Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-24

thrown. and even with portable lanterns 1t IS
extremely difficult to get enough light; SO
the orerworked stretcher bearers at maneuverS
are ut their wits end playing hide and seek
with wounded who have concealed them
selves with much zeal and foresight as
though their lives really depended on IT..
Certainly the wounded soldier Is vastly
better off. than his fellow fighter on the sea
surgery, medicine, and hygiene will work
miracles for him, whether he IS wounded by
ball sword. or bayonet; whether he is
merely stricken by epidemic disease, as were
the British troops in South Africa.
Where Dogs Come In
- An exceedingly difficult matter in mod
err warfare" as General Won Herget. the
German strateglst says; for night attacks
great feature, and wounded men
creep into most unexpected places. The re-
suit is that in MANY cases their whereabouts
cannot be known save through some special
help" And that help, the General thinks. IS
ileay rendered by ambulance dogs. The
great military Powers. from Germany, France,
an,. Austria, down to little Switzerland and
Belgium. have during recent years held eN-
haustive trials with dogs on the battlefield
mainly in peace time of course.
But the animals have also borne the test of
war. Captain Persidsky, of the late Count
keler's staff in Manchurla. declares there
was no system for finding the wounded in the
high mllet fields like his pack of English col
hes. And at the great German nlaneuvers
near Bonn every autumn Prince Adolf OF
Schaunburg-Lippe organizes night hunts tor
his wounded, and finds that the dogs not only
discover seven eight cases to one picked up
by the bearers but unearth PROSTATE men de
hberately hiding in most remote holes and
corners of Il supposed battlefield MAJOR Us
tolt in the Italian, and Colonel +. Hauton-
vile Richardson IN the British, armies tram
packs of dogs for this admirable duty. And
they have long since passed out OF the expert
mental stage. and are now grave1y enrolled as
useful members of the army medical corps,
with uniform and pedigree complete.
Some of the dogs carry first aid equipment
All have loud bells about their necks, for OBJ
vious reasons. The German military surgeon,
Bungartz, puts saddle on his dogs in which
are pockets stuffed with bandages and dress
ings; while round the ANIMALS necks are little
barrels containing cordial or stlmulant.
Again the Russian Red Cross man. Melen-
tieff. provides his ambulance dogs with Ian
terms The equipment may vary, however,
but all are agreed as to the dogs use in search
ing out the wounded In South Africa the
r A. NJ. c. staff would gather up all the visible
wounded after bloody fight; yet if it had not
been for the dogs the men still missing must
have been left to die, for an urgent retreat
was sounded by all arms.
The next great war will see the ambulance
dogs more useful than ever; for II, as seems
likely. there will he flying machines to drop
explosives on the heads of an enemy, hoping
thereby to wipe out entire battahons with
one charge of guncotton. the men below Will
have to burrow like rabbits in tunnels hewn
by their own sappers and engineers. And any
student of naval and military matters knows
that the munitions of war, both by sea and
land yearly become more and more dreadful
and wholesale
The United States has Government de-
partment. the Board of Ordnance and Forti-
hcations, charged with the encouragement of
inventions of military value. and where We
spend thousands of dollars investigating dia-
bolcal men killing devices the older nations,
with more complicated policies, spend mill
ions. 1t is only fair to say, however, with
regard to land warfare at any rate, that pro-
portonate provision is maintained for the
treatment of those who fall in the dread strug
gle Of supremacy.