* * * * *

THE NEGRO AS A SOLDIER--HIS GOOD MARKSMANSHIP--THE FIGHT AT EL
CANEY--"WOE TO SPANISH IN RANGE."

There has been hitherto among the officers of the army a certain
prejudice against serving in the Negro regiments. But the other day a
Lieutenant in the Ninth Infantry said enthusiastically:

"Do you know, I shouldn't want anything better than to have a company
in a Negro regiment? I am from Virginia, and have always had the usual
feeling about commanding colored troops. But after seeing that charge
of the Twenty-fourth up the San Juan Hill, I should like the best in
the world to have a Negro company. They went up that incline yelling
and shouting just as I used to hear when they were hunting rabbits
in Virginia. The Spanish bullets only made them wilder to reach the
trenches."

[Illustration: FIRST PAY-DAY IN CUBA FOR THE NINTH AND TENTH CAVALRY.]

Officers of other regiments which were near the Twenty-fourth on July
1 are equally strong in their praise of the Negroes. Their yells were
an inspiration to their white comrades and spread dismay among the
Spaniards. A Captain in a volunteer regiment declares that the
Twenty-fourth did more than any other to win the day at San Juan.
As they charged up through the white soldiers their enthusiasm was
spread, and the entire line fought the better for their cheers and
their wild rush.

Spanish evidence to the effectiveness of the colored soldiers is not