The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 7, 1898, Page 4

4 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER '7, 189Y8. BRAVERY OF THE CALIFORNIA BOYS IN FIRST BATTLE Through a Storm of the Elements and Bullets They Marched. : Fierce Fighting on the Night of July 3l the Occasion of Considerable Individual Hero ism. Spectal Correspond BY PRIVATE F. A. CAMP DEWEY, Aug. 1.—The hour was late. It needed but fifteen min- utes to commence a new day, a new month was only a quarter: of an hour distant, and the sentry standing amid the dripping foliage that skirts our camp knew all these things, but that a new epoch in the history of the Philip- | pines had already been ushered in he | was not aware. Theé firing which had been going on at the. trenches ever since half-past 10 he took to be the regular nightly serenade to which we have been treated since we took up our present position, and that the sound which came floating across the open flelds which stretch their muddy length | for two miles between the camp and | the trenches had been growing steadily in volume he ascribed to the | fact that Spain was wasting more am- | munition than usual in her futile en- | deavor to pot a shy Filipino or a casual American. The weather could wor The nights cool, though the da: to make a traveler from Africa long for | his native temprature to cool off in. | But the night of July 31 was more than noet have been e are ordinarily are hot enough cool. It was cold, and to the blood of the sentry, thinned by a two months’ campa 1 in the tropics, it seemed icy. | A heavy, cold rain was falling, or was | rather being driven along the ground | by a gale which almost rose in its power to the dignity of a hurricane. The fields were wet in every part and submerged altogether in most places. The roads had lost their thorcughfare | ch; cter altogether and. had practi- | cally become large ditches, filled walst | deep with soft liquid mud. Yes, the | night could not have been worse. Grad- | ually the hours moved around toward | midnight, and the rain and wind slow- ly subsided enough to allow the firing | to become more plainly heard. It had continued to increase as the elements | decreased until it reached a pitch fear- | ful enough to d soldie sturb many ‘a sleeping him to sit up, rub his | eyes what was the occa- | sion of all the row. He was soon to | find out. For hardly had he turned | himself again to his pillow when shrill | and clear, on the cool night air, rang out a bugle calling the entire camp to | arms, As though spurred on by the | sound, the firing in front answered the | stirring noise with crash.upon crash, | while the thunder of the cannon re- | doubled the mingling of sounds form- | ing an awful symphony that seemed to shake the very heavens under whose black canopy the half-wakened sol- diery were already arming and forming for battle. A cheer went up from the Colorado boys, whose camp is just in our rear. It was taken up and an- swered by the lads from San Francisco, | and before it had ceased we were | formed and marching on the dcuble | quick to the front. There was no sick man, no tired man, no straggling stay-behind in the Cali- fornia Volunteers after the call to arms had sounde Just as we started the storm, which had quieted down for a few minutes; recommenced with redcubled violence. The rain came slanting across the lines I in living sheets of water, which was driven into the backs and whipped the sides of the faces of the advancing troops until they fairly tingled with pain. The First Battalion went first, the Second Battalion came second, acting as support, followed by a reserve com- posed of the Third Battalion. The rest of the troops comprising the main body remained drawn under arms in camp. As we started forward news of our mission began to drift along the line and we knew what we were out for. The trenches had been attacked by a large force of the enemy. The Pennsyl- vania troops and Batteries A and B of the Utah Artillery, stationed in them, were being hard pressed, and we were guing forward to their assistance, To make the matter a little more clear, I will try to explain how we were situated. Our camp is placed in an open field, running from north to south, in an oblong shape, and about 100 yards from the beach. From the camp to the Spanish lines the distance is about two mi and a half, while the city of Ma- nila is still about a mile and a half fur- ther north. We have thrown up a line of intrenchments about two miles from our camp, which commence on the beach and run inland in a crescent- shaped formation toward the Passig River, with their convex side toward | the Spanish lines, which run in a nearly | parallel course about half a mile away. The country between these two lines of | trenches is thickly covered with brush and bamboo timber for the most part, | though here and there large bare tracts of swamp land and corn patches allow the Spanish earthworks to be seen. As we moved out from the line of trees: on the north side 4f our camp the noise of battle became more and more distinct. On we went, flounder- ins knee deep in