The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-04-27

| cumstances a caraboa is driven at the head
OF the column. But this unwieldy animal
| unfortunately, cannot be urged to greater
| speed than mile an hour. So it is only or
| rare occasions that this slow-moving pilot
engine can be ayailed of to draw the enc
| my's fire. But the Samarites have another
| traplike tdefense. from which nothing but
luck or providence will save you.
-, Near an n outlying post Of our men or upon
| top OF some steep hillside there suddenly
! appears. as though conJured out of the
ground, large nipa shack. such as are
built for quartels or nsurgent barracks and
storehouses. Here there seems to be an un-
usual lack of precaution. From the bamboo
fagpole is unfurled the red and white flag
OF the insurgents. with the single star that
| makes 1t look SO much like the Cuban flag
Charge Up n Hillside.
The men of our column, who probably
have not known dry clothing for: month.
for In Samar there is no idry.v season, only
the wet and the rainy seasons come stag
| gering along. footsore and often shoeless.
But the sight Of the enemy that has so
long evaded them and the flag spurs them
| on In moment. well before the sharp
report of the Krags awakens the slumber-
Ing echoes of the valley. the insurgents dis
appear like snakes in the tall grass. But
our fellows charge up the brier-grown hill
slGe with an energy and a determination
which the sight of the enemy never fails to
INSPIRE. In and out among the alterna ting
punches Of jungle and tall coarse grass. ly-
ing harniessly about as though placed there
by nature are long behooker trailers or
vines. which grow so luxuriantly here.
The soldier new to Samar warfare thinks
what an opportunity the enemy has lost
here; Of how had these trailers been raised
but vast high from the ground and tied
together they would prove as valuable a
defense as wire entanglements.
Victims of Cruel Traps.
Suddenly soldier of the advancing col
ttrr,f, -tt, ..
of the idly trailing behooker vines. He is
about to topple over to go down under the
weight of his heavy equipment when sud-
denly sapiing. or the bough of a tree,
springs toward him with force which no
human hand can stay. A sharp cry, The
soldier does not fall: he does not stand; he
remains transfxed. and when the hospital
man. or one of his comrades. comes along
he finds out what has happened. The trailer
which his careless foot has drawn taut has
released sapling. which then swings back
into its normal position with tremendous
force. To the boughs the hard wood spear
heads are tied with the little vines or with
hemp fiber. and they have gone through
the body of the soldier with tremendous
1 saw two victims of this kind of trap in
the hospital at Calbayoc. They had been
wounded by the same tree, to which as
many as a dozen spearheads were attached.
and. to show the tremendous force with
which the sapling springs back into place.
In each instance the spearheads had gone
clean through the body OF its victim and
the tree had to be cut down before he
could be released. and in each Instance the
wounds proved fatal.
There are dozen other savage but effect
I've methods which the ingenious Samarites
have devised. but these in default of space
must serve as examples Not less effective
is the way they fortify the watercourses
that lead right into the heart of this ocean
island.
Danger of Ascending Waters.
M otra
silent as the proverbial millpond, and some
times rushing torrents sweeping toward the |
sea with irresistible force. They are only
navigable for the captured dugouts. which |
our men have learned to use The danger |
Of ascending waters such as these. to men
not brought up as voyageurs and without |
trustworthy guides, is onsiderable. But even
under these circumstances the number OF |
deaths from drowning reported by the bri- |
gade commander in Samar is surprising
! will tell You how they have occurred. |
for the most part. The Samar rivers are
stopped every few miles of their courses by |
A.; barriers ,re They make as many
ing sharply the rocky barriers that block !
their course the rivers flow with such We 1
faa can t e , savage OF e
is the current. where any approaching boat |
must pass. And they make their prepara-
itons
On the frowning headlands above the in |
evitable places where the boats must pass |
great granite powders are loosened from /
their natural lodgment, great masses of
wars OF old, held in position by the invalu-
able trailers The savages await the mo-
ment when the solitary scCut-boat of the /!
liotilla must pass directly beneath their
perch Then slash of the bolo across the
vine. a slight push. and the great
bowlder ia Is upon the advancing f1oti!la |
with overwhelming force.
Fight Mt Close Quarters.
1t is only fair to say-and every man and
officer who has served in Samar will say it
that when their natural defenses fail and
their wiles prove unavailing these savage
bolomen were not slow to fight 1t out man
FOR man, the crooked steel knife against the |
life. always availing themselves. however.
as was their right, of the advantage OF
surprise.
Everything else having proved fruitless. it
was In this way they attacked the slender
column OF Lieutenant Downs. who, with but
twenty-five men and without support, was j
crossing of Southern Samar, practically the
same enterprise In which Major Waller, |
with much larger column and more close
" supported, has succeeded. but after losses
and in a plight that is likely to prevent :he /
expedition from exerting the desired moral
sffect upon the savagee
Downs took with him provisions for five
Jays. the journey before him as the Samar !
lays elapsed. however. and ali his provis-
Ions were exhausted, before he reached the
of the mountain spur that lies be-
tween Pambouhan and Balangiga. Two of
his men had been desperately wounded. and
The necessity of carrying these men in lit
ters reduced his fighting force to fifteen.
In view Of these circumstances Downs
single die through a wilderness Of traiiers,
Impossible to send out nankers. and here