El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-28

DajO. which IS the crater Of an extinct
volcano. American soldiers had TO
scale this mountain in the face Of
steady fire of Moro cannon, rifles and
ShOtgunS- The ascent was further inn
peded by pits lightly covered with
brush through which the soldiers zen
and were lmpaled upon sharp and
POISONED wooden spikes Machine guns
were lifted to the rim of the crater
only by the use of block and tackle.
The Moro women were dressed in pam
talOns and jackets like the men, with
their hair concealed beneath their tur-
bans Every woman was q fighting
devil incarnate and every boy welded
a DOlO. One OF the typical Moro tricks
IN this Tight was that OF pretending TO
be dead pr sOreiy wounded When
member Of the hospital corps or a SOL
der in the line with more heart than
caution leaned over to succOr the fallen
Zoe, these MOrCs, men and women.
would reach up with their bOlOs and
with one sweep behead their WOuld-be
benefactOrs. Under such circumstances
this battle became one Of extermina-
ton anu at the end of two days Of
fierce fighting our troops were victO-
rlOus In the Eight they had Waged TO
restore peace in that locality in order
that the native farmers at the foot of
that mountain might be sure Of pro-
lection.
And what was their reward? A
bralnleSS newspaper man, wiring his
account OF the battle 10 the United
States, concluded 'WantOn slaughter
can troops"
Army Has ThankIess Job.
OF course there are those who would
dissent from this Characterization But
the military men must have their say.
They hold that the army had a thank
TO last In the early war days it was
confronted in all parts of the islands
by wild and venOmOus foe; one who
neither knew or cared for the rules
n . rr#H HH IA
Red Cross or the white flag were mere
~ signals for redOubled hail of lead
and a fresh bolO rush. The fighting
these eXiled boys were forced 10 face
IN a hostile, death-b breeding land was
or the nasty, nerve-raspinE. guerrilla
order 1t consisted mostly Of weary
hikes through swamps and jungles on
band
Such work could be done only by
small attachments and the fighting
when 1t did come, was hand 10 hand
ana race TO face, struggling through
biting cOgan grass, knee deep in a vile
swamp far in the heart of a tropical
jungle with the OdOr of rOtting fruit
and damp fungus. Many times a de-
tachment would reach its goal only TO
Ilnd that the enemy had slipped through
It's fingers once more. More than
once the grim evidence of his warm
trail would be the bodies Of the
American advance guard. from which
the breath of life had escaped after
cruel and lingering torture, bodies that
lay blistering in the sun with hacked
DTS and Jagged gaping wounds. while
myrlads OF ants craWled over them TO
tell the story Of a typical Filipino am
bush. The soldiers would then push
on with their scanty supplies and foul
drinking water TO the next post or
would try to make their way back to
their own command. As they made
their weary way, they We're halted
more than once by enemies more dan
gerous than their human fOes-malaria
Fever, dySeutery and cholera
An interesting feature Of the mill
tary strength in the islands is Fort
william Mckinley, five miles from
Manila This is brigade post with
accommodations for two brigades and
with an area that would accommodate
an entire army corps in case OF neces-
SlJy- Each regiment has a parade
ground and the arrangement Of wooden
or concrete buildings is most excel
lent The post is reached by trolley
from Manila and is a great attraction
for tourists.
Of special interest is Uncle Sans lit
tie army Of 5000 known as the Filipino
scouts This IS a Wen trained and eN-
drilled infantry force 1t is
IN battalion units, all the majors being
army captains who hold their detail for
four years All the other officers be-
long to the scout organization and are
not officers Of the regular army. Both
officers and men wear the regulation
United States army uniform. These
scouts and their hardy officers have
fought many a hard and bloody scrap
against the MOrOs OF MindanaO and the
robber bands OF Leyte and Samar.