Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-10-25
WOUNDED AT SAN JUAN.
A SOLDIER, SHOT THROUGH THE BODY,
KEEPS ON FIGHTING.

We stopped at cot far down the line
In the soldiers pavilion at Bellevue.
"Here's queer case" said the doctor.
"Look, see the red mark on his breast, II
b almost gone; and then the other one
ut the back. The bullet went clean
through the left lung. IL 10 wonder
he Is alive to-day. We pumped OUTLET
me see"
IA hundred and sixteen ounces" said
the soldier.
Il was easy to see that his mind had
dwelt on these figures. One hundred
and sixteen ounces OF blood-his blood.
He had thought of this for days, reckon
ing It up at first with apprehension,
afterward with q certain pride. This
was his title Of dlstinction In the ward.
Exactly; one hundred and sixteen
ounces from the left lung. The house
surgeon thought pus would form and
wanted TO cut away the ribs, but stuck
to the pumping and he pulled through"
ST he'd been u smoker, though, he'd
be dead smoker now, but his heart
vas sound and could stand half rations
Of air."
~ don't drink, either said the SOL
der; shat is, nothing but beer. I'm
German.
"Are yous- said I. "where frome"
Sort German, Iowa. I'm quarter
master sergeant In the Sixteenth Infan-
try"
He seemed an intelligent quartermaster
sergeant, so talked to him while, let
ting the doctor 60 on.
"was 1t ut San Juan you got hitT i
asked.
"Yes-hslf way up the hill. 1t didn't
hurt much--just Jared me like a good
punch"
ibid you keel over on the groundy"
"Keel over nothing. Invent on up the
hill.
"what-with bullet through your
lungg"
"Cert'nly. I tell you 1t didn't hurt !;
II Just bled little where the ball came
out"
"And you went on fighting:"
"Yes sir; kept right on-up n ways,
then down fat on the ground, then up
again, firing and yelling and laying low,
until we got to the block-house."
How long did you fight after you got
hitg"
ABOUT an hour, guess-till We got
what we wanted. Then one Of the boys
told me my uudershirt WAS all bloody
behind, and started to look nj 1t. l
stood still TO LET him, and all OF sudden
everything went black and | fell In a
heap. Ii didn't matter then"
whist happened after thst!'
20, nothing much. just lay there
till came TO, and then tore half my
undershirt off and fixed the thing"
Didn't doctor look after you?
mot that night-there weren't any
doctors about"
did you lie there all night with no
one TO help your"
Yes, lay there all night; and, let
me tell VOC. there were Others"
did you slcep?"
"Couldu't sleep-too much noise: you
see, the shsrpshooters were getting their
work 10. Besides, | was too hungry.
Say, was hungry as h that night ;
that WAS worse than the bullet-hole. IL
was eleven O'Clock Saturday morning
when | got the first taste OF anything,
and that was half cup Of beef tea at
Bloody Bend. The last | had before
that was four O'Clock Friday morning.
I guess | looked like freak when they
got me down thcre-only had my boots
on and my trousers and little OF my
undershirt. | was senseless, they say,
and lot Of blood was coming from my
mouth. IL must have been liking the
siretcher that knocked me out. rugged
IL up with two guns and some canteen-
straps"
Then he went on to describe how his
lung filled up slowly for twenty days,
and how the doctors finally pumped II
out. That was what interested him
most, the manipulation Of the sucking
needle and the rubber tubes joined into
bottles, and the fact that he had been
able to lose more ounces OF blood and
live than the doctors thought possible
Leslie's Weekly.