The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-10-01
SNATCHED FROM DEATH.
Terrible Experience Of Maine Signal
Corps Man.
CORPORAL JOHNSON FOUND IN
ARMY HOSPITAL.

he Had Given up nope OF Ever SOoi1,5
Home Again But Was Searched Out
and Brought Here by Friends-His
Experience in Santiago.
Out of the jaws of death Corporal Chris
F. johnson of the Maine Signal Corps
was brought to Portland on the Wednes-
day nights boat from New York. He
went away from Portland in May
strong and ruddy faced boy, the picture
of health anG strength. He returned
shadow of his former self, thin,
emaciated, hollow checked with his eyes
sunken deep in his head, his, limbs weak
and trembling, wreck.
It is due to the efforts of Mr.. Fred II.
Eastman of the firm of Eastman Brothers
and Bancroft that Corporal johnson, Is
now at home and fast regainSng his
strength and spirits. Had it not been for
Mr.. Eastman and friend, who hunted
through the hospitals Ct Camp Wykon'
without success and finally traced john
son to Fort Wordsworth where he had
been taken without any record of the
transfer being made, the boy would
probably never have reached home. Both
Mr.. Eastman and Corporal johnson have
stories to tell that seem almost incredible
and they show what the horrors OF war
really are.
"When see these young ladies about
Portland wearing crossed cannon and
guns on their hats" said Mr.. Eastman,
yesterday to a PRESS reporter, ~ can't
help thinking how little these people real
ize the horrors of war or what the .orna-
meuts they are wearing signify. Il they
only knew what all these things suggest
If they had only seen even the few things
that have seen they would never wear
such ornaments again. Gen. Sherman
said that war is HE'LL and agree with
him. Why, when see soldier in uni
form now 1t almost gives me the night.
mare"
Before the war broke out Corporal
johnson was employed at Eastman
Brothers and Bancroft He is a nice boy
and was very highly esteemed by his eTu-
ployers and by all the people associated
with him in this big store. johnson was
brim full of patriotism and enlisted in
the Maine Signal Corps, of which Captain
Butler was the commander. 1t was fine
corps of men which left Maine early in
June for Washington barracks. The
PRESS has already told how these men
were picked out for active service by Gen.
Greeley and sent to Cuba in place of
regulars. They were happy lot of men
when they set out from Washington bar
racks for Tampa and all of them very
anxious to get into the thick of the fun
in Cuba. The other day, sixteen of the
forty men belonging to this corps reached
home with Capt. Butler. The others
were scattered in the hospitals and in
trenches from Cuba to Maine.
Before the Maine corps loft Tampa
Corporal johnson was taken sick. The
change Of climate and of water, the
change of food and manner of living
brought on an attack of dysentery, but
the plucky boy would not be left behind
and 80 he accompanied the rest of the men
to Cubn.
The detachment to which he was as
signed had charge of the telephone station
at Siboney. johnson and several other
men who were suffering from dysentery
stuck to their work and would not 60 to
the hospital.
THEY BEGAN TO WASTE AWAY
and beneath the burning sun, without
proper medical attendance they faded
away to mere shadows of their former
selves. When they attended sick call in
the morning each man would be given a
dozen pills by the doctors, no matter
what his complaint was. johnson tells
the story in this way:
"IEsuppose they didn't have medicine
enough of the right kind for surely none
of us got the right kind of medicine for
our sickness. have seen, morning after
morning, dozen men go to sick call.
They would be suffering from all kinds of
troubles. These men would line up and
each one would be given dozen pills of
the same kind, from the.sanie package by
the hospital stewards. This was all the
attention they received and sometimes
they were not even asked by the doctors
to tell what was the matter witL them.
After twenty days Of this kind of thing
johnson and several other men from the
Signal Corps got so weak and sick that
they had to go to the hospital at Siboney.
Arthur W. Hooper of Deering and
L were sent to the Siboney hospital said
johnson. Here were about seven or
eight hundred men very sick. We were
placed in tents. four men to the tent.
There were no nurses there A few
colored men, who were enlisted in some
regiment were the only attendants We
had and they paid no attention to us.
When mess call sounded if man was too
weak to go and get his food he went with
out it. If he didn't get it that was his
own fault for no one would bring him
any. We had to get our own water and
all washed, If we were not too weak to
wash ourselves, at the same pipe.