The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-09
A WOUNDED SOLDIERS STORY.
Bullet Went Clean Through His
Lung, But He Kept On Fighting.


Leslie's Weekly: We stopped at cot
far down the line in the soldiers pa
Vilion at Bellevue.
Here's queer case" said the doc
tor. Look. see the red mark on his
breast it's almost gone; and then this
| other one at the back. The bullet went
clean through the left lung. It's a Won
der he's alive today. We pumped out
| let me see
"a hundred and sixteen ounces" said
| the soldier
1t was easy to see that his mind had
| dWelt on these figures One hundred
| ana sixteen ounces of blood-his blood.
he had thought of this for days,
reckoning 1t up at first with apprehen-
sion, afterward with a certain pride.
This was his title to distinction in the
ward.
Exactly: 116 ounces from the left
lung. The house surgeon thought pus
would form. and wanted to cut away
the ribs. but l stuck to the pumping.
and he pulled through. If he'd been a
smoker, though, he'd be a dead smoker
now, but his heart was sound and could
stand half rationS of air."
Il don't drink, either" said the SOL
d1er: that is. nothing but beer. I'm
a German"
Are your" said I. Where from?"
Fort German, Ia. I'm quartermaster
sergeant in the Sixteenth infantry"
He seemed an intelligent quartermas-
Ter sergeant, so l talked to him a while.
letting the doctor go on.
WAS it at San Juan you got hit?"
asked
"Yes-half way up the hill. It didn't
hurt much-just pared me like a good
punch
Did you keel over on the ground?"
Keel over nothing. 1 went on I'D |
the kill
''What-with bullet through vour |
lung"
"Cert'nly. tel you it didn't hurt; it
just bled little where the oalI came
OUT '-'-'e
And you went on fighting?"
res, sir; kept right on-up a ways.
then down fiat on the ground, then up
again. hiring and yelling and laying low,
until we got to the block house"
hit?" ''0 e0'
About an hour, I guess-tilI we got
what we wanted. Then one of the bows
told me my undershirt was all bloody
behind, and started to look at it. Il
stood still to let him. and all of a sud
zen everything went black, and fell
IN a heap. 1t didn't matter then"
What happened after that?"
On, nothing much. 1 just lay there
till came to, and then / tore half
ny undershirt off and fixed the thing.'
Didn't the doctor look after your"
Not that night-there weren't any
doctors about"
Did you lie there all night with no
me to help you?"
Yes, L lay there all night: and, let
ne tell you. there were Others"
Did you sleep?"
Couldn't sleep-too much noise. Won
zee the sharpshooters were getting
heir work in. Besides, 1 was too hun
ry. Say, 1 was hungry as h that (
light: that was worse than the bullet 4
ole. 1t was IL o'clock Saturday morn
1g when got the first taste of ANY,
hlng, and that was half cup of beef
ca at Bloody Bend. The last had be-
ore that was o'clock Friday morning
guess l looked like freak when they
OF me down there-only had my boots
and my trousers and a little of nv
nderShlrt- I was SenSelesS, thew saw q
no lot of blood was coming from NV
louth. 1t must have been liking the q
that knocked me out. I rugged q
up with two guns and some canteen 8
.raps."
Then he went on to describe now his q
ing hlled up slowly for 20 days. and s.
DIV the doctors finally pumped it out 3
nat was what interested him most q
lie manipulation of the sucking needle g
I'D the rubber tubes jointed into bot q
es, and the fact that he had been able r
lose more ounces Of blood and live b
ian the doctors thought possible. y