Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1908-12-24
HOLDS TWO RECORDS
TEXAN HAS HAD SOMEWHAT RE-
MARKABLE CAREER.
c. e. Whitmore Is Only one-Footed
Man That Ever Served in Uncle
Sans Army-Is Champion
Military Bugler.

Galveston, Textile only one-foot-
ed man who ever served in the United
States army is c. E. Whitmore, an
employe of the fremont hotel, this
city,. and he also enjoys the distinc-
ton of being the champion military
bugler of the United States and of be-
ing the only one-footed man who ever
served in the United States revenue
cutter service.
Whitmore, during the Spanish-Amer-
lean war, had his foot shot off by the
Spanish, but he was not injured, and
was only temporarily disabled. 1t was
cork.
His service in the army lasted two
years, and he was in both the cav
airy and artillery branches of the gov
ernment's fighting force. He served
in the revenue cutter service eleven
years and two months, and retired
only when more stringent regulations
made it impossible for the authori-
ties to further overlook the absence of
his natural foot
During the 80 years which he spent
with the United States forces Whit
more saw service in almost every
branch of the military and naval
forces. His service began when he
was 13 years of age. At that age he
| enlisted as an apprentice on the
Philadelphia, and was first assigned
to the gunboat Saratoga, under Fight
ing Bob" Evans. He served under
Evans four years, and rose to be chief
boS'n mate.
Whitmore's title as champion bugie:'
of the United States was won in 1900,
| when he was trumpeter at the West
Point military academy. He blew 1So
calls, ordered at random, in one hour
| and thirty-ive minutes, winning the
prize, a silver bugle. This he present
ed to the military academy, and it is
there now among the institutions
relics.
During the Spanish-American war
| Whitmore served under Gems. Shafter
and Wood, and it was at Siboney, June
20, that his cork foot was shot of and
he was ordered by Gen. Wood to re-
port to the WheelWright for surgical
attention
Whitmore blew the last bugle call
that President William Mckinley ever
heard. At that time he was civilian
attached to the military force at the
! Pan-American exposition, and as Pres
ident Mckinley entered the Temple
Of Music he sounded three fiourishes,
announcing the approach of a distin-
guished parsonage TO the people gath
cred within. Hardly had the notes
died away when shot rang out. Whit
more was near enough to be an eye
witness of the assassination and his
testimony regarding the occurrence is
On file in Washington.
Whitmore's foot was torn off in Gal
weston harbor when he was serving
on the revenue cutter Galveston, in
1892. While a wire rope was being
| unreeled, it caught his foot and tore
the member off. After several months
in ST. Marys infirmary here he was
able to get about, and devised a foot
which enabled him to walk about al
most as well as he formerly walked
with his natural foot.
In 1895, despite the absent foot
Whitmore applied for admission into
the army and was examined personally
by Surgeon General Sternberg. This
| examination was supplemented by an
| other in which experts of the Johns
Hopkins hospital participated. They
| pronounced him CAPABLE of doing mill
| tary duty, and he was permitted, Oh
the authority of a special board, to
continue his military career.