing up. There was wholesale court.
martialing and lot of men forfeited S6
of their pay for their fun. This was bad
discipline in one sense, yet 1t was almost
unavoidable. 1t did not last long, but
almost any regiment getting its first real
taste of war might be expected to have
some enthusiasts in its ranks who couldn t
wait for q fight to come to them IN regular
order, but must go out looking for it. Hav-
ing had scrap" they were satisfied, ana
considered the So cheap price to pay Tor
it. After that they were content TO remain
with their own regiment, whether 1t was
fighting or not.
NV observation is that few men hunt
up fight after they have once been in a
good battle. He is a pretty good soldier
who fights when his time comes, and does
1t we'll In fact, he is the best soldier
The one who is impatient and wants to
be somewhere else than where duty has
placed him is very likely not to be where
he should when there is sudden call for
him. Notwithstanding these men went
out to fight. it was grave desertlon OF
duty for them to do so. Had there been
an uprising while they were away they
would have been absent from their post of
duty without excuse in an emergency
Another phase of the American Voiun-
teer, and Regular also, for that matter,
is his fortitude under suffering and ten
xrnnnla1 comrades. Each |
man carried a first-aid package, contain
ing bandages, and with these they would
bind up the wounds of their comrades and
make them as comfortable as possible, |
and whenever it was possible for them to
do so. would carry them to the dressing
station. 1 have also seen them do the |
same for the Filipino wounded. But 1t |
was in the field hospital where their
strong points were brought out
FoRTITupE OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS.
During the battle of Malabon l had Oc-
casion to visit the field hospital at Calico |
can in search of relnforcements TO hold |
certain position. picking up all the strag- |
glers l could find, and / saw for few |
minutes what was going on there. Ihe |
little engine stood putting on the track,
having just returned from run to Manila |
with load of wounded men, and another |
load was being made ready for it. Wound |
ed men were lying on the depot platform
and the ground, some of them having been
attended to and some not. While to one
side lay the bodies of dead men who had
been brought iii wounded and had died |
before anything could be done for them.
was told of the patience and bravery
of the men under the Surgeons knife. |
One mani lay for an hour, giving his turn
to others who were brought in, suffering
intensely. Just as he was being lifted
upon the operating table another badly
.1..l hn
ed to be permitted to wait again until
others had received attention. Men laugh
ed and joked under the knife, and as soon
as fixed up some of them wanted to
go to the front again. One fellow with
bad wound in the head sat up as soon as
the Surgeon was through with him and
said:
That's good job, Doc; where's my
gum"
what do you want your gun forE,
81 want to go out and give those Fill
pinoS another dose"
He put his feet on the floor and tried
to rise, and fell over in a faint Half
an hour later he was lying on a cot in
the First Reserve Hospital, where he re
mained for q month; meanwhile his com
rGdes in the field attending to the matter
of dosing the F'ilipinos. Such scenes as
these We're common, and have been 50 in
every war in which the Americans have
been engaged, and will always be SO.
.Shall not the self-same mould bring
forth the self-same menG
RATIoNs II THE FIELD.
] have spoken about the rations in deal
ing with other subjects, and the tendency
Of the men to eat as heartily In the
tropics as at home, with resultant sick
ness. On the campaign they had enough
exercise to stand this hearty eating with
out i'll effects. The great staples were
bacon and coffee. When these were pres
ent there was not much complaint about
the rest Rice we had in plenty, not is
sued, to be sure, but foraged as we went
along, and part of the time there was su-
were in the sugar growing district Crude
sugar, as dark as maple sugar, was
found in quantities in plantation ware
houses, standing in solid chunks in large
earthen crooks. The men ate so much
of this that it made them sick, and orders
had to be issued against eating it.
We stopped for several days in a town
called MOroncO, where there was plenty of
sugar. 1t was just at the beginning of the
mango season, but before that fruit was
ripe. The men cut up green mangoes and
stewed them in sugar, making mango
preserves, upon which they feasted until
surfelted. Having no way to carry the
concoction when the march was resumed
they left gallons of mango preserves for
the inha btants to wonder over when they
IetuEHeu 10 tntlr MONIES, every soul lay-
ing abandoned the town upon our ap-
proach. II was here also had the great
est gastronomic joy of the campaign, moth
ing less than fried corn meal mush with
melted sugar on it. The corn is hard and
yellow, just like our own Yankee corn"
and would make splendid golden meal If
properly ground. but there are no mills
except crude stone affairs worked by
hand. II took six men all one afternoon
to grind enough corn to make mush foi
the company the next morning. At one
place we came across some of this meal
already ground, and it was like finding
golden nuggets.
Cooking in the field was done by com
panies. Originally we had issued to us a
buZZicott oven, patent army contrivance
for field service, but it gradually became
worn out and we had little of il left when
we took the field. In Manila ! built n
regular brick oven and fireplace for my
company kitchen. In the field we used
only the iron cross pieces of the buzzicott
affair, either over a hole in the ground or
on stones laid for foundation. With q
kettle for coffee and couple of iron pans
for frying the bacon. the cooks could ge'
up meal for GO or 30 men in short order
We carried with MS canned beans, can
ned tomatoes, canned salmon and canned
corned beef, and these were issued wher
we were on a march and would have ne
opportunity to do cooking. They wero
issued to the Corporal of each SQUAD whc