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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 1898)
"-"?' V". ,-, Jf "V," fV THE COURIER. 1 i iW.- WAR TAbK. Old Point Comfort, As the St. Louis and St. Paul, with General Rrooke's staff ami General Maine's command, glided out, lraund for Porto -Rico, wistful glances followed them; Santiago's wounded had not, even now, enough of it! Those who could, hobbled down to the wharf on crutch es, with canes, arms in slings and with heads bandaged, to see these untried heroes pull out. Over five hundred of our sick and wounded are here in the hospital and tent annex. Generals, colonels, majors, captains, corporals, privates, cavalry men and infantrymen Spanish bul lets leveling all ranks. The stories they tell one and all make one real ize fully the needless horrors of .this war. It is not war. It is a torture, so great that its detais are too terri ble for publication. It makes one be lieve in the reincarnation of the soul and hell, with Santiago reserved for hell's deepest cell. Our poor men who have died there, and who have come throug'h it, must have paid a penalty for sins committed in some other ex istence; surely nothing of -which we know in this exictence calls for suctr punishment. A noticeable thing is that these men fell of it not at all complainingly -just as though it were a matter of course. If they tell you they .lay for hours where they fell, in the sun, in the rain, in the mud, jn their own blood, without food, without water, fighting land crabs, fighting ants, watehiug vultures, stung by hornets, they add "but the best was done for us that could be done there were so many to be taken care of." "These brave boys in blue are at present brave boys in pajamas. Messed le pajamas! The government fur nishes nightshirts for its sick and wounded, but the women of the coun try are sending pajamas. These in this hospital were furnished by the Worn- an s National Keiiet association, 01 which Mrs. U. S. Grant is president, and Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth is director-general. And director-general in every sense of the term is Mrs. Walworth. She was here personally with pajamas, crutches, slippers, nurses and other necessities, with the consent of General Sternberg, when the wounded commenced to arrive. The pajamas, just now, are the only uniforms some of these soldiers have; the suits of blue and of brown duck, worn since the transports were loaded at Tampa, stiffened with blood and with Cuban soil, were cut off, thrown in piles on the outside of tents and afterward burned. Pajamas, slippers, tooth brushes and underclothing were furnished immediately by this asso- ciation organized to assist sensibly the government and Uncle Sam will come to the rescue in due time, and in dignified, true, military, regulation, red-tape order. In the meantime, our wounded and Convalescing sick are not obliged to stay in bed because of such a trifle as having no wearing ap parel. Great fuss and fume have been made about the Seneca, which arrived in New York without being properly equipped for the sick and wounded. The Seneca is only one, and was no worse ana prooaoiy not s,o ouu.j uu. j, gm asiuDamvuuu.w,.,.. V rrZ quarantined here the past week. The pnysician wno uoa m -. sight sickened him. There were ser eral of the wounded soldiers without a stitch of clothing. To dress their w-ounds before leaving Santiago it was necessary to cut off uniforms, and the men were sent on without others hav ing been supplied. They were with out medical supplies from the start, and when they reached this port were without food and without drinking water. The fever patients were rav jng in delirium and all of them were in desperate condition. They wetre not allowed to land. Mrs. Nelson A. Miles, who is stopping at the G.iam berlin, and several angels, sent out milk, ice, lemons, food, and such neces sities as could be gathered up iir the town. General Sternberg claims these re ports are all exaggerated. They are not exaggerated. They "have not een exploited "unpatriotically." They are simply statements of fact. How are you going to get around a fact? If our prisoners of war are sent back to Spain in the condition our sick ami wounded are being sent back to us. God pity the Christian reputation of the United States. Who shall be blamed? No one, I suppose. It is "war." General Shaf fer was asked to have medical and other supplies landed first at Santi ago. He said no men first and sup plies afterward. Men were lauded, lighters -were lost, and many supplies came back to Tampa, just as they were loaded. The only attention these wounded men many of them had at Santiago is what is called the "First Aid." Many of the men carried the necessities for this, and dressed their own wounds. Others had been obliged in the awful heat and strain, to throw aside nil accoutrements and had every thing available stolen by the Cubans. Incidentally, you ougl t to hear the soldiers opinions of the Cubans! They have a sort of respect for the Spaniard but the Cubans! They don't