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

#per, covered with blood. was lying
on the river bank, with the motor
boat at my feet, supported by two
bowling native servants.
Where Is FIere?' / asked.
The others are bringing him; he
will die soon, too, they replied.
"'And the bunalo?'
Dead 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 enoment the blood flowed faster.
Quick managed to gasp, the
| medicine chest!'
They brought it to me. There was
only one thing to do and that quickly.
Sew. sew, sewl 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 cobbIed
the tattered ends together.
"The pain was excruciating. Heav-
en- alone helped me to keep my
senses. To this day I do not know
how I managed to do it. The lower
jaw was broken in two places-near
the ear and near the lip-and from
this crushed mass a 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. I spat contin-
uously spltnters Of bone and teeth
"At last the operation was finished
to the best of my ability, and / 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 Fiere.
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 pair Of scissors. He had re-
covered consciousness, and softly his
pale lips formed the words, tres
mauvais' (very 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
a great tear. This wound | imme-
diately sewed together. James wash
ed, bandaged and put Ffere to bed.
He breathed regularly, and seemed
to sleep.
Might fell dark and dismal
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 awoke to fresh tortures.
Everything was deadly still. sum
moned the servants by clapping my
hands and they opened the tent door.
Then I 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
&oJr -
left, a shattered wreck. Far from all |
aid and alone with his native ser |
wants, Lieutenant Graetz faced the
situation as only 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
labited by white men,
DR.. G. F. Randall, the district sur
yeon, and Mr.. Cookson, the magis-
rate of Kasama, marched day and
hight for two days to his relief.
Hastily further operations were per-
orned under the most difficult cir
,umstances. And then, on an I'm
,rovised stretcher, Graetz was car.
led to Kasama. One can imagine
he painful Journey, journey rem
Tered all the more pitiful because Of
he loss Of his trusted assistant The
elfef party buried poor Fiere at
but later his body will
'e brought to Kasama and re-interred
here by the white fathers Of the
catholic mission.
To most men this disastrous set
ack would prove an insurmountable
indrance to the completion Of the
rogram; but with Lieutenant Graetz
was different. He has started
gain and will continue his journey
ntil it is completed Or until death
laims him. He intends to reach the
louth of the Congo by the end Of the
ear. A man of superlative grit, who
inches from no dangers and who
nows not what the words fear and
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