The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1914-10-29
THE WOUNDED
CANNOT Be
CARED FOR
MANY LIE FOR DAYS ON OPEN
FIELD OR IN TRENCHES.
PLENTY OF AID is At HAND
But Battle RACES SO necessarily Day
and Night That Physicians and
Uurses Are Unable to Get
Near the Sufferers.

BY William G. Sheppard, United
Press staff correspondent, Senlis,
France, Oct. 16.--(By mail to New
York;. One horror of war is the life
that is wasted for lack of medical
attention. There are plenty of ambu-
Iances and doctors but they cannot
reach wounded men who. are lying
in the firing zone and SO suffering
men must wait as best they can
without water or attention until the
battle has passed on. In the mean
time blood poison sets in and tne
slightest wounds become fatal
One young English lieutenant who
had lain on the battlefield for two
days with a slight wound in his leg
was found with the limb distended
with gas. He was taken to the hos
pital and the leg was cut OFF, but ne
uIed within two days. from the pol
son which had entered his blood.
Another young English officer had
the upper joint of his right middle
finger shot away. Two days later
ne reached Paris and went into
hospital, where ne died within a
few days of tetanus. ..
The French army officials try to
antiseptic with which they might
wash a small wound, but the men
throw them away as soon as they
get tired and want to lessen the
weight of their packs.
|, Death Preferable to Misery.
A tired, superlatively dirty soldier
staggered into a little cafe. in the
town of Villera cotteret. His senses
y.k,, S..
drink of hot coffee listlessly. Then
in excellent English he asked me
for a cigarette.
II never thought l would get back
and six nights. ! have been with my
woods. 1t was terribly cold. When
it rained we could not make, fires,
because of the enemy. We could
only lie down on the bare ground in
our wet clothes and try to sleep.
The food autos couldn't find us for
two days because we were stationed
in forest When we did get food
we were So hungry that we all ate
too much and everybody became i'll,
even our captain ] was too sick
and weak to be happy when they
came out to the firing line two hours
ago and brought us back here to
the village We used to wish that
we could get into fight so that we
would either be killed or wounded
or have it over with"
l. The little Fre1ch soldier had been
an interpreter in business house
for twelve years and hadn't slept
out of a decent bed or missed reg
-ular meal in all that time:
Not Used to Such a Life.
/ I'm not used to such a life" he
consluded, still talking in a dazed
and unnatural way, but l suppose
I'll have to go"out there again with
my company as soon as we get a
little rest. If could only keep
warm and dry l could stand all the
rest"
he shiyered and asked for an
other bowl of hot coffee. Just as
he was reaching into his pocket. to
get the money to settle his bill he
fell forward in faint. A Red Cross
crew carried him off to a hospital,
where he could get the rest he want
cd His face was deathly white un-
der his weeks growth of beard, but
his long delicate fingers were dirty,
with CRIME UNDER the nails. How he
stood as much hardship was won
der and yet in France today there
are thousands of his sort who, If
they do not die by bullets, will sue
cumb to cold and hardship. 1t is
harder for such men to face slow
and inevitable death under condi
tions which they cannot leave than
to face the end in the form of shell
fire. The few of them WAC reach
the hospitals are like the few lucky
winners in grand lottery.