the mud and water, halting occasionally for “a’ minute or two to dress our ranks and’perfect our formation. Each fellow carried a hun- dred extra rounds of ammunition in | his haversack slung by a strap over his | right shoulder, and a8 we stumbled | along in the wet and darkness the | strap would sink into our flesh and | chafe until the skin wore through. | But no one murmured. - The boys were | roing forward to battle and they were | satisfied. As we emerved from the confines of our camp we passed Colonel Smith and | his staff moving forward in the same direction. Amid the group of officers I saw Sol Sheridan moving’ hurriedly for- ADVERTISEMENTS. Pears’ Pears’ soap is noth- ing but soap. Pure soap 1s as gen- tle as oil to the living skin. F lence of The Call, HEALY. ward toward the firing line, and he was the only special correspondent I did see actually on the fleld during the engagement. On we moved until we had crossed the first naddy field to the north of our camp where we halted our battalion (the Second), wlule the First continued to move rapidly forward to the help of the boys in the trenches. They ar- | rived there just in the nick of time, for as they stumbled in with a cheer and took their places, they found the Penn- sylvania boys with fixed bayonets awaiting a hand to hand conflict with the Spanish, who were advancing to the charge and only fiftv yards dis- tant. The reinforcements and the fire poured into the Spanish ranks by the | pew comers proved too much for the Dons, who broke and fled. Though thev made several subseqgent advances they never got as near again. The critical moment had arrived with thé presence of the California boys, and with their appearance all hone nf Spanish victory fled. It was here that gallant Richter, the warm-hearted and chivalrous cap- tain of Company I, received /his death wound while leading his command to the succor of their comrades. From the moment of the departure of the First Battalion the battle from the standpoint of a private in the ranks becomes, as far as I am concerned, a history of the Second Battalion. We knew that the Third Regular Heavy Artillery and our First Battalion had | entered the trenches; we knew that they together with the Quakers and Mormons were fighting like time; we knew that some one was going to get hurt, “but that was all the positive knowledge we had. The night was dark as pltch and the inky blackness was so | increased and intensified by thetorrents | of falling rain that it was all a felllow could do to distinguish a comnanion in his own company at a distance of thir- ty feet. As we drew mnearer to the firing line the evidences of battle became more and more apparent. Staff officers, aids and orderlies would flounder up to us out of the rain and darkness, covered with mud and slush., ask some ques- tion, inquire the position of some body of troops or deliver some order and dis- appear again in the gloom as hurried- ly as they had come. Stragglers from some of the other regiments, who had | lost their way in the darkness, would run into us and, learning the position of their commands, hurry off to join them, or would come along with us. Hospital men, bearing instruments, 1it- ters and bandages, would flit across the line of our advance - like misty ghosts of the night and their presence was a true harbinger of what we were to expect when we should come Into the- zone of fire. That questionably pleasant place was but a short distance farther on and, as Wwe stepped into the line of trees, di- viding the first paddy field, from the second the sharp ping of the first Mauser bullet was heard as it merrily whistled on its deadly mission over our heads. - Quickly following the flight of this first hostile messenger, so quickly that thought can hardly work fast enough to computg the time, the air seemed to have become animated with thousands upon thousands of uncanny | things that shrieked, whistled, hummed, rattled and sang through the air, clipping the boughs from the trees and sending twigs and leaves whirl- ing around like sands in a desert ty- phoon.. Bullets seemed to be every- where; they sped over us, around -us and between us. Did the boys duck? I did not see any one doing so. It was too dark and my time was taken up about the limit in steadying a fellow by the name of Healy, in whom I take con- siderable of an interest. I had no time. to look for men ducking. What I do know, however, is that no man hesitated, no man faltered, no man turned backwatd; all advanced as steadily as at a Presidio parade. OQur captain (who, by the way, has proved himself a splendid officer and game to the core), Eggett, of L Company, had no need to cry “Steady!” His com- mands rang out clear and cool, as when he marched us down Market street. They were repeated with equal cool- ness by Lieutenants Curzons and Ad- ler, and were obeyed with promptness and exactness by the men, which, con- sidering the weather, the darkness of the night and the fact that we were undergoing our baptism of fire, was little short of marvelous. As with the commissioned officers, 8o with the “non-coms.” Grundman, our