Show ll F A Letter From Parley Christenson ill ill- Ephraim Sept to Mr C. C C C. A Christensen of this city city received t It to day the follo following ing letter from hi his hisson s son Parley who r is 15 with Captain Youngs Young's battery at Manila Tamp ramp Dewey Luzon P. P I. I July Dear Dea i. i Dear 1 Parents Today is is Sun day and as I hear the mail will WH 1 r. r r leave here tomorrow I will pen a r 1 Jew few lines Jines to let know you that w we weare e are all ali right and feeling fine but i t. t kind a disappointed I at not having had a chance to fight yet Da Day I before yesterday half of our battery took two of our guns and went u uto up p to to 10 the insurgent lines and had the them m placed placed in position to to fire on th the e ft M magazine in m In the city should a an n 1 attack be made That part of th the e battery stayed with the da guns a daj S and night and then we went and relieved them Shortly after we we got go t there firing commenced between th the e Spaniards and ee insurgents and as w we e i were occupying the brest works work thas that tha t 4 had been s thrown up by the insurgents gents we had bd to lay low for about abou t f an hour and a half The bullets whistled past us and sen leaves an and d splinters of wood flying around us night some of the regulars regular s started suited to build a abreast breast work a the Spanish lines and Continued wo work k on it all day vester rester Si day da It S is about Soo JOO yards long R and extents extends from the beach to the IS road rold It is is six feet teet high and eight Ii feet thick 1 There was as a house about r the In m center which formed formed'S i S 'S part of the breastwork but it was rit shot all an to pieces I never imagine imagined e ed red that anything could be so 0 o shattered shatter- shatter ed cd and torn It V is quite a large house two stories high and it must r- r have bave been used for tor religious pur purposes purposes i poses as it contains and altar and a i- i wooden statue of St. St Peter I dug duga a few few- Mauser bullets bullet out of the t 5 S brick wall which I shall ke keep p as iQ mementoes ff WORKED AT Af t NIGHT Yesterday afternoon we worked fl r. Lai pretty prett hard tearing out the flooring g of of the club house to make platforms for the cannon The ground is is very raj We got very little sleep last las t f night We Ve had to get out about i f o'clock and cut the in inthe in inthe the breastworks It If could not b be bedone e done in the daytime as the Spanish sharpshooters are v very ry close and th the e Spanish entrenchments ar are only 20 o yards away We e got them fixed r alright and then blinded them by covering them over with a slight sligh t jM sprinkling of earth We got done a little little ittle before daylight j J. J l' l This morning we thought the Spaniards were keeping very quiet quid t t. t until all at once they fired a cannon r We thought they were firing at th the e r insurgents and were much surprised surprise d to hear a shell go singing through the air over our heads It was wa s l immediately followed by another r 5 one which came closer to to th the e ground and exploded about Io o i yards behind us We were ordered ordered to o pull our guns to the n new new w earth earthworks earth F works and everything was made mad e ready to return the fire but a athe as es s the Spaniards ceased we did no not t r firer fire tf r Some Some of our outposts outposts shot shot a Spaniards last night ight but he was wa s picked up and carried off by th the e others so we did not get him Yesterday a native was shot through h the head and killed by a stray bullet belle t cr and a r regular ular was shot through the thi arm i. i FOUGHT A BATTLE August r.-A r. i. i A sev severe severe re battle Wa was s fought last night bet between een our me men n and the Spaniards Our n was relieved yesterday from duty uty i ithe in inthe n the trench by the first platoon About 12 IZ o'clock last night w we e heard firing and before belore we had time tim timeto e to think the call to arms wa was s f t d yi a r. r r c t Y l it- it J J iLi f HA w w It took only a few mj min utes aces until we the were reedy ready The fir firing lg continued all the time I Iwas It t was quite musical misical to hear the roar of the rifles and the booming of our our ur cannon but we all knew what it meant and and we began breaking open boxes and packing shells int into 0 the limbers We e made all possible haste hast The firing had f j continued for over an hour but had stopped before we e left camp THROUGH THE MUD 1 he road was te terrible ible the mud was up to our knees es With 20 men men strung out on each limber owe aloe had all we could do as we had to pull them two miles When we the arrived the were lying behind the works in m water about a foot deep and when their officers ordered the them m to move