Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1899-01-21
STRUCK BY A MAUSER
EXPERIENCE OF EDWARD MARSHALL,
WOUNDED WAR CORRESPONDENT.


He Tells How IL Feels to he Shot Through
the Spine by n Spanish BulIet-How q
Mauser Sounds - Proof That 1t Is .
| MercifuI Missile.
| will endeavor to tell how IL feels to
be hit by Mauser bullet my own ex.
perience having been gained from one
that shot away part of my backbone.
When the rough riders ran into q
Spanish ambuscade at La Quasina,
first emptied my revolver at the enemy
Then l began to look around. / was
standing under a royal palm tree max.
ing notes when felt the tree shiver.
looked up and saw three or four bullet
holes in it. The fire was getting thicker
and thicker. Invent over to some wound
ed men to see what I could do for them.
Suddenly felt blow in the back IL
was not very hard or at all painful. 1t
was as il somebody had given me a
light punch. l fell down, and to my
surprise was unable to get up. l had
stopped Mauser bullet. The air was
full of the sounds of Mauser bullets and
of rapid firing guns brought from the
warships.
The Mauser makes strange Kissing
sound quite unlike that of the old bull.
let's. AS near as I can describe the
sound, it is three rs and then
EW-thus, Z-Z-Z-EW. You feel
as If you could dodge the bullets.
The sound of the rapid fire guns is ter
rifying-far mare so than that of the
Mausers. II is continuous "br.r.r-r.
There is not time for any one shot to
make n complete report One runs into
the other
The Red Cross people came to me first
and bandaged me. After that surgeon
examined me and told me had only
few moments to live, as my wound was
mortal. l believed him. l tainted once,
and then found myself lying under the
trees with some other wounded men.
One Of them said, Lets sing song to
show those fellows we aren't dead. " So
we sang The Star Spangled Banner"
and Rally Round the Flag Boys"
rather out of tune.
At this stage felt absolutely no pain
| simply lay in the long grass with.
out any unpleasant sensation. l after.
ward found many men who had had
similar experiences. The surgeon 5 state.
ment that my wound was mortal pro.
duced as little impression on me men-
tally as the wound had physically. This
Indifference, mental and physical, can
only be attributed to the tremendous
shock produced by the Mauser bullet
Later, when began to regain sensation,
| felt as If redhot needles were being
stuck into my spine all the way from
the bottom Of my back to my brain.
This, have since found, was duo to
splinters of bone sticking in the spinal
cord.
My observations in the field and OH
the hospital ship Olivette, where were
PA of the wounded, incline me to the
strong belief that the Mauser bullet is a
most merciful implement of warfare, il
any bullet can be said to be merciful.
saw many men wounded and probably
half dozen killed. In one case group
OF eight men, not more than a dozen
yards from me, went down within 60
seconds. They fell in quiet heap.
There was nc jumping in the air. nc
throwing up Of arms, not one scream. /
heard one chap quietly remark: "Whew!
I'm hitr The others said nothing. l
went over and pulled them apart and
succeeded in separating them without
forcing groan. None of the wounds
was mortal.
1t seemed to be popularity Of the
Mauser that every man struck by it, no
matter how slightly, dropped instantly
to the ground. Trumpeter Casa, who
was wounded in the hand SO slightly
that after was shot he helped to carry
me couple of miles over rough roads
to the field hospital, dropped like a log
VIII he was shot.
Major Brody-and finer soldier
never stopped "A bullet-was hit in the
forearm. He went down instantly in a
lump. The surgeons on the Olivette as
sured me that at least one. third of the
wounded men they brought home to
New York would have died or suffered
amputation if they had been struck by
bullets like those used in the civil war
II my wound had been made by such
bullet, the doctors tell me l should have
been instantly killed.
The three men whose brains were
actually pierced by Mauser bullets and
wers brought back on the Olivette
would, Of course, have been instantly
killed if they had been struck by bull
let's of larger caliber, l owe my life to
the skillful operating and care of Major
Appel of the Olivette, assisted by DR..
w. E. Parker and Lieutenants ID. 9.
Howard, l.. p, Smith and II. L. Brown.
Edward Marshall in New York Jour.
nal