The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-11-21

poilollS l Soulu II De lNdI, almost III
sight of its gray walls, I had sat and
eaten and drunk and been happy In
that simple touch of her loot beneath
mine? Could it be 81? It did not seem
possible. Could it be, too, that that
genial Baron Riedesel and the young
b'>y prince and his comrades knew
aught of this? And yet why not? Did
know this hell and the other hells
swinging at their rotten cables in the
river, that held their crowds Of living
n dying and dead. u
I must get away from this scene! 1
could not stand it.. And SO with severe
pain I rose carefully and, picking my
way over n among the two hundred
room,; made for one of the small win
doWs /. each was crowded two .an
three deep with silent figures clinging
together in the hot air, their faces
touching cheek to cheek and filling the
lower space of h window Each man
a his mouth open drawing in long
breaths. ~
would you but let me get a Whit
o f air, friend? ~ I asked one of those on
the outer; edge Of the group. But. no
sooner had I spoken tina voice behind
me said: 49, as
THAT is not your group!"' q
! turned to him and he must have
SeeIlLIHy requirement., lot ne ASKED.
gs"'When did you Gomez" ,
tfButtjust now, this morning." IT.
you do not know then that the room
Is divided into groups of six men, and
that3every ten minutes a group must
change to allow another six to breathe
the air. 4 b..
"No,I did not know it," said I weari-
31y. And then without interest, but
without discourtesy, was assigned to
group No. 81. Turning again to him
who had spoken first, i asked what
group those men now by the window
II belonged to, n he told me twas No.
\ 28.
Then I cannot get tosthe windowfor
anshour and a half?" g..
That is4it, my FRIEND" So 80 " ~
$50. be it # these, men who have
been here so long can stand it, SO can
T. And&I was about to lie down, feel
$5ing unable to stand and knowing n
Other4of those sh1yers was coming on,
when the tramp of military feet sound.
ed In the corridor and a hoarse voice
\ cried E
Turn out your dead! All hands turn
out your dead!" #. us
"a strange, intangible rustling
sounded through the room, before SO
silent that 1t did not seem as if so many
men could be housed there. Then the
G crowd rose, except those who could
never rise again this side of the grave,
and withsthe same quiet, silent method
that: everything seemed to have in thai
fetid room-the lack OF interest, the
4sombre, mirthless procedure, the ann
set faces with only one expression on
them-With all this a few raised the
eight or ten bodies and carried them to
the two doors leading int the corridor.
I watched from across the room n
saw the living carry the dead brother
tenderly, quietly in his arms and with
out a word deliver him to two soldiers,
who, one taking him by tie feet and
the other by the arm pits, carried him
off down the corridor, to be thrown
without covering or burial service into
the trenches outside the breastworks,
there to rot with thousands Of others,
rood men and true all of them!
With the same quiet manner the
others settled back in silence to sit or
lie notionless, looking at nothing.
thinking, thinking for hours, days,
weeks at a time, without speaking;
others to walk aimlessly about over
and among their fellows. T lay close
by the wall trying to get such air as I
could, now n therfrozen with chills
land with the pangs4of hunger gripping
sEEme. But nc morsel5of food came to us
that day, and only by the generosity of
ma with whom T talked had I a bit
of foul bread and salt beef.
$5sE#S Soa#came$th night without change
xcept5S&for Yg6Ashade lass light in the
room. But slept, as a sduring the
davs III Is doe that seemed even to me
wrong and unnaturaI. and when woke.
someWheresinthe early hours, my a
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES With fever and the
Indrgssed wound gave me terrible main.
sss pitched about a while on d bit Of
straw had got into my possession,
and then, turning to h near me, said:
.sAreayo awake, my friend?''
4Sa#sstAIWays.',, said the other immed1-
ately. 81 }ssa &$
DO you know aught OF the chirur-
ecrfs$#work sES
aNyo I, Ill III that lido not. What is it?'
BEs#gsssI have a wound here answered I.
if LIQUID but get my clothes
away from If, besIess trouble"
Let the#cIoth stick to 1t, lad said
he. sssT fi.e:S Isl full Of typhus and
smallpox.fand tWere better to kept
Observation-Disclosures till daylight when we
an see IL better"
al SoIIaywfde awake Tor several hours
TIL the tight came slowly ii, nv
Notwithstanding riot ait times, So q
TSthought that I might 20 out OF nv
shead.%sAnd then Iwould 90 over every