Red River prospector. (Red River, Taos County, N.M.) 1900-190?, 1906-12-06
in CUBA FOR FUN.
MANY AMERICAN SOLDIERS OF
FORTUNE IN ISLAND.
Disappointment at End Of Fighting In.
tense Among the Foreign Legion
New Yorker Angry at Fate.

The greatest old boy of the Foreign
Legion in Cuba, says the correspond
ent for Harper's Weekly, is Capt. E.
B. Webster, an elderly Yankee from
L%itchheld, Conn, the country of ro-
bust onions and still more robust men.
The cap'n would rather eat than
fight, but, as it is often necessary to
eat-well, pshaw! a man has to have
the price, even If he has to fight for 1t.
And fighting in Cuba just now is al
most the best paying profession. He
who lives by it IAN eat terrapin and
canyasback-if there are still such
things beyond this troubled land of
g%arbanzos and papas frituras.
There is nothing of the fire eater
about Webster. On the day after Col.
Avalos had driven Pine Guerra's men
out of Consolation, the cap'n and
were chatting when a cheerful lieu
tenant came along and remarked,
Were going after EN-"
"Dern it all! l hope not" said the
cap'n, in his slow New England drawl.
Here we've been cooped up in that
blamed hot train for t%hirty-six hours,
fighting day and night, with mighty
little to eat, and the rebels giving us
no time to eat it. I'm tired of fight
ing. What l want is a long sleep
and a few good meals. But, say, you
ought to have been there when l got
those charging rebels right on the
transverse. When the gun got going
1 tell ye they tumbled down off their
horses like a pack O. cards. Here,
lieutenant, how soon do We start?'
Cap'n Webster was a coasting skip
per sailing out of Yankee ports for
many years. He is a heavy, stoop
shouldered and "sot in his ways"
He brought a few flibuster cargoes
into Cuba during the war of indie
p~endence, and at the age when most
men take to golf he grew so fond of
fighting that he has never been able
to shake off the destinations of the
game. He was United States consul
at Cardenas for a while, but as soon
as this rebellion started he began to
help organize the Foreign Legion.
Capt. George Reno is a New Yorker,
tall, slim, pale and bashful. He came
down here as a free lance war cor
respondent ten years ago and acquired
the fighting habit. He hasn't got his
company recruited yet, but when they
do take the field the Azaldos had bet
ter look out.
Lieut.. Adolph Fittig was a gentle
real estate dealer in Havana until the
val began. Then he remembered with
joy the fine times he had during his
militarr service in Germany a few
years ego. Away to the winds went
the real estate business, and the Herr
Ober-Licutenant burst into bloom in
his uniform.
Lieut.. Herbert Shockley is a small
and very cheerful fighting man from
Philadelphia. When they organized
the Foreign Legion he smiled and said
he believed he'd take a commission.
When he was firing a machine gun
on the roof of the armored car and a
rebel Mauser bullet went through his
leg he smiled and said he believed
lightning never struck twice in the
bdluC pace. L WdHlGu W pLOlOSI dpH
him as soon as he had a little leisure
after the battle. He smiled.
Better wait till l can stand up
straight" he advised. "a fellow hates
to look sickly in a picture"
The angriest soldier of fortune /
ever saw is Gilbert H. Carr, who came
in great haste all the way from West
115th street, New York, the Morning
side Heights district, to take part in
the game. Gen. Loynaz del Castillo
made him a captain in the rebel forces
and then this truce was declared.
wouldn't that irritate you?" Carr
asked me. How would you like to
come all the way down mere to have
a little fun, and then find them Civ
ing out rain checks?"
1t does seem a trife rough on Carr.
He is a slender, fair-skinned, blue
eyed youngster who belongs in the
second company of the Twelfth Regi-
ment, New York National Guard, when
he's home. He has fought in South
Africa and in a few South American
revolutions.