first sergeant, seemed to be more con- cerned in seeing his tobacco become a pulp than in the whistling bullets. I actually heard Sergeant Leary trying to tell a funny story amid all the din, and if the laughter with which his brother sergeants (Lauber and Left- man), greeted it was not as hearty as might have been, I am sure it was not because it was Leary’s story and not on account of their surroundings. Both they and the corporals were as cool and as game as veterans of the thirty years' war. And the men! Well, they were all right from great big Clancy on our right down to little Collins' on our left, who when a bullet passed through his haversack wanted to know what the Spaniards were doing that for. Lieutenant Curzons had a claimed that that member was red hot. Private Joe Donnelly stepped up to feel, when one of the buttons was chipped from his blouse. Mr. Donnelly promptly returned to his place in the ranks. But despite these incidents, and despite the rain of lead and steel | we continued to advance. As we entered a narrow strip of tim- | ber separating the third paddy field from the Pasay road, which field is the | last piece of cultivated ground before the trenches are reached, a shell tore | through the brush, cut a tree seven inches in diamet completely in two, and lit in the earth at the very feet | of our fourth squad. Luckily it did | not explode or none of that squad: or | the ones on either side of it would have answered roll call again before the day | they line up for general muster and final judgment on the last day of all. | At ‘the Pasay road, another ditch | crossing our line of advance, we took up our-final position and lay in the {mud and water on our faces all through the terrible night with the | rain beating upon us, the wind seeking | out our very marrow and causing it to freeze in our very bones, while bullet, shell and solid shot tore through our | ranks and over our heads. At about 7 o’clock in the morning, the Spanish advance having been checked and their forces repulsed, we returned to camp cold, hungry and worn out, | but victorious and havpy. I, M, E and | A Companies of the First Battalion be- haved like heroes. And to the ad- | vance of the First California Volun- | teers the ultimate victory must be as- cribed. Our eolonel, lleutenant colonel, | chaplain and field and line officers be- | haved nobly and are a body of com- manders of whom any body of troops may be proud. Of our hospital corps T cannot speak too highly. They took every risk with the utmost intrepidity and performed every office with a cool. ness and courage that commands the highest . admiration. "The American Toss was eleven killed and about forty- six wounded.. The Spanish loss in killed and wounded was near 1200. TRAGEDY IN THE ALPS. Bride Falls to lier bsath and Hus- band Jumps After Her. LONDON, ' Sept. 6.—The Vienna corre- | spondent of the Dally Mall s: There has been another series of fatali- tles in the Austrian Alps. One case, that of a newly married couple, was particu- larly ‘sad. The bride lost her footing and fell, the rope broke and she went to de- striction. The husband then deliberately threw himself after her and was killed. entleman who visited the spot two 's later lost his balance and fell, also being killed instantly. g bullet pass so close to his ear that he| HARDSHIPS THAT WERE SUFFERED AT CAMP DEWEY San Francisco Volunteers Who Did Their Duty Without a Murmur., - : Sharpshooting, With an Occasional Death, That Preceded the Battles and Capture of Manila. "Special Correspondence of The Call. BY PRIVATE CAMP DEWEY, July 3lL.—Again I will attempt to chronicle the .daily life and daily achievements of the Cali- fornia Volunteers. ~Possibly there are those among the many thousands who read these articles in The Call who wonder why I do not say more concern- ing the plans and actions of the army as a whole and give to the people at home the news of what is going on | throughout this whole vast assemblage of seamen and soldiers. To such I wish to say that in the first place I am merely one of the many simple privates | in the ranks and, as such, have but little opportunity to gain a knowledge | of anything which does not cencern my jmmediate regiment, and secondly there are men who are far more capable then I who are continually watching and who will give to the public the results. of their vigilance as soon as something worthy of motice takes place. In the beginning of this article I used the words “dally achievements of | the California Volunteers,” and I used them advisedly. When I was a small boy my estimation of a man’s soldierly qualities was measured by the number of active engagements he had partici- pated in and his glory was increased or diminished in my eyes in proportion to the number of wounds he had re- ceived. My ideas since the days of my ado- lescence have undergone considerable of a change. The whole life of a soldier in active service is a sacrifice calling for the most profound gratitude and warmest admiration from those whom he goes forth to defend, and when that sacrifice is cheerfully made and the du- ties it