Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1902)
I , * k 'J -v " -LI * ' & - - : iJTi'r * fjy-it-fc ' "vg' ay j VL tv B r * > ' I . < MT ' the Conservative * homo when I was a more child , and \vout with a regiment of Highlanders to take part in the Crimean war. If you ever get over to Dagupau , don't fail to hunt up John Cummiugs. ' ' The Little Aguinaldo. The sun beat down fiercely for the early morning. I was hurrying along a muddy road for I wanted to reach Bam Bam that night. A few miles to my loft loomed the green coast mountains. Suddenly , as if by magic , a band of Filipinos appeared in the foothills , and came towards me. They were mounted on small bay ponies , and were formed in what seemed to be four troops of cavalry. I crawled into a bunch of nigh grass as they drew near. They were head ing for another spur of the mountains in front of where I was concealed. I began to think it was all up with me , when they changed their course and passed me at about fifty paces. In the center of the band was a little man with black hair , riding a sorrel horse. I have heard him called Aguiualdp. He reminded me of General Wheeler. Why such a fancy should have struck me I do not know , unless it was his horsemanship or his size , for they certainly do not look anything alike. The small body of cavalry soon dis appeared in the hills. It was nine miles to the nearest troops. That night I reported what I had seen , but I don't think it helped them to catch the little fellow. Captain Lawrence. 'Twas on the day of the fizzling fight at Tarlac that I first saw Captain Lawrence. Previous to that time I had heard his gentle voice. It was the night after Angeles was taken , some two months before. He was then in charge of a field piece sta tioned somewhere east of the town. The night was very clear and we could hear him sing out every few minutes : "Give the Yankee devils hell ! " Then would follow .the report of a gun. Several shells dropped in town , but few exploded. The next morning I picked one up , it was about fourinches in diameter , with at least a quart of small shot inside. The con ditions were quite different under which I saw Captain Lawrence and heard his gentle voice for the second time. He was taken with a small squad of native artillerymen at Tarlac. I had a good look at him as he marched up the street , a s ort , red headed man in the prime of life , full of fire and the devil. I could not help but admire his nerve , even if he was making a fool of himself. Chug , squeak , squeak , chug : that is the way L left Tarlac. In a little dingy car , drawn by a staggering en gine that looked as if it had been made in the seventeenth century , and moved at fully eight miles an hour. The Chicken Hunters. It was early in November , I was staying at Oapas , a small town then guarded by a company of negro soldiers. One day three of the boys went out to get some chickens. A few minutes later , firing commenced in the direction they had taken. The com pany was ordered out to investigate the trouble. I wont with the rest , and we soon found the reason. On a little hillside near a bamboo thicket , wo came across one of the chicken hunters. Ho had been literally cut to pieces , and around him lay a ring of empty rifle shells. Ho had died game. What became of the other two was never known. Shot at a Regiment and Killed a Crow. If you have ever been at Angeles , on the Manila & Dagupan railroad , you may have noticed an old dead bamboo standing near the track. A crow used to light there every morn ing and caw loudly for several min utes. Ho was an East India crow and as noisy a one as I over heard. One morning , as I rolled from my blanket , I was surprised on not hear ing my black neighbor piercing the still air with his clarion notes. For the first time since I had known him he was silent and as motionless as the dead bamboo in which he perched. I think he was waiting for the end. A little puff of white smoke drifted up from a distant rice field : the crow flapped his wings and fell down through the tangled network of thorns. A Remington bullet went humming over head and then skipping down the road. A Filipino bravo had shot at a regi ment and killed a crow. The Carnage of War. A few miles west of Bam Bam are the ruins of an old town. In the fall of ' 99 , it was captured by the Ameri can forces. During the fight , fire broke out and the place was burned to the ground. I waded through the black ashes on my way to the former town ; desolation and ruin were every where. In the outskirts of the town I came across a pile of freshly cut rice ; I pushed it aside with my foot. A little child lay dead underneath. It could not have been over a week old , and I am quite sure that it did not weigh a pound. Waylaid. A great wall of tall bamboo loomed up on both sides of the road it was not a safe place for one to be alone. Hounding a bend , I saw two Filipino soldiers hid in the thicket. Nowhere hero was a nice box ! I did not dare to pass them for fear they would at tack me from behind and so catch me off my guard. There was only one thing to do. Drawing my revolver , I walked boldly towards them. I had not taken a dozen steps when they both came smiling from their hiding place , saying in their softest Spanish , "Omega , omega. " They were only armed with bolo knives and I demanded the weapons. What a pitiful story they did put up of how they were only out looking for straight bamboos with which to build a fence. But I did not care to geoff off and leave those bolo men to bring up the rear , so made off with their knives. One of them still kept repeating "Omega , omega. " This word does not always mean friend in Spanish , as have since found out to my sorrow. I came to a long procession carrying household goods , water jugsand other things upon their heads. As I drew near they knelt down upon the ground and uncovering their heads , remained there until I had passed. If Spain and her soldiery heaped such laws upon them , and then caused those laws to bo enforced , can we wonder at the ' result ? A Peculiar Shot. December had come ; Major Logan and six of his battalion had been killed at San Fabian. I was going from Angeles to San Fernando , in company with three Spanish soldiers who had recently escaped from the insurgent Hues. They were thin and looked worn out , as if their eighteen mouths of captivity had not been all roses. We were neariug San Fernando , when a rifle barked from a weedy field to our left. One of the Spaniards clapped his hands to his breast and fell across the track. Wo turned him over : he was dead. The ball must have passed through or very near his heart. That was the only straight shot I ever saw a Filipino make , and I am not sure that he hit the man at whom lie aimed. I Fell Asleep in the Road. Reveille sounded one morning at three o'clock. I guessed there would be some fighting and I wanted to be in at the killing. Blanket rolls were hastily made up , traveling" rations given out , and in less than an hour the regiment was on the move. I followed in the rear of the first company with the quartermaster , a tall Arkansau that the boys called "high pockets. " It was always a mys tery to kme how he escaped getting hit , for ho was just the right height to catch all the sky ward Filipino bul lets. lets.All All day we tramped in a deluge of rain. Little rivers were running down the road , and we could see the water rise slowly over the tops of the rice fields. Only twice during the long day did that tramping body of shoes stop for a short rest. My feet were covered with blisters. The sand had worked in around the bottoms of my shoes , and getting under my feet , acted like sand paper. On and on they went , and still the rain fell in torrents. It must have been twelve o'clock , midnight , when they halted for a little rest. I lay down by the road side : I never was so sleepy in my life. If some one had threatened to kill mo if I closed my eyes , I am quite sure that I would have laughed in his face , and then gone to sleep. I awoke to see the first streaks of day peeping over the eastern hills. I was lying in a puddle of water ; the regiment was no where in sight. Steely gray clouds were scudding across the heavens ; big silvery drops from last night's rain were falling down through the bamboo loaves. I had slept the greater part of the night , in a down pour of rain , and let the boys walk off and leave me. A heavy firing commenced down the road ; I jumped to my feet and started off as fast as my stiff limbs could carry me. Two hours of hard walking and I caught up with the reigment. The fight was over. I saw a few dead natives piled up in an old house. A sergeant turned to me and said : "I hear General Lawton lias been killed. ' ' STOPS THE COUGH AND WORKS OFF THE COLD. Laxative Bromo-Quiniuo Tablets cure a cold in one day. No Cure , no Pay. Price 25 cents.
