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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 1899)
T August 20 , 1899. OMAHA ILLUSTRATED 35EK. First Nebraska Preparing to be Mustered Out. The membcis of the First Nebraska are putting In their tlmo at San Francisco while awaiting their'muster out In enjoying themselves and growing fat. They weio favorites with the people of that city when they first landed and have been growing In fa\or with .every day of their stay. Every day some company of the regiment Is the guest of an Individual or society on an ex cursion to points of Interest in and around San Francisco and if any member of the regiment leaves the coast metropolis with out seeing all that Is worth seeing In that vicinity it Is certainly this o vn fault , for the opportunities arc not lacking. The regi ment has thoroughly demonstrated that gen tlemen can be fighters and fighters can bo gentlemen , and they are reaping the reward of tholr exemplary conduct In camp and field In the shape of the most generous treatment at the hands of every community In which they have appeared. Ordinarily shabby clothes are not a favor able Introduction , but the faded and In so'mc Instantca ragged uniforms of the Nebraska soldiers , which are soon to bo exchanged for the civilian gaib , nro all the Introduc tion that Is needed to insure a royal welcome wherever the wearer puts in an appearance. At present the regiment Is well along to ward muster out and it Is belloved there will bo no delay beyond the date originally eet August 23. Their guns have bean turned in , aa well as all other property and stores not needed Jn the dally life of the men In camp , the officers have taken their medical examination and the same Is true of many of the men. The regimental ac counts are now being made up and audited and this work is progressing rapidly and systematically. When this Is done the men whom every Netoraskan Is waiting to eeo will commence their Journey eastward to their homes. While the people of the state are looking forward anxiously to that day , they do not want to think that the soldier boys are not having a good time. The rigid military discipline has been relaxed and the men are allowed every privilege possible , and compared with what they have been through , their present life is one long , glad , sweet song. Those who were sick and wounded have been receiving every care In the hospital and all are reported as progressing well to ward recovery , and if any one is prssesscd with tho-idea that a procession of skeletons Is coming back to stalk through the streo's the sooner he parts with the idea the lose he will bo surprised when the men come homo. The men are not only enjoying themselves , but are reported as being In prime physical condition. Rescued a Landing Party Lieutenant Emory Wlnship of the gunboat Bennington Is a hero of the Luzon war and carries five Filipino bullets in his person ot > a certificate of courage. Ho is now at bis homo in Washington , where the doctors are gradually extracting the bullets. The dashing lieutenant became a target for the natives shortly after the bombard ment of Malabon last March. He was ono of a naval party sent out to examine and take photographs of the earthworks , to de termine the effect of the shells thrown by the war ships. It was believed at that time that the hostllcs had all vacated that part of the shore , eo permission was given to land a party. Several boats with be tween 125 and 150 men started ashore and on landing made for an old church , which was the chief object of Interest. A /also idea of security led them to advance - vance very carelessly , throwing out no ad vance and taking nothing but their sldo arms. Only a boat guard of two men under Wlnship was 'left ' to keep up steam In the launch , but fortunately the launch had a small automatic gun mounted forward and Wlnship was well acquainted with its work- The landing party had go.ie inland some llttlo distance when they were surprised by a whole regiment of Filipinos , who suddenly appealed out of the Jungle. The natives ndvanccU on the run , shooting wild , but confident of cutting off the whole party. Those nehoro expected llttlo else , but see ing It was n case of a foot rnco or a funeral , they doubled back for the boats , yelling lustily. That was where Wlnship came on In u star part. Ho unllmbcrcd his machine gun on the Filipinos , calculating closely , seas as not to enfilade his own command. It was practically ono man against a thousand and the natives came on with a rush , hoping to put the lone gunner out of action before his fellows could reach the launch. Wlnship received the bulk of their fire , thereby also contributing to the safety o the landing party , but he stood up to his work. Ho was struck five times once In the shoulder , the arm , the hip and twice In the leg. Ho braced himself and continued to train the gun while his men fed It am munition. Thirty Filipinos dropped under his tire before the little Jungle men de cided they had enough. Their rush was checked and then they rcn , pursued by the relentless fire of Wlnshlp's lone gun. The retreating boat crews reached the shore Just in time to see Wlnship sink down In the bow of the launch. The closest esti mate that could bo made of the enemy's lose was about sixty killed and wounded. Heroic Work of Scouts Major Grant of the Utah battu-y , now at the Presidio , related to San Francisco re porters a dramatic story of the Philippine campaign and its tragic ending. It Is a story of intrepid courage of Colonel Young's scounts under the leadership of a civilian volunteer , who "went to the front Just to help the boys. " The facts were related to Major Grant "by " General Lawton , as follows : "Soon after leaving Malolos we entered INSPECTION OF QUARTERS , COMPANY L , OMAHA. the enemy's country , and were greatly an noyed by the sharpshooters. One morning I had ordered a halt to make a reconnols- sance. In front , sitting on a log some dis tance from where my staff and I were , I saw a. man In civilian dress coolly watching operations. I asked who he was , and one of my staff officers replied that ho did not know , but ho had seen him on the firing line many times , and although be had been fre quently ordered to the rear be had dis obeyed the order. The lieutenant said ho had been continuously ] in front of our lines under fire , but that the men could not keep him away. "Now If there's anything that augers mo it is to see a bravo man needlessly expose himself. So I ordered the stranger sent to me. Ho approached , and I was much