entails are willingly, conscien- tiously and uncomplainingly performed every one of them, even to the most menial and trivial, rises to the dignity of an achievement. And thus it 1s with the boys sent out from San Francisco. From day to day, from week to week, they have suffered all the hardships of campaigning .and performed .all the weary, heart-break- ing drudgery of camp life.. From time to time there have arisen rumors, emanating from the Lord knows where, which promised of battle in the near future, which, while it would probably bring death to many, would surely bring glory and distinction. to some, These rumors would for a short time brighten things up and eyes would flash and chests heave with eXcitement at the prospect of an early fulfillment of the wish that brought nine-tenths of the entire regiment across 7000 miles of trackless ocean to pass two years of exile In a foreign and hostile land. But it would only last for a short time— this brightness of expectancy—the ru- mor would be discredited and all hands would return to the dréary old routine with the prospect of a fight just as'far distant as ever. E ast at there came However, a change. One fine day the Newport, | with the commanding general on board, steamed into the harbor and at once things commenced to take on a different aspect, assuming more the na- ture of active hostilities, and hope con- CAPTAIN RICHTER OF THE FIRST CALIFORNIA - VOLUNTEERS RECEIVES " HI _ In the Action Before Manila July'31.-. . . .. . F. A. HEALY, sumed in the wasting fire of disap- pointment, like the fabled phenix, | arose again from its own ashes. The insurgents no longer had things all to themselves. Outposts taken from the different regiments in proper rotation, one battalion at a time, were establish- ed well within the firing line, the boys taking provisions with them, and re- maining on duty twenty-four hours before being relieved. That the duty is not without its attending danger was demonstrated on the first day when one of the boys from the Colorado reg- iment was hit in the leg and painfully wounded by a spent bullet from the Spanish intrenchments. What his name is or to which company he belongs Iam | unable to say. Large details of men have been sent out to repair the roads which have become almost impassable | from mud, and already two guns of the | Utah Battery ‘have | over them and taken up their position | at'the extreme front. On July 28 a detachment of regulars | parallel’ to.the Spanish works slightly in advance of those occupied by the insurgents. They were protected by sharpshooters selected from men having records for fine marksman- ship at home. These sharpshooters, se- creting themselves amid the thick ish lines, shooting " with :deadly ac- curacy at eyerything that showed it- self above the enemy’s line of breast- ‘works. realize that anything unusual was go- | ing on, but they were soon convinced | by their unusual losses that the new foe they had become accustomed to at a | distance was beginning to make himself | felt, and after a f~w ineffectual volleys | they contented themselves with keep- ing yell out of sight, only firing a shot now and again when the quiet along the American lines gave them sufficient assurance to poke the barrel of a rifle over their trenches. In this manner have actual, active hostilitles on land at last commenced with a loss to the Americans of two men wounded, one regular being shot rado soldier who was hit in the leg. ‘What the Spanish loss thus far is I am unable to say, but it must be con- siderable, as our men shoot with the same calmness, thev would exhibit at the butts, and nearly every time they shoot the object of their fire is seen to stagger and fall. BRIGHTEST CHILD IN THE TOWN OF CAVITE Young Daughter of a Native Store- keeper a Favorite With the Americanos. BY SOL N. SHERIDAN. FORT SAN PHILIPI, CAVITE, P. I, July 31.—Yesterday I called to see Joseppa, the brightest child in Cavite. In short, while the troops have been here she has mastered enough of the English language to carry on an ordi- nary business conversation, for be it known Joseppa is. a business woman moved forward | ‘was sent up to run a line of trenches | and | underbrush, erept up close to the Span- | At first the Spanish did not seem to | through the arm, as well as the Colo- | thing at prices that clearance. At 75¢ At $1.00 At $1.00 400 yards 24-INCH At 50c At 75¢ At $1.00 ING, $0404040404040404040404040404040404040404040409040404040404040404¢0404+040404040404040404040404:040404040+0+04+040404040 & yard. $1 a yard. At 75¢ At $1.00 lar price $1 25; will | 1 | SILK DEPARTMENT. 500 yards BLACK SATIN DUCHESSE, former price $1} now offered at 75c a yard. 600 yards FANCY PLAID TAFFETA SILK, former price $1'650; now offered at $1 a yard. mer price $1 25; now offered at $1 a yard. COLORED DRESS DEPARTMENT. 27 pleces FINE ALL-WOOL FANCY CHECKED SUIT- marked down from $1 a yard to 50c a yard. 19 pleces ALL-WOOL AND SILK AND WOOL NOV- ELTY PLAIDS, marked down from $1 25 a yard to Tsc 17 pleces HIGH GRADE SILK AND WOOL FRENCH NOVELTY PLAIDS, marked down from $1 50 a yard to CLEARHI\IJ\TG TIMNE LADIES’ WAISTS! LADIES' FINE PERCALE AND GINGHAM SHIRT- ‘WAISTS, blouse front, in fancy stripes and checks, regu- LADIES’ FINE QUALITY SHIRTWAISTS, checks and plaids, blouse front, regular price $1 75; will be placed on sale at Market, Jones and McAllister Sts., 4 San Francisco. 