The Savannah morning news., 1904-05-29

The origin of the Devil is lost in the
obscurity of his early career. We are
not now referring to his satanic maj
esty. but to a lesser light: lesser to the
world at large, though far more brill
liant TO the little sphere in which he
lived and moved and butted.
To the American soldiers who garri-
soned san Ramon in Northern Luzon,
and to the natives of the surrounding
district, the Devil was a far more tan
gible object of comprehension than the
wider known Prince of Darkness, with
whom they had only an abstract as
quaintance. Their Devil was living,
moving, breathing power of evil, whose
evasion required the keenest control of
the physical senses, for when he came
on mischief bent it needed more mus
cular activity than prayer to get out of
his reach.
The natives had named him "Diablo
Ell Segundo." which means Devil tha
Second. There We're certainly strong
lines of comparison to merit him this
title. What the Devil may have been in
the obscurity of his earlier life we can
not tell, but as we knew him, in the
prime of his later career, his huge
the cloven hoof, We're strikingly sug
gestive of his namesake. The COMPARE
son, however, was more than physical
1t was in temperament and in general
character that resemblance was
strongest.
When the boys of Company A took
San Ramon they found what at first
seemed an entirely deserted town. Ev-
cry man, woman and child had fed
with the last of the retreating insur-
gents, and they had taken with them
every chicken. cat, dog, pig, or horse
that the community owned. Even much
of the furniture had been carted away
from the houses Evidently the Fill
pinos had decided to make their next
stand at some more advantageous
point, and as the men in khaki march
ed in. they expected no resistance. But
there is where they made their mistake.
The company lined up in the big
shaded plaza and there proclaimed
American sovereignty by raising the
colors. This ceremony had just been
completed when there appeared a star
Ting apparition in the open doors of
the municipal town hall, facing the
plaza on the north side. A huge,
bearded goat stalked out on the steps
and stood for a moment regarding them
with a marked expression of disap-
proval on his satanic face. which was
in no wise lessened by the remnant OF
a soldiers castaway coat suspended
from his massive jowls. This was he
who was yet to be handed down to To-
cal fame as "Diablo."
Being native born it may naturally
be supposed that Diablo's political
tendencies were in favor of the Fill
Pine cause. At any rate, having sized
up the enemy's position in the plaza,
he dropped the coat, lowered his head
and charged the line of dust-colored
troops. At first a laugh arose from the
men, but as the champion of the alb
sent insurgents gained momentum in
his wild charge for the company CEN
ter some of the men shifted uneasily.
then scrambled quickly to both sides
as the ponderous beast cut his way
through. Having missed the sergeant
who had been the object of his es-
pecial attack, he turned again, and
then the brown ranks wavered and a
wild panic broke loose
The captain shouted commands to
which were attached words not good
70 hear, but this unexpected sort OF
attack had demoralized an discipline
The bandstaDd and the stone fence