out of the way so we could coul d pass they did not move and i it t looked as though they were either shot or scared to death We ao got t through and found that thalo our guns gun s had only about 17 57 rounds left Those who were there praised th the e battery very highly They say i it t would have been all off with the them m tm if it had hadnot not been for the battery One of our boys from battery A received a slight wound in the stomach It merely grazed him a ait as asit asit s it had struck something else first It lodged in in his clothes and he has ha s the bullet now Lieutenant Gibbs of battery A was shot shut gh th the e thumb and a man in in battery B was wa s shot through the arm arm The firing tiring co commenced commenced between betwee n the outposts o in in front of the earthworks earthworks earthworks earth earth- works of the opposing forces and an d before belore our outposts could get i ithe in inthe in inthe n the Spaniards fired a volley They I carried carrid in several dead and wounded this morning The others were brought in las last night It rained very hard all night and when we got back an and got gat to bed bcd again re reveille reveille sounded an I we had had to get out again The officers say our boys who did the firing showed remarkable courage There was a constant shower of Mauser bullets coming through th the We hear that Dewey will probably talk 1 ll to them either today or tomorrow None of us Ephraim boys were in hi in that fight but we would have lave been if we the had not been relieved before I guess we will get geta a whack at them tomorrow as then it t is our turn at the guns up there UNDER FIRE Aug 3 3 Yesterday Yesterday morning we wew w went nt to the front and relieved the themen themen men at th the guns uns We IVe had hardly reached there before the Spam Spaniards ards fired two shots from a battery inthe in m the city One shell exploded in in a tree about 40 to feet from our gun caving leaving nothing but a stump T The e eother other exploded dir directly over battery B B but no one was hurt but it showed they had bad our range do yn pat It rained all day and there was about a fo fort for t of water in the en entrenchments entrenchments to wade or stand in It cannot be drained There was no firing g during the day flay except between sharpshooters and in in the afternoon they were ordered to cease firing as as asa asa a flag of truce was vas seen They sa say the Spaniards were out gathering their dead and wounded Toward evening we dug a pit to put aut our ammunition tion in and also made a a breastwork to protect itin it itin in in case of an attack o on our flank A NIGHT WIGHT ATTACK I We ate our supper supper and lay down downto o to try try to sleep The gunner grinner No i t tand and myself were sleeping by the side of our gun when we were Vaken a awakened d about o'clock by the report of the rifles We arose and put on on our shoes and w waited for lor our lieutenant to give us the order to fire but he did not come so the gunner went to find out if orders had been given given to th that effect He 50 soon on re returned returned ro- ro turned and said we were not to fir fire e eI I until the order was loos given 1 t. t J 1 v 1 I o The The firing wa was d the ip ip zip zit zip il of f the rile bullets as they passed over our heads and the the wa way our infantry returned the fire gave us to understand that there is something else in war Var besides beside laying in m camp standing guard an and working A lot of shells were fired at us usand usand usand and exploded ail all around us some of them not more than 15 IS teet reel away We had nothing to to do do but lay low and await orders so of course we could take in in the situa tion lion None of the battery boys were hurt but a shell plowed its way through ugh the earthworks striking striking striking ing soldier a on the side of his head hrad killing him instantly The firing kept up for fort forty minutes When you hear that the Spaniards wont won't fight you must not believe it They made a desperate charge on the west end of the line but were driven backI back batik they I 1 hey always make nake their attacks attack in m the night and white while the rain is pouring down in thus trying trying try try- i ing ng to surprise us It rains rams here re nearly all the time It is hard for forus forus us to keep dry We have had ad it pretty tough the thelast thelast last three or four days being heing on constant duty either in in camp or at atthe atthe the front and wet all the time time but out we are feeling good and you never hear any complaints The boys all have it put up ut that there must be an power with the Utah boys as as we are and have been bee in in equal danger with the other othe r troops and nothing has yet occurred occurred occur occur- red in the shape of death death leath PARLEY B. B CHRISTENSEN |