like them. They spit out when they mention them. Many of our wounded had sunstroke after tnev were disabled. These cases, here in the hospital, are the most diffi cult to control. David 15. McClure, one of the Oklahoma Rough Riders, one of these wounded who had suu- st,.0ke, sat n the edge of his cot, in Ward 23, arrayed in pink pajamas, with a green shade over his eyes. He said, "those Rougli Riders fell so fast they made a carpet of brown duck on the hillside." He, with the rest, had nothing to eat from Friday morning until Saturday noon. At noon a com pany of the Thirty-third Michigan came by and divided their rations with the wounded. One poor fellow, who was wounded on the first day, July 1, was not found until July 3. He had crawled out to the roadside and was lying there un conscious. He was shot in the leg. He had packed the wound with mud to stop tJle fl3W of D00d. The leg was amputated and his life saved. An- otiier soldier tells of lying in the snade of some bushes. A short dis- tance from him -was another wounded soldier, lying out in the open, uncon- sC;ous. presentlv he noticed that shots were falling near this soldier the shots came nearer and nearer a sharpshooter was getting better and better aim. He himself could not move to save his comrade he could not arouse him. Finally 'the sharp shooter had his aim perfected and with another shot the wounded and unconscious soldier was deud. A Sious Indian cannot fight better from concealment than these Snan- lsu soldiers. return io me nospuai nere. Tne goiaiers call it .leaven." About 450 are ln Jarge tentSj haxinir floors and iron cots with comfortable furnish ings, while the officers and severest surgical cases are in the hospital proper. This post hospital was equipped for fifty or seventy-five pa tients. W3ien Major De Witt received word thalt the wiounded would com mence to arrive at 2 p. m., he had but are now ready with our and Novelties. Also a Whips and Robes in best line of Bicj'cles. Billmeyer A is, r IH, SPIDERS, Don t forget that the freshest fruits and vegetables are the healthiest, especially at this time of the year. Al ways to be had at b M SICJXZ GOOD LUCK GROCERY TELEPHONE 626, sxgrexBeBaxx!9xs six hours to make preparations. The tents were up, with the flooring laid, and in 't'he store house were five hun dred cots. Without going into details suffice to say that, thanks to the won derful executive ability conceded to Major De Witt, at nine o'clock that night two hundred and sixteen men had had their wounds dressed, had been lathed and tucked in between pure white sheets in white night shirts, on comfortable cots, with a supply such as they had only dreamed of for weeks. Wounds are not the worst trouble surgeons and nurses contend with at this hospital. It is typhoid fever, and the 'typhoid brought from Chicka mauga. Yesterday it was the final "lights out" for one of the Third Illi nois; today, for one of the Fourth Pennsylvania. Both of these patients with twenty-five more, the majority from the Third Illinois, were brought to the hospital as their regiments sailed away. They were all sick when thpv lpft.C.nmn Thnmns hnf w !., ;mis 1o -,,, and thought thev would be - - " - j .--j- u...uU.9 usv ..i uu.. well if they could but get to Newport News. They marched to Rossville to take train those who did not fall by the roadside, to be picked up by the wagons and on reaching- Newport News they were laid on the ground in the rain. They were given the "dog tents," shelter tents, after a few hours, but still lay on the wet gronnd. They were accustomed to rain. Two weeks before I saw the Illinois .- regi- for the summer season new line of fH v fine line of Harness, wW the city. Largest and v pr & Sadler. , 9S99999999999 ( 1107 O STREET. ments stand parade for three hours and a half in the greatest down pour of rain I ever witnessed. They were 1eing reviewed, and were listening to a speech by Governor Tanner. I was in a curtained carriage. Governor Tanner and his staff wore mackin toshes. The Illinois soldiers were not wildly enthusiastic over their gov ernor. Their blue uniforms were probably too heavy with water for enthusiasm. Some of these who are lying here with typhoid fever tell me they had been drinking "red water" near Kel ley's field at Chickamauga the wells are low. General Itrooke, while I was in Chickamauga, had allowed the own ers of pure springs to cut off the sup ply of good drinking water. He would not be blackmailed into paying an ex orbitant price for the springs. Of course, the government should not be compelled to pay for water. The lives of men do not cost th'e government anything; still, the horses an., mules, which do cost something, get sick on bad water. I should think, bv wav of parenthesis, that the government would take the springs of pure water and tell the owners to troto t n.,t of the way of our guns. Town Topics. - 0 ww -JohD,5' said Mrs. Dumley at the supper table. "I was to th lnri;. funeral today." ' Indeed,'' asked her husband. "Whose WR3 it nh r jm't u T i .u -'- -"" ""- umy went ror the ride."
