The Florence daily tribune., 1898-09-12
FREAKS OF BULLETS.
SOLDIERS RECOVERING OF WOUNDS
THAT SEEMED FATAL.


Frank HELENA
Among the a74 wounded men whom
the Olivette brought back to New York
from the battlefields of Cuba arc some
OF the most extraordinary cases OF in
jury known in surgical history. When
the war is over, it is probable that mill.
tary and naval methods of warfare will
not be the only things to have been rev.
olutionized. There are indications that
most OF the surgical axioms which re.
late to gunshot injuries will have to be
revised.
Some OF the men on the Olivette are
almost shot to pieces. There are men
who can show as many us eight bullet
holes, and by all tho traditions of sur
gerry they ought Co be dead. Instead
they are alive and not even particularly
uncomfortable. Men who were shot
through the kidneys, liver or lungs are
able to walk around. Acting Assistant
Surgeon II. l.. Brown furnished tech.
nicai description OF the surgical ooInpli-
cations caused by the wouiii,s
Ihe worst wound 10 be found upon
the ship is borne by Nornan Crime of
Company e. First volunteer cavalry
(the rough riders). Orme was fighting
indian fashion-lying upon his stomach
shooting when he saw {, chance
when he was struck by a Mauser bullet
He was aiming his rifle At the time
ana ms lift arm was bent The Spanish
bullet struck Orme in tho left arm, Just
above the elbow, and pierced it. Pass
ing out, it entered the upper arm, pro-
duoing compound comminuted frac.
ture of the bone of the upper arm. The
bullet passed out of the arm and entered
Orme's body, just below the left arm
pit Thence it ranged downward, pass
ing 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 it could go no farther and
remained in the mans body.
I'm this case six wounds were inflict-
ed by one bullet. and the extraordinary
part of the thing is that Orme has O
very good chance for recovery. The bull
let, in passing through the arm, missed
the important arteries and nerves by the
thickness of sheet of paper. 1t must
have passed the mans heart between
beats-between diastole and systole.
surgeons say-and so escaped injuring
that organ. When Orme was brought
to the field hospital, he was pretty far
gone. Ordinary aseptic dressings were
put ON his wounds. Tho bullet readily
could have been removed, but no at
tempt was made to extract it, as the
patients condition did not warrant the
interference. When he is stronger, re-
section of the injured rib will be neces-
sary, and the bullet can be removed.
1.-The next curious case is that Of
Captain Thomas L. Knox of the rough
riders Captain Knox was struck in the
small of tina back by Mauser bullet.
1t hit him to the right of the spine, per-
forating the big muscles of the back;
thence the bnlle. passed through the
right kidney, liver and right lung, rang
ing upward. After passing through these
soft structures the ball. for some unac-
countable reason, turned sideways and
continued its path. fortunately but
very little tissue remained il. front of
it, and the bullet pissed out Of his body
From the point of entrance to the place
at which it cleared the lung tho caliber
of the path of the bullet was that of
lead pencil When it turned. however,
II iur1 ont hole into which yoa osy9...td.
put your list. Inc Curious liiirt If 81 inc
case is this: Had that bullet turned be-
fore instead Of after it passed through
the organs it would have destroyed them
ana caused death. AS it was, Captain
Knox vas soon ont of danger and is now
making ' "a unsvsn:fui recovery
There follows the case of G.. H. Dor
wood of Company E, Seventeenth in
fantry. Dorwood was STOPPING down
and looking for Spaniard to shoot ut.
The Spaniard saw Dorwood first The
bullet which he fired struck Dorwood
on the collar bone and made hole as
big as an orange. After that it seems to
have settled down, and the rest of its
track was the normal size for bullet
hole. Dorwood was knocked head over
heels by the shock and was picked up
apparently dead. When he was exam
med, it was found that he had n big
hole at the top of his chest and small
hole between his shoulder blades. The
bullet had passed clear through him.
How that bullet managed to miss his
windpipe, esophagus and the upper
part of his lungs is q mystery. 1t did,
however, and Dorwood is almost ready
for duty again.
Musician Frank Hellems Of Com
pany @, Twenty fourth infantry, was a
noncombatant, but he wanted to see
what was going on. He crawled up to
the fighting line and lay down fiat on
his face There came along bullet
which entered just above his left shout
der and made neat hole obliquely
through the flesh of his back and came
out just over his left hip. Musician
Hellems jumped and yelled. In the
jump he stopped another bullet, which
entered his back just beneath the left
shoulder, crossed the tracl, of the other