San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-10-30

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At last faint glimmcringS Of his former
life came back TO him.
To begin with, never knew the man
in his lifetime. 1t was in my official
capacity as keeper Of the hospital dead
room that | received him on the morn.
ing following the accident which caused
his death. | had work enough on my
hands in those days, God knows, for the
poor fellows were dying right and left,
and | am now able to recall Maurice
Green to my mind only on account of
the unusual manner of his death. pre-
pared his body for the grave, and it was
my hands that set above his last resting
place the pine board that bears his name.
Now for the first question: How do /
know that the man helped to bury on
the day following the explosion was
Maurice Green? Let me answer the
question by asking one. Why should the
attendant in the ward in which he died
report false name to me? Surely the
attendant could not have been mistaken
in the man. Surely he could have had
no motive IN decelVlng me.
Look at the common sense of the
thing. The attendant had fed and nursed
him through an attack of brain fever. If
such an experience as that won't post one
man as to the identity of another. what
will?
Then again, the man Pelton is pleased
to call the foraging soldier did not be-
long in Pelton's ward. So only one man
under his care was killed by the explo-
sion. The wounded were taken back to
their beds, and the only dead man he
was responsible for he brought to me in
person. You must admit that the wound
ed men knew their own beds.
Stop | remember now that one of
the wounded men lay moaning for weeks
and weeks. and never knew until long
atterward to whose kind offices he owed
his recovery. Then his mother came
from New York and took him away.
You can't argue with me that this self
sacrificing mother, not knowing her own
son, took another man away to her home.
So that disposes of the question of iden-
tity which, am told, has been raised in
the case. Green was the only man who
left Pelton's ward for good that night.
Pelton's Identification is therefore COM
plete.
Stop again! have been too fast, and
have a tritiing confession to make. The
case which looks so strong to me now
did not seem so then. At the time |
helped to bury Maurice Green did not
see ut to depend entirely upon the at
tendant's Identification.
presume my own observations made
at the time amount to nothing, but |
may as well set them down.
When the powder exploded in the hos
pital the men grouped about the fire
were, for the purpose of increased
warmth, wrapped in the blankets from
their beds. The blankets bore numbers
corresponding with the numbers of the
beds to which they belonged. When the
body of Maurice Green was brought to
me his hands still clasped the blanket he
wore at the time of his death. The num-
Der on that blanket was ninety-nine. The
wardbook showed that the number of
LIS DCu was lllutIN Whine.
This satisfied me. did 90 so far as to
make an examination of the dead mans
pockets, but found them to be empty.
The clothing which had been brought to
the hospital with him had been DESTROYED,
and there was no record of the preserva-
ton of any article found on his person.
Now you have all know of the circum-
stances of Maurice Green's burial.
Now for the second question. What
can | remember Of the man from New
York: In the first case cant see what
the case Of Private Maurice Green has to
do with the case of the man from New
York. Perhaps that is no affair of mine.
Whether it is or not will obey orders
Within week of the time of the ex-
plosion the roads became passable and
the hospital camp was broken up. There
IS no knowing how long our sick and
wounded soldiers might have remained
there only for the fact that the building
had been shattered beyond repair by the
accident.
The man from New York was in no
condition to be moved. He was assigned
quarters in farm house short distance
from the site of the camp, and was de-
tailed to attend him. The prospect was
a dreary one for Inc, but there is no such
thing as private's having his own way
:" the ar-Ay 2Cd had to make the best