The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-10-18
HOW BELL mETTHE FEVER FOE.

| 7OW BELL MET HE FEVER EOE
Occasionally at the United States Mill
! tary Academy in seeking TO teach the
| lesson OF the beauty OF self-sacrifce. the
/ chaplain viii tell the cadets that all he
| roes who give up their lives for principle
! do not die by rife shot nor saber stroke.
/ The martial spirit that is engendered by
military instruction and by the glorious
| heritage OF the memory Of the sons of
I the academy who give UP their lives for
/ the fag, often leads the cadet minds into
train OF thought which holds that the
death which is mere fitting TO the SOL
der than any other is that which comes
at the hands OF the enemy of his country
/ While the occurrence was frssher in the
memory of al than it is perhaps today,
T the West Point chaplains IN the pressing
Of their point loved 70 speak Of the
death Of Lieutenant James f. Bell, who
died because OF his devotion 10 duty.
Jimmie Bell. lovingly CALLED Jingle"
by his fellow cadets, was a brother of
Major ". ". Bell, OF Chicago. and an
uncle of Lillian Bell. the writer. When
Lillian Bell wrote her story, The Under
Side Of Things with its pathetic end
ing. she we've the tale about the career
Of her uncle, Lieutenant Bell, and gave
the story the depth of pathos that truth
compelled.
One OF James E. Bells classmates at
was fighting with another man he had
something TO grapple with. but that when
a man was fighting disease the disease
aid all the graphing. You can't wound
a disease adversary. Against him parry
and thrust are nothing. Adjutant Cen
eral +. D. Townsend once said that in
al his army career he had never known
such honors TO be paid to a subaltern
as were offered to the memory Of First
2 mr. Tsr.sn
orders were issued from the headquarters
OF the army, each paying tribute TO the
devotion Of the young officer of artillery
who had died on the Dry Tortugas of
yellow fever.
Fort Jefferson, on the Tortugas. in Au-
gust of the year 1873 was garrisoned by
Battery NJ, First United States aFtil-
leIy. Outside Of the surgeons there was
only one officer. Lieutenant Bell, at the
post. Captain L L. Langdon had been
granted a leave of absence to go north
TO the bedside Of his dying father. On
August Is yellow fever appeared at the
post. Within two days four of the gar
rison had died. Upon the first announce
ment OF the appearance of the scourge
Lieutenant Bell sent all the women and
children and some of the married men
TO an island three miles away. Within a
day or two he sent to the same place
nearly all the well men Of the garrison,
retaining only enough TO nurse the sick.
There could have been no criticism of
Bells course had he gone with the gar
rison, leaving the sick to the care of the
surgeons and the nurses. He stayed and
devoted himself to the sick in the hos
pital, assisted by the men who had volun-
teered. The heat was fearful. There
was not a pound Of ice on the island.
and many of the deaths that followed
one after another were due to the lack
of this necessity. There were twenty
cases of the fever and for whole days
and nights continuously the devoted leu
tenant commanding, the surgeons and
the nurses knew no rest. With their own
hands they dug the graves for the dead
and with their own lips repeated over
them the burial service.
Captain Langdon in the far north heard
of the yellow fever at Fort Jefferson. He
instantly relinquished his leave of alb
sence and FASTENED to return TO his sta
ton. Some months before the outbreak
OF the fever Lieutenant Bell had put in
an application TO be detailed as instructor
of military science at the University of
Vermont. The application had been
granted. and Captain Langdon. hurrying
southwark TO join his command carried
in his pocket the order relieving Lieuten-
ant Bell from duty at Fort jefferson and
detailing him for work IN Vermont.
Langdon reached his post. He called in
his first lieutenant and said: Il have
here orders transferring you Immediately
TO Vermont. You have done noble work
here. There IS no reason why YOU
should stay longer. You have been
through enough OF this awful thing.
Co"
Bell said: Captain. I don't want the
order. If I read it I suppose 1 shall
have to obey simply because it is an or
der You keep it in your pocket until
the fever is over and then I'll read it
and GO
Langdon shook hands with him. In a
few days he felt the hot hand OF the
sc0urge on his brow He went TO his
tent, pulled up his little camp table and
wrote an official letter to the assistant
adjutant general at headquarters Of the
Department Of the Gulf. Holly Springs
Miss. 1t was a long letter covering many
pages. There was in Bells heart that
day the fear that he might die and leave
undone an act Of duty TO others. He
cherished the thought of the loyalty OF
the surgeons and the enlisted men who
had so hobly performed their duties TO
the sick and dying. facing the fever and
death itself without finching. He men
toned IN this official communication each
doctor and man by name, recommending
them for recognition at the hands of the
his whole thought was that recognition
should be given 10 others.
Lieutenant James +. Bell put down
his pen, went to the hospital and in three
days was dead.
The closing paragraphs OF one Of the
general orders touching this man and his
love OF duty are these
THE only officer at an isolated post
when 1t was visited by a dangerous cpl
demic, he seemed to multiply himself I'm
his ever present care and watchfulness
for the men of his command. and it is
doubtless due 70 the exhaustion and ia
tigue resulting from his anxious discharge
Of duty that he finally fell victim to
the disease.
he died in the faithful discharge Of a
soldiers duty"
Wav up north were wife and child.
The little one crept Up To the black-robed
mother and said: rs my darlin F0ddy
tummin home today2'
Not today, dear. Perhaps tomorrow"
Edward 3. Clark.
AS Usual.