Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-08-20
Some Peculiar Franks of the Mauser
Bullets.
BRAVE WOUNDED SOLDIERS
Remarkable Cases Brought Home
on the OIiyette.
RESULTS OF A BOLD CHARGE
From the Argona 1T.

| details of the fighting before Santiago our
| pride in the herosm OF our boys and our
| admiration at their achievements continus
to increase, for when the difficulties of that
campaign are realized, the fact that our
| troops were not annihilated In cutting their
| way through the dense maze Of billy under
| growth, with invisible sharpshooters and
| masked batteries firing upon them from
| overhead and from every side and that
| they never faltered under any storm of
| shot and shell, but still pressed forward
| until they broke into a fierce charge against
4 more than twice their number and leapad
| down upon the heads of the Spanish troops
| as they drove them from the trenches il
| seems fully marvellous as that our navy
| sank two Spanish squadrons with the loss
| of scarcely q man. So certain had the
| Spaniards been of victory that they had
| brought out their women to entertain them
| with the defeat of the Americans expect
ing them to fly, like Cubans, after the first
| volley. What mortified the Spaniards said
| Spanish prisoner, that no matter
how many Americans were killed. the rest
old not know they were defeated. but kept
| coming ahead.
| Brave Wounded.
One striking peculiarly of the invalid SOL
| diers which distinguishes them from the
| hospital patients in general is that no mat
ter how painfully wounded. they never COM
| plain, and, though many of them cannot re-
cover for months, they speak eagerly of
| returning to duty in little while. After
| what these men have endured without muir
nuring, they would scorn to complain now.
a great number OF those wounded IN the
| TWO days nghtinR at the Spanish intrench-
| ments had to drag themselves eight miles
| TO the hospital at Siboney because all the
| ambulances and army wagons were being
used to transport the most desperate cases
| Part OF the road was ouaRmire and the
rest rough and hard. and the whole distance
was beset with lurking sharpshooters All
| agree thai the sickening heat and torturinz
| thirst were harder to endure than the suf-
| 1erlag from their wounds. OF the two hun
| dred and sevenry-four wounded brought to-
New York by the steamer olivette some
nave received as many as eight wounds
which in the time OF the civil war would
have proved fatal. One reason that SO
| many lives have been preserved is that the
| soldiers were supplied with emergency pack
ages containing antiseptic bandages, which
they or some comrade applied promptly TO
the wounds when received Assistant Sur
| geon h L. Brown, In attendance upon the
oiVette patients, thus describes some of
| the cases:
Strange Courses of Bullets
"Gunshot and shell wounds make I'D our
| surgical cases. We have not handled a
bayonet or machete wound. In no case did
We find any evidence that explosive or ex-
banding bullets had been used by the Span
iards. Most Of the wounds were clean-cut.
| and the bullets. when removed were nor
reformed Although We found nothing to
complain of In this line, we found some
thins Whicn we regarded as much worse
| bullets cased in brass
| The worst wound to be found unon the
| snip Is borne by Norman Orme of Company
+, lst Volunteer Cavalry tthe Rough Rid
ers). Orme was fighting Indian fashion
lying upon his stomach and shooting when
he saw a chance-when he was struck by
| a Mauser bullet. He was aiming his rife
| at the time and his left arm was bent. The
Spanish bullet struck Orme in the left arm
| just above the elbow and pierced it Pass
| ing out, it entered the upper arm produce
| ing compound comminuted fracture Of
the bone OF the upper arm The bullet
passed out OF the arm and entered Orme's
| body just below the left armpit Thence
Ii ranged downward. passing through his
| lung. At the opposite side of the body the
bullet was checked by rib 1t had force
enough to smash this rib but il could go
no further, and remained In the mans
body. In this case six wounds were infiict-
| ed by one bullet, and the extraordinary
part OF the thing is that Orme has a very
good chance for recovery. The bullet, In
passing through the arm, missed the i'm
portant arteries and nerves by the thick
| ness OF sheet of paper. 1t must have
passed the mans heart between beats-be-
tween dIastole and systole, surgeons say
| and so escaped injuring that organ.
Through Most Everything
The next curious case is that of Captain
Thomas T. Knox of the Rough Riders The
Mauser bullet which struck Captain Knox
hit him to the right OF the spine perforat-
ing the big muscles of the back. Thence
the bullet passed through the right kidney.
liver and right lung. ranging upward After
passing through these soft structures the
Dali Tor some unaccountable reason turn
ed sideways and continued its path For
tunately but very little tissue remained in
front of it, and the bullet passed out of the
body. From the point of entrance to the
place at which 1t cleared the lung the cali
per OF the path of the bullet was that OF a
lead pencil When ii turned, however IL
tore out a hole into which YOU could nut
your hst. The curious part of the case is
this: Had the bullet turned before instead
OF after, IL passed through the organs III
would have destroyed them and caused
oeath As 1t was, Captain Knox was soon
out OF danger, and is now making an un-
eyentful recovery.
There follows the case of G. III Dor-
wood or Company Filth Infantry. Dor
wood was STOPPING down and looking for a
Spaniard to shoot at The Spaniard saw
Dorwood first. The bullet which n. fired
struck Dorwood on the collar bone and
made hole as big an orange After
that 1t seems TO have settled down and the
rest or ITS track was the normal size for a
bullet hole. Dorwood was knocked head
over heels by the shock, and was picked IN
apparently dead When he was examined
II was found that he had a big hole at the
his shoulderblades. The bullet had passed
clean through him. How that bullet man
aged TO miss his windpipe oesophagus and
the upper part Of his lungs is a mystery.
1t did, however. and Dorwood is almost
ready for duty again.
Through His Brain
Joseph Billy. Company G, 10th Infantry.
was in the fighting line. when a Mauser
bullet came along and struck him lust over
the left eyebrow. 1t ranged downward
through his brain and came out at the back
Of his neck, just where he would have
worn his collar button IL he had OWNED
one. The only thing the matter with Billy
is that he has lost the sight of his left eve
When the bullet entered his head II Clipped
the optic nerve and rendered him sightless
1t also interfered with the muscles control
Ling the upper eyelid. producing a condition
which is known as ptosis. The mans eve
lid Will always droop over the eyebal
Another man, whose name think was
Holman. but whose regiment and company
L cannot remember, was struck over the
right upper jswbone by a bullet which
passed downward and extracted all his
lower teeth on the opposite side. 1t inter-
fered with his palate, and he will have Diff
Guilty in talking"