taken with his appearance. I said : 'Who are you and what are you doing out there ? ' Ho re plied : 'I am an American citizen ; my nama * * j | 4. w 'f % * , a \MM COMPANY H , NELSON TAKEN IN THE PHILIPPINES. is Young. I have been a scout In the Indian campaigns of Montana and the Dakotas , and I thought I'd coino out here to try and help out the boys a little. ' "I recalled his name as one of the men who had done gallant service against red skins. I asked him If he could pick twenty- flvo men like himself from the North Da kota regiment. He said ho could , and I at ouco appointed him chief of scouts at a sal ary of $150 a month. Ho accepted and next day was ready for business. During the campaign these men did gallant service. They would leave camp with only rllles , can teens and ammunition and bo gone some times four days. On the way to San Isldro the enemy had crossed the river on our approach preach and flred the bridge. Then Young's scouts showed their metal. Bravo fellows waded Into the water on either sldo of the bridge , and using campaign hats to dip up water , they put out the flro on the bridge , whllo Young and a man named ( Harrington , his lieutenant , armed only with big army revolvers , stood in plain sight on the bridge covering their mon. The bravo officers held the bridge amid a storm of bullets , till finally Young fell , allot through the knee. Harrington ran to the wounded leader and with a pistol in each hand stood over the fallen man , shooting at the Filipinos who tried to pick him off. iHo held his position till the soldiers came and carried Young to COMPANY U JUST DEFORE SAILING FOR THE PHILIPPINES COURTESY W. K. TOTTEN OF THE FULLERTON NEWS , the rear and later sent him to the Manila hospital. "Our men crossed the bridge and drove out the rdbcls. iA few days later Harrington took his men to the front and after a hard march stopped for supper at 5 o'clock. Ho sat down , leaned against a bank of earth and 'waited for the mesa call. Ho did not respond when the call came , so the men wont to look for him. They found him leaning back , his head resting on his breast , with his rifle lying by his side , a corpse. Ho had fallen asleep and a stray Mauser bullet passed through his neck , killing him. Next morning I sent this personal message to Young at Manila hospital : 'Harrington died at 5 o'clock last night. ' "A. few hours later I received from the chief surgeon In the hospital at Manila this dlepatch : 'Young died at 5 o'clock last night. ' "So the two bravo men had closed tholr last campaign at almost the same moment. Too much praise can not bo given these heroes and their llttlo band of fearless scouts. " Iii a Filipino Theater Notwithstanding the demand for native patriots to prevent ennui In the American camp , enough of them remain In Manila to "chase dull care away" by running a theater. It Is much anoro comfortable than being chased by Uncle Sam's tioopers. And they enjoy It. ( A correspondent of the Chicago Record , who took in a two-hour section of the continuous performance , beginning at 4 p. m. , tells about It in a cheery way. "The show , " he writes , "was conducted In a largo nlpa building that stands bosldo our road into the city on Cervantes street. Passing in at the gate , an enclosure was found wliore were booths , at which , disposed for sale , were ( bottles of pop and of so-called lemonade , cigarettes , sweets of various kinds or , as they are called In Spanish , dulces , that word Including all forms of sweets , candles , desserts and the like. "There were belles and beaux and the beaux presented the belles with necklaces of tube roses and rose geranium leaves skillfully strung on thread and making a pretty band , but when they were all as sembled the odor of the flowers was too much like a funeral to bo cheerful. The women's clothes wore Immaculate , starched stiff and looking as fresh and neat as pos sible ; tholr neck handkerchiefs are their prldo and ore bordered with lace , said in many cases to be very valuable. Ono girl whom I noticed scorned got up specially for the occasion and was Quito conscious. She had on black stockings and was the only ono I saw Who bore that distinction , all the others sculling around In tholr wooden-soled slippers suspended by the band across tholr bare toes. This particular clrl showed by her manner she know eho was pretty and sha wns , In splto of having Indulged In the Spanish custom of putting powder on her face , but she was not shy and If I had been able to speak Tugalo I am sure I could have fed her dulces at the lunch counter all after noon. I might oven have inado It with Spanish , but I didn't. "Tho band , a regular Filipino brass band , played in an open building outside the the ater and everybody walked about and chatted In the most cood-natured way possible. They wore as happy as children and laughed and talked to mo , and some things I under stood and Bonio I didn't , but it made no difference. The band on my appearauco played "Marching Through Georgia" and "Rally Uound the Flag , Boys , " and all smiled and looked at mo , and It was BO good-natured I forgot to bo embarrassed by so much attention. A llttlo Interruption occurred whllo the "Rally Round the Flag" was going on , for there were some gamecocks - cocks picketed near by , and ono pulled his picket pin and Immediately there was a fight which adjourned the band and caused everybody to rush , excited , to Iho spot. But the owner shortly appeared and stopped the fun , so wo wont back and rallied round the flag some moro and ate dulces and drank pop and chatted until the clanging of the bell inside warned us of the approaching performance. " usher stood the "An oM gray-haired near door and directed people , whllo another a fat , good-natured old follow in slippers , and whoso cotton trousers Happed around his ankles met them In front of my box and escorted them down the aisle. The band now came In from outaldo , aiuV , taking the usual place , played waltzes whllo the seats fitted and everybody chatted and smoked , till finally a bell on the stage sot up' a dreadful clanging and the curtain rose. "Tho dialogue was In Spanish , and It began by each of five people , Avho were seated la a very stiff row , reciting In a most stifled man ner , both of volco and gesture , an Intro ductory story concerning the betrothal of Don Somebody or Other to Dona Something Else , without their having anything to say about It themselves. In course of tlmo the girl ( Continued on Sixth Pago. ) GROUP OF SICK IMBN READY TO BID COMRA1DES GOODDY AND SAIL. FOR AfMEJWOA SANTA MESA. J
