The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-13

heads or legs Ranging over the sides, and 30 con-
sinue. to pile % the load with score of half
naked corpses ?.
It is horrible to hear the conversation of The
body etill warm the heart still beating, and the
| flush OF life still on the cheek. One says, HE
s still alive, and proposes to lsave him, without
| stopping to decide the question. Tho others cry,
''Devll take himl He will die before tomorrow,
any way. In wi h him." And so the living goes
| in with the dead, and is tumbled into the grave
| have seen this myself, and the man who
| has charge OF the distinction of the hospitals
ana buritl OF the Dead told me that he doubted
not that such cases occurred several times
daily. When the three carts are full they start
away through the streets toward the bitches, out
side the town. The horrible load iolts and
SNAKES and now and then q body falls out into
the mud, and is dragged into the cart again, and
thrown down and jsmmed in solidly to prevent
recurrence Of the accident. This heartless pro.
oeeding goes on In the public streets, crowded
with the men, women and children OF the place,
the soldiers, the wounded and the sick: and after
go many days OF the came spectacle no one any
longer pays any attention to the transport of the
dead. Over thousand have already been oarted
away, and from the hospitals come about hun
dred daily.
The care of the sick and wounded is now rapid
~ being systematized, The few Russian doctors
that are detailed for the service are working very
hard. and also the Turkish surgeons who remain
here; but the corps is not one quarter large
enough to properly attend to the patients Some
OF the hospitals are light. airy and well purified:
but the mosques are still dark foul-smeilipg and
crowded. The dead lie for many hours unattend.
ed, and the horrible sights and sounds aefy do
sorption. In the midst of this the few Russian
Sisters OF Charity move about quietly, busy from
daybresk till dark, bring comfort to hundreds
whose wounds they dress, and whose pains they
have given but slight outline of the scenes |
that have passed before my eyes since cams |
mere a long detailed account alone could give |
anything like an idea OF the climax and final act
OF the drama OF Plevna. The town is full of |
similar pictures. Along the streets are frequent. |
ly seen one or two wounded who bavs crawled |
out from the hospital, and lie dying in the mud.
There is no valid excuse for this willful disregard
OF human life. The cause is evident namely,
lack OF system. The Russians knew that Plevna
must fall. aud they expected to find thousands of
starving men there, and thousands Of badly at
tended wounded The surrender must have been,
as IL probably was, surprise, but the day before
Inc expected event was not the time to prepare
for Il. There should have been detailed q
month ago proper officers to prepare everything
for the care OF the surrendered troops, There
can be no excuse for the fact that only three
open ox-carts can be found to transport the
dead, and only score Of Bulgarians who run
away at every opportunity, can be detailed to
perform the duty OF burying the dead, Out on
The plain near the bridge over the vid are
bivouacksd $4,000 or 10000 prisoners, fighting
or bread. miserable beyond description, in the
,nid, with hundreds OF unbured dead covering
he ground near the spot where the first ATTEMPT
vas made to break through; and day after day
passes, and their condition does not change.
imply because there can be nothing like prompt
attention In similar cases where there ia no idea
II system. The story of the hospitals, OF the
prisoners and of the Russian disasters, all hang
N one thread.
But the horrors OF Plevna are not at ell in the
own. Some are in the valley of the Vid. In the
edoubts which the Russians stormed, hundreds
N hundreds of still unburied bodies lie; the
Whole ridge OF the wooded mountain, the valley
'eyond, and the hill further on. where stand the
wo redoubts overlooking the town, taken with
errible loss by Gen. Skobeleff on September 30
re strewn thiokly with the corpses OF the Rus.
ians who fell on those days. Some of these
odies have been partly covered with four spades
a. OF dirt but most OF them lie az they fell. Not
ii % they fell, for the dogs have torn away the
mbs OF many, and the birds OF prey have pecked =
t the skulls. In the pools Of water lie corpses -
all decayed; pale, withered hands and feet stick
1ummified faces stare at one from every little
ollow in the ground and from among every
lump OF bushes. Some OF these bodies have
cen put in graves within day or two, but still
he whole region is strewn thickly with theee y
readful mementoes of the fight there nearly
hree months ago.
Around the redoubts the ground is furrowed
nd dug with thousands OF shells, and tons of T
erve how few shells went into the redoubts. or
truck the edge OF the redoubts The majority
lunged into the ground just in front. The
urks built great traverses across the redoubts, =
I'D Under these aus deep beaak- pFeeg shelters,
here they were as safe from harm from the
bells as 10 Oonstantinople; but the whole sur
ICE Of the bills is literally ridded with holes
rye enough to bury horses in, and ell about lie
reat unexploded shells. Even away ba Ok 10 the
wines, where the soldiers hats are, bullets.
agments of clothing and equipments cover the
round; and one frequently finds in the most
nexpeoted spots long unburied bodies, or sod
an in the path one sees the limbs of human
slngs who fell and were left there until many
et passing trod hard the thin layer OF earth
Yer them.
Plevna is one vast charneLhouse, SURPRISING in
orror anything that can be imagined.