The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-05-19

/ Sergeant Bard was in reminiscent
mood the other day. when he was ap-
preached by Palladium representa-
tive. and after a few minutes chat, in
which trivial formaIities were passed
i between them. he picked up picture
| from his desk, and handing it TO the
reporter, said:
! See this photograph? | ran across
| it when | was looking through my pa
pers. and it brought back many expe-
riences of army life in the Philippines.
It's picture of an old pal of nine-a
bunky. as we say in the army. Ser
geant Charles NJ. Austin, of NJ compa-
ny. Fourth United States infantry.
took the picture when we were on duty
together at linus, in the Philippine is
lands, where we were both attached
to c company, Fourth infantry. He
was as close as a brother TO me, and
was one of the bravest, as well as the
brightest young men | ever knew IN
the army
The sergeant. puffed vigorously on a
cigar for few moments. and then
continued slowly: * sad fate befell
HMM fact. horrible fate, and the
memory OF it remained with rs WHO
were his close friends, TO cast a gloom
over us during the remaining years of
our service in the Philippines"
And then the sergeant went on to
tell the story the conclusion Of which
brought out clearly some of the dan
gers a soldier on duty in the Philip
pines was brought to face. Compa-
nics d and c. Fourth United States in
fantry. had been called in April, 1890.
two months after the outbreak of the
instruction. to the relief of a batal-
lion of volunteers of the First regi- +
meut of the state of Washington, |
which had been stationed at San Fer
nando. in the heart of the rebel terri |
tory. for the purpose of guarding a sec
ton of ninety mile railroad, from
Manila, north TO Dagupan This rail /
road was. of course. of indispensable /
value in the transportation of army
supplies and troops into the island and
consequently, had to be carefully pro- |
tected against the bands of marauders. /
The two companies, in one of which /
Sergeant Bard and his bunky, Ser
geant Austin, were serving, encamped
in the heart of the town. put out their
outposts, established headquarters IN
a Roman Catholic church and lay III I
readiness for action in case it should
be demanded.
For time it was pretty dull" said
the sergeant THE PHILIPPINES made
no attack. contenting themselves with
10
thickets over our heads. These
thickets surrounded the town. Austin
was the one man in the two companies
who understood the Tagalo or native
language we'll. This made his servie-
es of great value to the American
troops, as he was able to get badly
needed information from the natives
in regard to the country, which was all
new and strange to us and also secure
information in regard to the move
ment of the enemy Well. we lay
around for over a month without any
thing really important happening.
Then, on the morning of May II, hell
broke loose in all its fury. and the
town was made the center of vicious
attack
Sergeant Bard's description of the
battle was vivid About eight hun
bred of the natives surrounding the
town. orept up to the edge of the bam-
boo thickets, under the cover of dark
ness. and at five O'Clock opened Wig
orous fire with their MaVsers. The
American soldiers, of whom there were /
only one hundred and eighty. were at I
once formed for the attack. before they
had had any breakfast, and spreading
out, encircled the town in advance of
the enemy. The crack of the Amer
lean rifles was incessant, and the
troops moved slowly forward. keeping
under cover of the thickets as much as
possible. Austin. Sergeant Bard's
friend. who was in the very front of
the advancing line, and who was crack
ing away like demon, seemed to be
the special target for the Filipinos. l
the bullets whistling around his head I
savagely Corporal Lacey. who was
at Austin's side, was wounded in the
neck and fell to the ground. Austin
reached down and dropping on one
knee. supported the injured man on
the other knee, while preparing the
antiseptic gauze for the wound While
in this position bullet found its
way into the corporals head, killing
him instantly. Austin left the dead 1
man and went back to fighting. After
four hours of continuous firing the en-
envy became demoralized and break
ing up into small bands. turned AMI I
fled through the flooded rice fields
and out of reach of the American RI
files.