Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-06-22

of May Z, says: Volumes might bt
dents and oddities OF warfare that new
er fall to the lot Of the historian.
have in mind many Of these little
events that l will relate, but it may tag
the incredulous severely to swallow
them. Providence, good luck, or some
other occult power has stood by the
American soldier in this war. At this
writing we have had 800 killed and
LOO wounded since Feb. 4, the begin
ming of the war with the F'ilipinos
The casualty list Of the enemy must ex-
coed 10000, and l should not hesitate
much to call it 10000. l wonder il
AguinaldO still believes what he once
publicly announced, that he could Kill
of American soldiers faster than Nc
Kinley could ship them in here. Ag-
gie's rush Of deceit to his head has
been expensive. His army Of monkeys
in soldier clothes has been so ply
sicked by American lead that he hardly
knows where he is at"
Of the LOO wounded boys in the
hospitals but three of them required
amputatiOn Of a limb. This is most
remarkable and is a handsome testi-
monial to the skillful and intelligent
| surgical consideration of Mai Fitz-
| gerald and his corps Of assistants.
Eight hundred and twenty soldiers
wounded in the limbs and but three
amputations-two of them the thigh
and one Of them the shoulder. These
amputated cases all died, which is also
remarkable in the light of modern sur
gerry. In this climate tissue change IS
so rapid that in five hours after the
vital spark has fed from a limb the
case is fatal. Even the post norton
changes are so rapid that embalming
is certain failure unless begun with
in 60 minutes after life has ceased, and
then the body Immediately transferred
to the boats in the harbor.
We have expert American ambalmers
here who tell me that they have tried
every method of embalming and have
failed. To the small calibre bullet of
the insurgents Mauser the wounded
boys owe their lives and a continuance
Of their usual friendly association with
good arms and legs. In the bony struc-
ture of the body the Mauser bores a
clean little hole, rarely fracturing a
limb; in the skull it takes a center shot
to kill. Now, this sounds like a whop-
per. I know of at least a dozen men
shot through the brain with Mausers
who are still alive and in good health.
| know of fully hundred cases shot
through the chest cavity in every por-
ton except the heart, that have recov-
ered-in fact, they rarely die. I know
of cases where the main artery supply
of limb was totally destroyed, vet
the integrity of the parts remained
good.
l helped last week to ligate the le-
moral artery in the left thigh Of a Ne
braska boy, and although brass bull
let had gone through the leg sidewise,
severing the artery and terribly LAGER
ating the flesh, the collateral circula-
ton established insures him a good leg
eventually. But through the soft alb
dOminal tissues the Mauser is always
fatal, excepting wounds Of the liver.
Wounds of the intestines, stomach and
spleen always cause death. Every
operation for resection of wounded in
testines resulted in death, and the OPP
Grafton is now entirely abandoned.
Wounds Of the head excite the most
wonder. At the battle Of Mariquina,
Mon Dri, ~
company fell close to my left. A
Mauser entered behind the right ear,
passed diagonally forward through the
posterior wall of the throat, with it's
exit near the left corner Of the mouth,
taking along three teeth. He is MAX
ing a slow but certain recovery. A
Colorado man on our right that day
had Mauser bullet traverse the iden-
teal course except that the points of
entrance and exit were reversed He
returned to his company in two weeks.
Another soldier was struck behind the
ear high up, the ball passing downward
and forward and out the middle por-
ton Of the lower jaw. He lost a cou-
| pie OF teeth, but is making a nice re-
| covery. A Montana boy was struck
an inch back of the outer angle of the
left eye, the bullet passing through his
skull and making its exit in the same
| locality on the other sight. He has
! lost the sight of one eye and 1 fear the
other will soon follow, although he will
recover his usual health. A Nebraska
man was shot directly over the left
eye, the ball passing down and out I'm
! derneath the edge Of the jaw, re-enter-
! ing the shoulder and out near the ell
! bow, again entering the wrist and out
the back Of his hand. He is out of
commission for couple of months, but
will have one good eye left to turn on
the "googooos." These are a few of
the cases that come under my personal
observation, and can well be consid-
| cred marvellous cases.
The number Of marvellous escapes al
so border on the domain Of the mira
culous. Comrade McInnes, Of my COM
pany, who fell a. Mariquina, in addi-
ton to his belt of cartridges carried
a small pasteboard box of 20 cartridges
in the bosom fold of his blue shirt
While Withdrawing a cartridge from
his belt emington brass bullet passed
through the back of his right hand
through the first OF the two layers OF
cartridges in his bosom, and doubled
up cartridge in the second layer Sc
firmly as TO still retain the brass mis-
sile in the fold. AS the cartridge box
was directly over his stomach his close
| rail- ron ba approciofoI