Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-11

house on my way to the barracks. Then
there was a lot of firing 1t came from the
town and went in the direction Of the hos
pital The bullets were whizzing over my
head. When passed c barracks there was
lot of excitement. The men were running
around. heard someone say Get the guns.
and someone else said, We can't get the
guns, the racks are locked and something
was said about the officer having the keys
not being found. Then Lieut.. Greer said q
know it was him because l knew his voice.,
Break that rack Open. This happened
while was passing, and l went on to Com
pany B barracks
Sanders then told about finding the COM
pany in b barracks. He said the men
were running around and he made an eff
fort to straighten them out. Sergt. Jack
son had a lantern that had belonged to
Sanders, and Sanders took 1t. Men called
to him to put the lantern out, saying they
would all be shot. Some of the men were
trying to hide and others were on their
knees. Sanders rushed around, telling them
to get up.
Il told them" said Sanders, that IL they
were going to be shot it was better to be
shot in the ranks than to be shot lying
down. Then l made some other remarks
that do not want to repeat here.
The Roll Call Described.
Sanders told of calling the roll and said
that Lieut. Laurison was present. He de-
scribed in great detail the manner Of check
ing off the men on guard or in hospital,
and said that while that was going on
there was still firing, but 1t seemed to be
five or six blocks away. They could just
hear the guns at that time. When the
roll call was finished all were present or
accounted for. He said he was familiar
with the voices of the men and knew every
one, and could tell whether there was any
effort at substitution. He was in posi-
ton where he could have seen any man
in an attempt to join the company after
the formation.
He told in great detail the methods OF
issuing ammunition and accounting for 1t,
and declared his belief that it would not be
possible for any man to retain ammunition
In his possession. He told of the move
ment of the men that night and of the in
spection the next morning. His narrative
of what was done was at times given in
such great detail that he appeared to be
reading from a bookA He appeared to have
wildly impressed on his mind every detail
of what occurred on the night of the 18th.
He told of all that he had DONE and showed
the inspection of Company B under Capt.
Mechin. Upon the inspection being made
the men whose guns were in questionable
condition were ordered to stand back, and
a white rag was run through the barrel of
their guns, but it came out Clean and all
guns were approved as being in proper
condition. He said this inspection Of guns
on the morning of the 18th was carefully
made
Senator Foraker-'Can you tell where the
first fire was located?''
mo, SIR
"You heard bullets flying over your head
you have been in battle?"
II have a good deal and l know tho
sound"
Heard Mixed Firing.
"Can you tell the committee whether the
guns you heard fred were Of one kind or
whether they were mixed?''
ut was mixed firing. The guns, I sup
pose, were six shooters, Winchesters Of all
calibers and there may have been some
Mausers because they have a kind of keen
sound. The Winchester has a very loud
sound"
What kind of bullets went over your
head?"'
ct is a kind of experience a man must
have had himself under fire to understand
the noise that is made. The Krag bullets
make kind of whiz-they have a keen
sound. The bullets I heard made kind
of fiat noise. The Krag bullets, for In
stance, when they go above you make such
noise that you can't tell whether 1t is
far from you or not or whether ii is close
to the ground But these other guns give
sound more like blunderbuss-a loud
noise
At this point in the proceedings the COM
mittee took recess until 9 o'clock this
afternoon.