Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-04-21
BRITISH ARMY OFFICER WHO
HEADED RELIEF EXPEDITION
TELLS OF SUFFERING.
coRPsEs LIE uNcAAED FOR
ALONG MUDDY HIGHWAYS
Starvation Adds to Terrors Of Disease,
T;y7:,a., cyse"=.=.>y, Smallpox and
Diphthsria Claim Many vietims-
Sixty Three Serbia Doctors Give
Lives to Alleviate sufferinss.
Especial correspondence.)

Especial Correspondence.)
Washington, April 21-fJc more dis
tressing or graphic story Of condi.
tons in typhus-ridden Serbia has been
received than that of Captain Bennett.
OF the English army, just received by
The Serbian agricultural relief commit
tee Of America. Captain Bennett, dis
abled for military service. went to Ser
bia as the head Of the British Red Cross
unit taken by Sir Thomas Upton on
his yacht.
"Typhus, dysentery, smallpox and
diphtheria have swept over the place
with devastating effects writes the
army officer Last week only twen-
ty men out of $50 could stand on their
feet. There they lie in utter wretched-
ness. Here and there one finds mat
tress, here and there a little stray, but
the bulk Of the sick men are stretched
out on the muddy ground. Their clothes
are foul and alive with the vermin
which spread the deadly typhus The
silence Of the camp is broken only by
signs and groans, but when a stranger
comes in sight the sick raise them
selves on their elbows, if they can, and
cry pitifully, For the love of God.
lady, give US water For Gods sake,
sir, give us bread
Corpses Uncared For.
"A recent visitor noticed number
Of recumbent forms covered with
greatcoats, and found on removing
these that five out of the number were
already dead and had been dead for
several days. There was nobody to re-
move the corpses. Here and there
some poor wretch crawled about on
his hands and knees to fetch a cup Of
water TO a PROSTATE comrade. This
was all the attendance which was
visible, and the shocking condition Of
the men and the ground on which they
ne can be imagined.
"Uskub is a veritable valley Of the
shadow Of death. If tired nurses leave
the crowded hospitals for little ex-
ercise and fresh air they are met by
a long procession of bullock wagons
carrying rude coffins to the cemetery.
Trying to Do the Impossible.
Here is an English hospital which
has tried to do the impossible anu
failed. Six doctors and twelve order
llies-they had no nurses-took over the
control of some 1900 sick and wound
ed. They have fought a gallant fight
against terrific odds, but typhus has
beaten them. At this moment two or
deriies are dead, three have been in
valided home, and three are now laid
low by typhus. Two doctors are suf-
fering from the same disease and one
has ogne home. Three doctors and
three orderlies are all that remain on
the active list, and the work Of the
hospital has had perforce to be tenn
porarily abandoned. What could six
doctors do with 1900 men?
Worse still are the conditions un-
der which the Serbian doctors have
labored. The poor Austrian prisoners,
tie only assistants the doctors have
there are no Serbian nurses-do their
best, but they are not trained orderlies.
Serbian Doctors Die Heroes.
"Since the commencement OF the war
sixty three Serbian doctors have died
in the course Of their unequal strug--
gle with disease. One young man Of
20, medical student has died within
stones throw Of my window. Two
British nurses volunteered to nurse
him, but 1t was too late. Before their
arrival he was nursed by nobody ex-
cept little Serbian maid servant, and
last Friday night he escaped in delir-
ium-there was nobody to look after
him-and was found later on the muddy
road in the bitter cold"