The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1913-05-16

/ boat at my feet, supported by two
I bowling native servants
Where IS Ficre? | asked
1.-The others are bringing him; he
VIII die soon. too they replied
And the bufalo?'
Dad was the laconic reply.
"a thick flood of blood was contin-
ually flowing from my mouth and the
right side of my face. The natives
lifted me into the boat, and with
every moment the blood flowed faster.
Quick, I managed to gasp, the
medicine chest,'
They brought it to me- There was
only one thing to do and that quickly.
Sew, sew. sewi Terrible necessity
taught me how to ply the surgical
needle. With a native holding my
| shaving-mirror before me and another
supporting me by the shoulders,
thrust the needle through the flesh.
A jagged, irregular hole as large as
my hand gaped In my right cheek;
my under lip hung loosely quivering.
Under the Mortified gaze Of the ma
tives I jabbed the bent needle again
and again into my flesh and cobbled
the tattered ends together.
''The pain was excruciating. Heav-
en- alone helped me to keep my
senses. To this day 1 do not know
how l managed to do it. The lower
jaw was broken in two places-near
the ear and near the lip-and from
this crushed mass long splinter of
bone with three teeth attached hung
loosely by the nerves and flesh Of the
gums. The whole outer flesh of the
lower jaw was scraped loose. Teeth,
roots and bones lay white and SHIN
mering through the hole in my cheek.
My tongue, pierced by the point Of
the buffalo's horn. was half torn
from its foundations. | spat contin-
uously splinters of bone and teeth.
cat last the operation was finished
to the best IL my ability, and l ban
daged by face as best I knew how.
A strong stimulant gave me new life
and helped me to face the other sur
gical operation for Ffere.
''In the meantime the tent had been
erected and bed prepared for my
! poor companion, from whom James,
the cook, had already cut the clothes
with a pair of scissors. He had re-
covered consciousness, and softly his
pale lips formed the words, tres
mauvais' Every bad) He had been
pierced and tossed three times. The
left breast muscle hung loose; heart
and lungs were untouched. In the
| left side, between heart and hip, was
great tear. This wound l imme-
diately sewed together James wash
ed, bandaged and put Fiere to bed.
He breathed regularly. and seemed
to sleep.
Might fell dark and dismaEa
night full of pain. during which my
| mouth seemed full of red-hot stones.
| Toward morning short, troubled
sleep gave me temporary relief from
my awful agony With the gray light
| of dawn I awoke to fresh tortures.
Everything was deadly still. l sum-
moned the servants by clapping my
hands and they opened the tent door.
Then | arose and crossed over to
Fiere's bed The first light Of day
| fell on a pale, shrunken face. 1t was
| death"
So, on the very Threshold of sue
cess, one was taken and the other
J left. a shattered wreck. Far from all
/ aid and alone with his native sep
wants, Lieutenant Graetz faced the
situation as only a man of his cali
Der could One Of the natives was
| dispatched at once to Kasama, In
northeastern Rhodesia to summon
help, This was the nearest point in
habited by white men.
; DR.. G. F. Randall, the district sur
geon. and Mr.. Cookson, the magis-
! trate of Kasama, marched day and
night for two days to his relief.
Hastily further operations were per-
formed under the most difficult cir
eumstances And then, en- an I'M
provised stretcher, Graetz was car
ried to Kasama. One can imagine
the painful journey, journey rem
dered all the more pitiful because Of
the loss of his trusted assistant. The
relief party buried poor Fiere at
Charenama, but later his body will
| be brought to Kasama and re-interred
there by the white fathers Of the
Catholic mission.
To most men this disastrous set
back would prove an insnrmountable
hindrance to the compile ton of the
program: but with Lieutenant Graetz
it was different He has started
again and will continue his journey
until it is completed or until death
claims him. He intends to reach the
mouth of the Congo by the end Of the
wear A man of superlative grit, who
finches from no dangers and who
knows not what the words fear and
| defeat mean!
He is entitled to place in history
beside LivingstoIo Stanley, Gordon
and the others, yet probably he will
be forgotten except by those who
fully appreciate all he has achieved
for science. When we head at the
end of the year that he has traversed
the dark continent from east to west,
we shall know that he has done what
| he said he would do, despite the diff
culties in his path. Shall we all
recognize what this means? Some
may-those who, perchance, have
| done similar deeds, or those who