The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-06-18
ARE DARING FIGHTERS.
Zapata and His Men Could Hold
Mountains for Years.

knows the MeXlCanS Dellel Iudu Ae
| no one knows the country and the
conditions of warfare.
1.-TWO things we must keep in mind
the Mexican climate-the heat that
| withers a white man-and the GER
tainty that Mexicans, instead Of fight
ing in the open, will take to the
mountains, where artillery cant
penetrate, and there are places men
afoot must pick their way" said Wy
lie Smith.
Preaching down into Western
Mexico are the Sierra Madre Noun
tains, the Mothers Teeth they mean
literally, which are a continuation OF
the Rocky Mountains. They rise in
broken and high peaks in the coun-
ties of Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango,
Sianola and Guerrero.
During a let-up in our fighting
when I was down there 1 got news
that the Pacific Coast Magazine could
use a story about Zapata, name
which means Shoe the man who
made it his business always to fight
against the Government, and the
fellow who had himself fortified in
the hills in way that reminded me
of the Doones. But 1 didn't see any
Lorna there.
"He had $500 men camped in a
place in the mountains that made a
perfect dipper. There was only one
way of getting in and going out, and
it was a passage only about SO feet
wide, narrow, rugged, steep, up
which a man could climb only slow
ly. And Zapata had machine guns
trained on this mountain pass and
obstacles in the way until he, with
his $500 men, could have held OFF
100, 900.
81 don't see how you could attack
the fellow, except with alrshlps.
They are about the only way of get
ting at him.
And believe me he is fighter.
His trade is fighting, just as that OF
the other mountain bandits is. When
rebellion is started he joins with
the rebels. When it succeeds he
starts another rebellion.
"On the way up guide l had
told me a story about the Shoe that
wasn't nice to hear when 1 was soon
to be Zapata's guest.
/ "Zapata demanded tribute from a
rich rancher in that neighborhood.
The fellow answered with courtesies
but no money.
"He woke up the next morning
with Zapata at his door. He found
himself the next afternoon tied to
post in the middle of a bull pen, his
body out of reach, but his legs low
enough to be gored.
'sRed cloth was tied around the
fellows legs and soldiers were set
to torturing a bull. The beast was
turned loose in the pen aad saw the
red cloth on the post. Maybe you can
guess what happened. The flesh was
gored from the mans legs and he
died as he hung on the post.
did l say that Zapata had
brought the rancher's wife to the
edge of the pen and made her sit
there?
THAT explains to you what those
fellows are-utterly merciless, some
of them not human. But this fel-
low Zapata was partly Guerro In
dian and that helps to explain him.
"a dry, dark-faced, meagre, i'm
passive and yet nervous man found
him. And ne insisted-it seemed
funny to ne-that he be quoted cor
rectly. He didn't want people to
get a wrong impression of him.
Il want to impress the fact that
Mexicans are not cowardly; that they
fight we'll in their own way, and that
they can shoot.
ITO illustrate: I'd been with the
Rebels about a year when they chose
me to pick out 80 sharpshooters from
100 soldiers. I had them set up a
target at 1000 yards and put them
to firing at it. Net a man made less
than 80 per cent. Over half of them
got better than As per cent, and the
fellow who was selected as sergeant
got 70 per cent. That man would
have killed seven out of ten soldiers
at 1000 yards.
81 remember time when a small
force of our Rebels attacked a town
the pursuers into a small, narrow
pass with thickets on both sides.
"They swarmed into the pass,
packed full of men, then we opened
fire. Not one of them got away. We
shot down 800 in that place. It's