Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-22

nope of ever eXtricating themselves.
Starved and Desperate.
Then there came a last conference
OF the officers, when it was lecided to
again push into the jungle Up the
river they went on the solth bank,
hoping against hope to stfke the di-
vide and find some means of getting
down on the other side Owing to the
wretched condition into which the
men had now sunk progress; was most
SLOW. On January 2 whel the party
had been without the slightest vestige
OF food seventy-two hours the condi-
ton was desperate. The mems feet
were raw, covered with soles and hor-
ribly swollen from the bitngs of the
tropichal leeches which cling to them
like the bloodsucking vampires that
they are.
Officers and men suffered together.
1t was after three days more of this
that the hunger-famished half-isane
marines, cast suspicious eyes on the
native caragadores and that the poor,
tortured fellows began debating in
their mind why one Of the natives
should not be sacrificed as an extreme
measure to appease their hunger and
save their lives. Such things have
been heard of before, as when an ice
bound crew, victims of an Arctic
shipwreck, thousands AMI thousands
of miles away from food has drawn
lots to see which should lie killed that
his companions might live. But moth.
ing of the sort has yet occurred in the
Philippines, where at best soldiers
have never been SO far away from
army stations but that they might
have marched to safety in two or three
days, barring such a trail through
such a country as now lay between
this party and government stores.
ForIorn Hope Starts.
Before the insane thoughts of canni
balism and murder had entered their
minds, Lieutenant Lyles asked permits
sion to take ten of the less exhausted
men and push ahead, with the forlorn
hope of reaching Basey and asking fol
a relief party. Major Waller decided
that this was the best that could be
done. Fifteen men were taken, the
major himself, and Lieutenant Halford
accompanying. The others were left
behind, the idea being that they should
follow the new trail broken by Major
Walters party as rapidly as possible
under the stress of the condition to
which they were now reduced. The
pioneers had compass and pushed tc
the west.
Relieved and Rescued.
In the evening of the day in which
it had been decided to sacrifice one
of the natives as the last resort, Lieu
tenant Halford and Lieutenant Lyles
discovered a small clearing in the jun,
giles, where to their JOY, two natives
an old man and a boy, we're found
They had small portion of sweet pc
tatoes and these were seized and de
voured by the famished wanderers in
frenzy of famine The boy had beer
to Basey once, he said, and thought
that he could guide them thither. The
party set out next day, arriving il
Basey in the evening of January 8.
Words are powerless to describe the
lpitiful condition in which the men en-
tered the garrison.
Bones Now Bleaching in Jungle.
A relief party was out searching fol
the detachment left behind, but after
five days returned with, no news, Lieu
tenant Williams and his party having
pushed backward toward Lanang
where they arrived on January IL, en-
during like torture
Rivers were found swollen from the
fierce tornado that had swept over the
island during the weeks the parties
were on the trail, and so exhausted
were the starving men crawling down
ward from the headwaters of the riv
er, chat they were too weak to more
than drag themselves forward, ant
were compelled to abandon ten O
their comrades to the fate of the trai
where their bones now lie bleaching
in the tangles of the jungle. Lieut.
| Williams was attacked by one of tn,
native carriers, insane and frenziet
from starvation, who stabbed him
number of times. Many horrible in
cidents might be added to the awfu
chronicle.
Recommended for Brevet.
The fifteen men with Lieut.. Lyle
were saved. That officer has been rec
commended for brevet by Major Vale
and received hearty recognition from
i beuSldl onilu, ana Lieut.. f1alIOfQ ma
also been highly commended for hi
bravery. These two officers stood tn
experiences better than the others
two of whom are in the hospital, il
the most serious condition.
What Would Have Been the End.
1 Around here the revolving, gorge
raising thoughts of the contemplate,
cannibalism lead to the terrible ques
4 ton: What would have been the EN-
of those ten left beside the trail t.
perish # it had not been for tn
sweet potatoes? The answer may b
read in the eyes of those who whis
per the story at night in the flare Q
barrack candles, even though the lip
4 refuse to utter aught more than
THANK God | have never passe
through such an ordealn"
DOCTOR GOES TO PEN.
Played JekyI and Hyde Life But !