The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-02-10
GEN. ''ANDY''
BURT HERE
Has Best Baseball
Team in the
Army.

| ~ one VI the TWO original col
ored regiments of the army, is again
in town, arriving yesterday as a pas
senger of the transport Thomas This
is his second visit TO Honolulu, his first
visit being in 1899. when he passed
through on the transport Pennsylvania
en- route to Manila General Burt. has
been in the States on furlough, and
| is now on his way back to the Philip
pines to rejoin his regiment, which he
anticipates will soon be ordered home
General Burt became possessed of
that title when the Spanish war broke
| out. having been made a Brigadier-
| General of Volunteers. Since the re-
| organization of the army he has again
| assumed his rank of Colonel and is still
attached to his favorite regiment of
colored fighters. He participated in the
| battle of Santiago as one of the bril-
| gade commanders, and he points with
| pride to the record which the men of
! his regiment made in the operations
around Santiago and especially in the
| charge up the hill of Ell Caney
General Burt entered the army on
April 20, 1861, as Sergeant of Company
i
| camp in 1862; he was made a Captain
| in the regular army in 1868, became
| Major in the Eighth in 1888, Lieutenant
| Colonel Seventh infantry in 1888; Col
| onel of the Twenty-fifth in 1892 On
| May T. 1885, he was made BrigadIer-
General of Volunteers and honorably
discharged from that service al the
end of the same year.
The men of the Twenty-fifth swear by
! Iyrn-r n III.
in a battle to the bitter end. He has en-
deared himself to the men of his regi-
ment by the interest he has taken in
them and his appreciativeness of their
value as integral parts of the American
| army. In the field in camp, garrison or
ored fighters, are inseparable.
But if Gen. Burt believes in the cal
ored men as the best soldiers in the ar
my, he is also proud of their proves
on the baseball diamond The Twenty
fifth has baseball team which has
earned honors5 for many years and is
generally accredited with being the best
team of the old army
When General Burt was asked yester
day what his regiment had accomplished
since it went to the Philippines, the griZ-
zled warrior replied:
We'll, the Twenty-fifth has made a
splendid record and is one of the best
behaved regiments ever sent to Manila.
Of course it has not had as much fight
ing the men would probably have
liked, but they did some hard work a
Ararat, and at one time they hagged
the biggest lot of prisoners and the larS-
est amount of arms and ammunition TAX
en- during the war. But we didn't have
a newspaper man with us, and conse-
quently some Of the glory of the expedi
ton was lost on the public.
But did you hear what our baseball
team did down there? Well, they just
wiped out every team that went up
against my boys. We had twenty men
picked from the regiment and went to
Manila during the height of the base
ball season last year. Every regimental
team went down before us. and the last
one was from Battery II. Sixth Artillery
the crack team of Manila. Did we beat
them? Yes. indeed, and We hold the
championship yet"
Baseball is General Burt's weakness.
He personally directs the operations OF
the regimental ball team, and occasional
ly takes a hand in the game. When |
General Burts headquarters were at La
Iona church. a few miles outside OF
Manila on the advanced line OF the
American army, almost within rifle shot
of the Filipino army of General Pho Pl-
ar arrangements were being made u DO
some ball playing. one morning a big
box filled with baseball bats, gloves,
masks. balls and everything for the Ola
mond. had just arrived from Manila ana
opened up IN the CIldittl- winch 90
attack was made on the right of the line
maintained by two or three companies OF
the Twenty-fifth. TIE box had just been
opened and General Burt had for MS
especial duty the handing out Of the con-
tents The colored men We're standing
around and comments We're being passed
on the qualifications Of each man. LOOK
here. Johnson said the Colonel,
think you're better shortstop than a
third: you just change places with JACK
SON" Jackson thought he was all right
as shortstop and said so. Colonel Burt |
answered: Now YOU look here, jack |
son: don't you think 1 know what you
can do? You just take third base as
tell you: I'm looking out for this team
Just then the first shots OF the attack
We're heard, and baseball was droppeo
for military duty. The attack lasted an
hour or so and on returning to the
church the Colonel resumed his instrue-
1ions TO the team. as if nothing had hap
peued.
Whila the Twenty-.fifth regiment was
al Chattanooga, Tenn, during the hrst .
days Of Tho Spanish war excitement,
Col. Burt was most active in keeping /
his men in good health. il the climate
which was unusual to them, the regi-
nent having been stationed for years IN
the northwest So ~ ordered that each !
con,panv have its ball team and that the
men should play a good, hard game !
When the first game OF note was to come
off the Colonel having heard some COM
ment upon the heat and the fact that
the men might not play swift game
went on the field himself and announced
that he would play with one OF the ,
teams The soldiers OF the command
have great command OF several KINDS :
of language. being perhaps most fluent IN |
the profane There was not mucn enthu-
s!asm until Col. Burt having hit the nan
very hard was running the bases he
was trying to make a home run out OF !
bis hit and nafd attention only to the
noise on the coaching lines, until he
turned from second base to third and
then the following, with eXpurgation,
reached his ears. bawled out by the
great black soldier who was stationed at
the third corner:
Run. Andy. Your his rect; run
-: stretch her into homer. -;
run. YOU pale faced little runt: run. roll.
:. ~ ~. 70 rat here You hnw-Ieeged lit