Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-23
VETERAN is DRAGGED DOWN
FLIGHTS OF STAIRS
is LEFT FOR DEAD BECAUSE HE
COULDN'T WORK IN SUN
Affidavit Declares That Even Naughty
Surgeon Under Present Regime
Refused to Examine Soldiers
Physical Condition

three flights of stairs thrown on cot
and left for dead, after having been
previously jibed at for his weakness by
a surgeon whom he had sought for aid.
No, this did not happen in Siberia,
! nor Is it an account of the treatment
accorded an inmate of a Mongolian
! prison, neither was the shah of Persia
responsible for this outrage; for 1t oc-
Cured only a few miles from Los An
geles, and the men who SO brutally
treated a helpless and aged man claim
the privileges of American citizenship.
and in a big crowd, If one was in
great hurry, they might be taken for
! gentlemen. The man whose feeble
! frame was subjected to such rough US
age was not a felon branded with
! shame, nor a dangerous criminal who
1eopardized the tranquility and safety
| of his fellow men, but one who had
| faced the shrieking shrapnel and the
whstling mimic ball on the field of
! battle in defense of the country under
whose flag he is now subjected to such
enormities.
Outrage at Soldiers Home
| Yes, in the Soldiers Home, at Saw
telle, the place of refuge sought by the
grizzled old veteran whose strength
| and energy had been sapped in the
| service of his country, he received the
usage which must have been severe
test of his patriotism and that may
| have caused him to wonder II ne had
not better have fallen In the neld VINE ,I,1
vet in love with fife and raptured with
| the world, and before his illusions were
so sadly shattered.
An affidavit filed before q reputable
notary public at Sawtelle tells of the
happenings above recorded, and In the
document of the manhandled veteran
he quotes the brief and nonchalant sem
tence used nv his tormentors when they
cast him onto cot in the guard house:
81 guess he is dead.
The callous comment evidently was
not received with any surprise by the
men to whom 1t was addressed, for no
reply is recorded IN the deposition.
Story Briefly Told
The story, briefly told, is as follows:
The old soldiner in question was ad-
mitted to the home at Sawtelle eleven
years ago. During the year 1909 ne
was dropped from the rolls on account
of having been absent from the place
| without leave. During the month OF
| June he applied for readmission ana
| was placed in temporary quarters,
| awaiting the approval of his appllca-
! ton by the local manager. Under tne
rules of the home, he was forced TO
work every day in the brolllng sun
under the fatigue sergeant.
He was unable to perform the severe
manual labor. and was told he must
obtain an excuse from the post surgeon
When he went to the surgeons ONCE
the kindly "saw-bones" refused 10 even
examine him to discover his physicaI
condition. The petitioner stated tnat
he was not able to work. Upon which
+he iollv knight of the pestle humorous
Iv remarked: "Have you tried it?'
The veteran began to show his ema-
ciated condition to the disciple OF
Aesculapius and was gruffly told 10
try working. :. nd
"You will have to go ana try IT, anu anu
If YOU can't work come and see me
again"
Shedding Seems Hard
This advice was like telling a man to
experiment with his life and carried
the undercurrent of thought that' II
the exnerimenter lived he was able TO
work and if ne did not he would not
he much missed. The jest is similar to
the comic picture in which three little
bovs are seen in the woods gathering
some form of fungus growth which
thew have been led to believe are
mushrooms. A kindly old lady IS ask
ing. "But how do you know whether
thew are mushrooms or not?' An,
Veil know by tomorrow If they are
not" is the answer given by the young
The idea seems to be: TRY 1t on the
dog-but if the dog won't stand for II,
try 1t on an old soldier"
However unpleasant the physlcal
treatment of the inmates of the cheer
ful soldiers home may be, the mental
scarifications and laceratiouT are even
worse. The men who have guarded
the integrity of the nation, who have
swept the starry banner to immortal
deeds of valor and ennobled themselves
on hard fought fields of battle which
tested and tried their souls-men who
would have received the handclasp or
fellowship from Grant, Logan, Sher-
man. Rosecrans, Burnside, Sigel,
Thomas, o. o. Howard, Hooker, Palm
err. Butler, Mcclellan. Sickles and all
of the many other immortals whose
names are engraVen in undying let
ters on the tablets of fame-these men
who would have been met with re-
spect by the truly great are forced 10
go out the back doors of the naughty
surgeons house and are Snubbed and
patronized by clerks.
LIncoIn's Stand Forgotten
The hearty clasp of Old Abe was
never withheld from the men who
wore the blue in token of their heroic
calling. yet colonels and majors who
have proven themselves better fitted
To win Iaurels in the financial world
than in the whirlwind of battle would
consider themselves demeaned by any
Familiarity with the men who reached
their present condition through service
rendered to their country.
The figures of julius Caesar, Marc
Antony and Hannibal, who scrupu-
lously ate only that food which was
given to the soldiers of their army and
who stood up and ate or drank at the
common mess with the men upon whom
they counted to do the deeds of valor,
are somewhat different from the men
at Sawtelle, who provide themselves
with luxuries denied to the deserving
old men and who would never permit
such an affront to their dignity as the
presence of an old soldier at the same
table.
Forced to Stand Silent
The old men put up with their scurvy
treatment for somewhat the same rea-
son that prisoner does not complain
to his gDalers- with the slight differ
ence that the Soldiers home is the