Dewey County advocate. [volume] (Timber Lake, S.D.) 1910-1913, 1913-05-23

| SAVO6At AAISA0 VI tu0ts x00y W0AO kOS
sessed by an all-powerful lust for the
blood Of this new mammoth of the
African jungles. Besides. until they
had killed, they could not rest and
eat; their sporting instincts would not
permit this until all hope Of success
was lost The true sportsman never
deserts wounded quarry until he
has killed it.
At last, after six hours Of fruitless
search. nature demanded temporary
halt. 1t was after midday. Graetz
| decided to have the motor-launch
brought up to them and man was
sent back to get 1t. In the mean
time the two white men rested. In
three hours the launch reached them
and tie cook Immediately began to
prepare satisfying lunch for the
tired and famished hunters. Break
fast and lunch would have to be
merged into one meal. This Is not
an infrequent occurrence in African
traYel. and the two men were accus-
toned to 1t.
While the meal was under prepare
ton, Graetz sent three of the boys"
to search further for the wounded
buffalo. for he was positive that 1t
must be somewhere in their vicinity.
He offered his followers a liberal
"bakshish" and with this incentive to
q speedy location of the buffalo, they
fastened off into the bush. Break
fast ond S,,r% oh4 o. hA
served when the "boys" came run
ming back to announce that they had
found the wounded buffalo lying in
the long grass near the river. So
much good luck had been hoped for,
but hardly expected.
Graetz and Fiere rose excitedly to
their feet and got their rifles. They
were only just in time, for at that
moment the high grass parted right
in front of the former, and the ami
NAL dashed out, making straight for
the German! He fired, and at the
same time Fiere fired also, so that
the two rifle reports sounded as one.
Graetz sprang to one side to escape
the furious charge of the maddened
animal. AS he did 30, his foot caught
in the long grass and he fell on his
knees. It proved his salvation. II he
had remained upright he would have
been impaled upon the sharp and
cruel points Of the buffalo's wide
Sweeping horns.
Snorting with extreme fury, the
huge beast nosed under the lieuten-
ant, who was now lying PROSTATE on
the ground. trying to toss him. At
last Graetz sprang to his feet and
Chung with all his strength to the
horns Of the beast. in the vain hope
that, severely wounded as the buffalo
was. he might give way before his
own strength, or that Fiere might
get a chance for second shot. For
few brief minutes, which seemed
hours to Graetz. man and beast pitted
their strength against each others.
The huge denizen of the forests was
rapidly firing from loss of blood, but
Graetz was no match for the strength
of the enormous beast. It all hap
pened in few minutes: the buffalo
tried to shake the man of. and, as
he flung his shaggy head from side to
side, the point of his left horn pierced
its way deep into Graetz's right
cheek. He cried out with pain and
then felt himself suddenly hurled up
ward into the air and consciousness
left him.
In the meantime, FIere had come
CALAMITY to his companions rescue,
unmindful of his own danger. He
fired, but succeeded only in making
the buffalo more Infatuated. The saw
age beast turned rapidly upon him
and tossed him repeatedly into the
air, tearing his body dreadfully.
Then, as If worn out with its ter
rife efforts to avcnge the attach on
itself. the buffalo toppled over dead
beside the bodies of its foes.
In a recent letter Graetz himself
best describes what happened next.
His account is a graphic. yet simply
worded. narrative Of heroic resource
fitness. In my travels in Africa
have met two men-Col Eric Smith
of the Horse Guards, and Mr.. Ben
jamin Eastwood. the chief accountant
of the Uganda railway-who have
actually amputated their own arms
when dire necessity demanded It, but
l can conceive of nothing more cour-
ageous than Lieutenant Graetz's own
self-accomplished surgery. Far from
medical aid, with his companion in
misfortune gored to the point Of
death. suffering indescribable agony,
Graetz acted expeditiously and saved
his own life by his ready courage.
In the days when anesthetics wers
an unknown quantity, men and wom-
en- had perforce to bear all manner
Of operations with remarkable forti.
tude. But we were a harder race
then. Civilization has weakened our
bodies and we are unable to endure
pain as did our forefathers. Yet to
be able to amputate an arm or sew I'D
terrible wounds for oneself is a thing
that was rarely done in the past ages.
In Africa, It is not an uncommon
thing. 1t seems only fitting that. In a
country where the natives themselves
bear pain with stoical Indifference.
the white man, who exists safely only
A~v a. -