Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-01-23
PEDDY'S PLUCK

~o~~O~~o~~
"A EVERAL Of US were seated
~ around a table in the Manila
~ Club, talking about war and
.eats Of daring, us men are wont TO
ak when some of their number are
still in khaki and campaign hats, Win
he smell of powder on their clothes.
Although there was still plenty or
lighting going on within a few miles
Of Manila, the stories were mostly or
lays long zone by, and had acquired
a certain unnatural luster by d1nt OF
frequent usage. 1t Is curious now
men will crane their necks and strain
their eyes toward the past In order to
lind proof of the hardness which
every day they pass by unnotced in
the men around them. One man went
so far as to suggest: "There isn't any
chance the way we fight nowadays
for a mar to show n individual
nerve; he is simply a machine, and
medals are distinctly out of place"
Medals may be out of date. old
man." said Captain Oldsborough, "but
the sort of thing that won the med
ais is happening all along the line. l
had a young corporal in my company
when l was on duty down in Tayabas
Province, who had the kind Of sand
that one doesn't even read o OF
ten. lie was a boy about p years
old from a factory town in Connect
..t ..~Lo,o Entail ho xrO-lyn cd In a hQf
shop. There wasn't one bit of ro-
nan or dash about him; he had
w~ashed-out red hair and freckles,
stood about five feet four in his shoes,
and weighed about one hundred and
twenty pounds. He never had any
thing to say for himself, and l
shouldn't have noticed him except for
his silent manner and the quiet, thor
ough way in which he attended to all
his duties. l can't remember his name,
but the men all called him 'Reddy.'
"We had been in the field about
three weeks, and the fighting had all
been with small bands of guerlllas,
who kept us constantly on the alert
The rainy season had come on, and
several Of the men were suffering
from dysentery; the cholera made us
very cautious of what we ate, anc
even mangoes and bananas were for
hidden fruit We were far from com
Portable, and II a man had any yellow
In him, l promise you 1t showed. Well
'Reddy' was never known to kicl
about anything; several times I knew
Of his doing work for his 'bunkle.'
1--WE had been harassed for severa
days by a small band Of natives VIII
, had been following us at a safe dis
, lance and taking a chance shot at an,
| who happen to struggle. 1 decide
! that 1t was best to detail a squad o
reliable men to follow this party, an
! once for all rid ourselves Of their uI
q welcome presence. Accordingly 1 sc
lected sixteen men under a sergeant
placed 'Reddy' second In command
and sent them off with a few hours
native guides who soon got on tn
track of the enemy, and a wear
IS march of five hours began. Part c
J. the way the walking was throug
Is very heavy underbrush and bambo
forests, so dense in parts that the me
IS had to walk in single file, and an III
expected 'bolo' rush would probabl
have finished the whole party befol
" a shot could have been fired Part {
lg the way lay through deserted rice pa
10 dies and tobacco fields, where the tro,
D. ical sun burned iercely when the raj
Oh was not pouring down in torrent
With the exception Of one small Vi
Us lage, whose inhabitants professt
en themselves Amigos and a few strs
'carabao,' they saw not q living thin
Finally, toward dusk, the par
came on a small creek, whose BAN
Z were covered for some fifty yards
~ both sides with a heavy dense grow
Of reeds and broad-leafed palms. !
ne sooner was the middle of this ere
!" reached than the men were surroun
ne ed by The band they were In scar
d OF. Instead. however. of finding tive
!" ty-fve or thirty guerillas, as they h
, expected. the enemy numbered abe
Nv 100. Order was given to charge
the open. A short. sharp fight
ar. lowed, and my men found themsel,
In the open. pumping away for d.