Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1899-06-09
SURGEONS WORK.
Hospital Corps in the Philippines Is
Kept Busy.

Donald Mcintyre Of the North Dakota
hospital corps, writes home to friends at
Grafton:
On Saturday night, April sth, we en-
barked in open barges for our trip up
the lake. All night long and all day
Sunday we sailed. About 5 o'clock Sun
day evening we reached our destination
and landed about three miles from town
on a nice level beach. We commenced
to march to town, but were engaged by
the insurgents and had to stay there that
night. Before sunrise next morning the
gunboats commenced firing and cleaned
our path before them. We commenced
to march, aud by 1890 a. M, were in
Santa Cruz, the capital of that province.
But our march vas not without peril.
All the time the insurgents kept up a
heavy fire as they retreated, but our boys
pressed forward, pouring a continual fire
into them as they went. When we
reached Santa Cruz several of our men
went out and took in the dead and
wounded, ard as soon as Major Pease
and I had eaten some bareback and a
cup of coffee, we went down to the large
building where the wounded we're and
worked until 4:3O p. NJ, dressing the
wounded. Major Pease dressed about
ten cases, then went away for a smoke
and left me dressing. I dressed at least
thirty-fve cases alone and DR.. Lowell at
another table dressed about forty. I
never was so tired in my life as l was
when l took the last case off the table.
Some of my cases were shot at least SIN
times. One fellow had both arms bro
ken, another both legs broken, several
shot through the head, and all unable to
speak a word of English. After a pleas
ant supper of two hard-tacks and a cup
of muddy coffee, Major Pease had orders
to load all the wounded on to open barges
and send them to Manila, sixty miles
away. The wounded had to be carried
half a mile to the wharf, then we had to
wade four rods in water waist deep to
the barges, pole the barges against a
wind one mile to a steam launch,
lift all the wounded onto another barge
and pole back home at 2:3O a. H., next
morning. Of course, we had prisoners
who did the work, but if one prisoner
got away we were responsible, and what
was worse, they were so scared and igno-
rant that it was easier to do the work than
order them. I had to keep my revolver
in my hand all the time, and several
times had to level it at the head of some
lazy prisoner. The first case brought to
us was a smallpox case and we had to
load him onto a casco (barge). Two
American soldiers, wounded, were also
on the barge, and one of them died while
l was lifting him into another barge.
The other died a day later. Take it all
in all, it was the hardest days work I
ever did, being for three hours steady
waist-deep in water and being without
food OR sleep for forty-eight hours.
After stopping here for a day we CON-
menced again and marched until $3.50 p.
w., when, while marching along a level
road at the foot of the mountain, we
were fired upon, and before we knew it,
six of our boys were wounded. Company
G was in the lead, and Major Frame
called for the sharpshooters and sent
them up ahead under charge of Lieuten-
ant Tharalson. They advanced until
within thirty feet of the enemy before a
shot was fired on either side. Then the
enemy opened up and Driscoll, Almen
and Thompkins fell. Lamb got up and
started to fire at them and dropped with
a hole in his forehead that I could put
my three fingers into. Sletteland, the re-
naming n of the squad, seeing the
Filipinos trying to advance and capture
the guns of the wounded, fired his gun
at them twelve times and put them on
the run I can not take the space here
to tell you of the brave work done by our
boys, how they charged up a hill SO steep
that they had to hang onto branches,
how the bullets rained down upon them
like hail, but will save that until I get
home and tell it about the winter fire.
1t was an awful day, but notwithstand-
ing Company C's sad loss, we were VIC
t%orious, and by night had possession of
another of their strongly fortified towns.
IN
Bad management keeps more people