0404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040 " ADVERTISEMENTS. ———a 404040404040 4040404+0404040+040404040404040404604040 LAST FEW DAYS A GIGANTIC ARRAY BARGAINS must be cleared out during the balance of the present week, so we have placed every- Y? will effect a speedy Tt >~ BLACK DUCHESSE BSATIN, for- be placed on sale at T5c. in fancy $1. 040440404040 +0+ -~ $+04040404040+0404040+ and “tends” her father’s shop in all gravity and decorum. She is a fair sample of the ordinary common people of this island. The children are nearly always pretty, and their great black eyes glow with intelligence and later with cunning, for as your Filipino ripens in years contact with Spanish treachery and Spznish uncleanliness and bad morality bears, its fruit, Joseppa is young yet. She is but to see a group of American officers learning wisdom and incidentally Tagallo and Spanish at her knee. She has also taught us a game called “Picino,” a species. of solitaire played with sea shells.. When the officers call T 7 Tl ) ol %, ", 7 I . : ) iy’ /,77 4 W) tu q ) vy y/ 77 i 7/,{4' N/, A S DEATH o )5 / ) WOUND. seven years of age, and it is amusing | to -see her she is generally the house finishing her siesta but as the father or mother call that the ‘“‘of= ficiales” are coming, down comes Jo- seppa’s bare feet and legs on ihe nar- row ladder and finally the graceful lit- tle thing herself. Then'she rubs her eyes and glances abo-+ with a “Buenos dios!” Indeed, it is. a very sleepy “Buenos dios,” but she soon brightens up and she carefully makes a mental calculation of her “Americano”™ friends, and if any be absent you may be sure she will call for the one by name; sometimes the name gets a cu- rious twist, as, for instance, Captain Heath's. This she calls “el Capitan Heetch.” The shop is dingy, the wine bottles have dirty labels, the table is rough hewn and grimy, the chairs have broken legs and an {ll smell pervades the atmosphere, but to some of us Joseppa is a bright spot in this campaign. On the Cavite Real lives a young man with his old mother and his two littla sisters. He is an industrious fellow, and up to a few days ago his was the only jeweler and --atchmaking shop in old. Cavite. Previous to the great in- surrection of 1896 his father removed from Manila. where he had learned his trade, to Cavite, where he built up a great business with the Spanish offi« cers. The father, like his son, was in« dustrious, and, though fiehting against the odds of unjust taxation, he man- aged to scrape together a neat com= petency and to give his children some education. The son was bred to the father's trade. One das when the Spanish patrol had been bringing in many nrigsoners and when the Mau- sers were making music within the moat of .old San Philipi and the Fili- pinos were being shot by dozens, a vol- dler and sergeant called in the quiet little shop and the jeweler was taken to the fortress. He had been there be- fore on business. He made no unusual preparation, his farewell to the wife was a nod of the head. They brought back his body at 8 o'clock in the even- ing, and the sorrowing son and widow and the two little girls are still won- dering .why the father was done to death, and the youn- fellow tells the etory with revengeful hate, and the day is sure to come when that young man will call for life in atonement for the one that was taken. BASIS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF ALL DIFFERENCES Scope of the Agreement Entered Intq by Great Britain and Germany. LONDON, Sept. 6—The Pall Mall Ga- gette this morning says it has complets | confirmation of the ~existence of an Angle-German agreement, which is mainly commercial, but, the paper adds, which provides a basis for the adjusteent of all differences regarding territorial questions in all parts of the world, ENGINES IN COLLISION. Smashup at sabr;;fe Siding, Eleven Miles From Port Costa. PORT COSTA, Sept. 6.—While coming s a = B | out of a spur track at Sobrante Stding, eleven miles west of here, this morning, freight train 25 had her engine thrown off the track and badly damaged by being run into by the engine of freight No, 21, blocking the track for four or fifive hours. A wrecking train was sent up from Oak- land and righted the engine. Bngineers Rozzino and Edgar, with their firemen, had a narrow escape from injury by Jumping from the engines, -ty LOS ANGELES LAND SCRAMBLE, ‘Vast Tract Just Opened to Settlemeng in Great Demand.. LOS ANGELLS Sept. 6.—There was a great rush this morning at the local land office to place filings upon about 1,000,000 acres of land thrown open to set- tlement through the decision recently made in the overlapping land land extends from P: ena to Te- BIE Sima: " Béopie hed posnewimting 08 ‘eople en 0404040404 0404040+020¢04 040040404 ¢000404040404040404040404040404040¢0¢040. { 4 L {