The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1913-05-31

| tnoughs little Of that. They were pos
sessed by an all-powerful lust for the
blood OF this new mammoth Of ths
African jungles. Besides, until they
had killed, they could not rest ant
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 1t.
AT last, after six hours OF fruitless
search, nature demanded a temporary
malt. IT was after midday. Graetz
decided to have the motor-1aunch
brought up to them and a man was
sent back to get it. In the mean,
tlme the two white men rested. In
three hours the launch reached them
ana the cook Immediately began to
prepare a satisfying lunch for the
tired and famished hunters. Break
fast and lunch would have to be
merged into one meal This is not
an 1nfrequent occurrence in African
travel, and the two men were accus-
toned to it.
While the meal was under prepare
ton, Graetz sent three Of the "boys"
to search further for the wounded
ouTalo, for he was positive that 1t
must be somewhere in their vicinity.
He offered his followers a liberal
"bakshish' and with this incentive to
a speedy location of the buffalo, they
hastened of into the bush. Break
fast and lunch was just about to be
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 rife reports sounded as one.
Graetz sprang to one side to escape
the furious charge Of the maddened
animal. AS he did SO, his foot caught
in the long grass and he fell on his
knees. It proved his salvation. If he
had remained upright he would have
been impaled upon the sharp and
cruel points Of the buffaIo's wide
sweeping horns.
snorting with extreme fury, the
huge beast nosed under the 1ieuten-
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 a second shot. For
a 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 a few minutes; the buffalo
tried to shake the man off, and, as
ne flung his shaggy head from side to
side, the point'of his left horn pierced
is way deep into Graetz's right
cheek. He cried out with pain and
hen felt himself suddenly hurled up
ward into the air and consciousness
eft him.
In the meantime, Ffere had come
calamity to his companions rescue,
lnm1ndful Of his own danger He
1red, but succeeded only in making
he buffalo more Infatuated. The say
sge beast turned rapidly upon him
Ind tossed him repeatedly into the
lii, tearing his body dreadfulIy
Then, as II worn out with its ter
if1c efforts to ayenge the attack on
Itself, the buffalo toppled over dead
'es1de the bodies Of its foes.
In recent letter Graetz himself
'est describes what happened next.
His account is a graphic, yet simply
Vorded, narrative of heroic resource
illness. In my travels in Africa I
ave met two men-Col. Eric Smith
t the Horse Guards, and Mr. Ben
amin Eastwood, the chief accountant
t the Uganda railway-who have
ctually amputated their own arms
then dire necessity demanded it, but
can conceive OF nothing more cour-
geous than Lieutenant Graetz's own
elf-accomplished surgery. Far from
led1cal aid, with his companion In
Misfortune gored to the point of
cath, suffering indescribab1e agony.
raetz acted expeditiously and saved
IS own life by his ready courage.
In the days when anesthetics were
unknown quantity, men and WON
n had perforce to bear all manner
operations with remarkable forth
lde. But we were a harder race
len. Civilization has weakeness nur
odles and we are unable to endure ,
ain as did our forefathers. Yet 70
able to amputate an arm or sew up
'rr1ble wounds for oneself is a thing