The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-02-03
A HUMAN SHAMELESS.

"A Famous Doctor Describes the Dispo-
 sition of Eight Hundred Surgical
 Casea in One Day.
 Sir William MacCarmac, in the Lan-
 cet, gives the following description of
 the medical work following upon the re-
 verse at the Tugela river:
 December 16-We arrived at Chieve-
 ley station about 1:30 p. m. yesterday.
 The cannonading had ceased about one
 o'clock Wee fotnd the station occu- pied by hospital train under Major
 Brazier- Creagh, R. A. M O., and every
 one available helping to provide com- forts for the freight it carried. There were one hundred and nineteen wound- ed in the train. They had been taken on board direct from the field, the train having run into the actual scene of &C., tion in fact, it was ordered back by the principal medical officer, two shells hav- ing fallen close to it. This train carried the first results of the battle. and it was a very distressing sight. The wounded filled the carriages just as they had come from the field every wound had been dressed, and had been dressed ex- tremely well, under fire. A noticeable feature was the fact that very few of
 
 Rifle splints, tourniquets, and other dressings had been adjusted carefully and deliberately, under circumstances of great difficulty and danger.
 Haing obtained the necessary infor mation and permission, we walked to the field hospitals of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth brigades, situated about three miles from Chieveley under the crest of hillock about four hundred yards out side the fire zone. The state of these hospitals at the time of our visit (4:30 D. n) Is almost beyond description Captain Symons and myself visited the three operating tents one after another, where my opinion was continually ~ quested by the medical officers in charge--Maior Coggin. Major Houston, Major Culing. Major Wilkinson and Major Youngabout various eases. Each of the three operat ting tents con- tained two operating tables, and as fast as patient was taken off the table an- other took his place. Awaiting their turn the wounded were lying outside in rows, which were being continually augmented by the civilian bearers com ing in from the field. As each wound ed man reacheed the hospital he was served with a hot cup of bovril, large cans of which were boiling outside the tents.
 The way in which the wounded had been dressed upon the field and each man ticketed with the nature of his wound, his name and regiment, was ex- cellent, and was very useful for identi- fication. This also saved much time at the field hospitals because the seriously wounded could be at once discriminated. from the more trivial cases. The latter went away at once to the tents, and the l former were redressed and operated upon when necessary by the four off, ! cers of each of the field hospitals and { the three surgeons of each of the bearer companies. The praise of the regi- i mental officers and men in respect to the way in which the Royal Army Med ! ical corps had done, it's duty under heavy fire was unanimous and unstint- ed An officer of the Devons. wounded in the foot, told me that he managed to get to a hut near the bank of the river which was being used as dressing station. This hut was continually un- der fire, and he described the behavior of the medical officers am magnificent.
 The spectacle a the field hospital was most painful Ambulance wagon after wagon and stretcher squad after stretcher squad came in while 1 was there, pouring in the wounded. some of whom had died on the way, anu could only be carried to the mortuary tents. The work performed in the operating tents was, In my opin- ion, of great efficiency, the operations being deliberately carried out with skill and dispatch under the very try ing circumstances of intense heat, hur- " and excitement all round. The Roy { al Army Medical corps officers of these hospitals had started their surgical f work about a. m, and when l visited , them in the evening they were still hard at It. having had no food meanwhile and no time for rest, and the work went. on for hours afterWard. I gave advice in many cases where I was , asked, and advised against operation in the case of a poor fellow with fearful :!