The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-01-30

is not always the roar of the big guns
or rattle of small arms, nor the crash
ing steel when Greek meets Greek,
whea there is but one of two things
for him, victory or death.
There are many small foes which the
! average soldier often speaks of with
o smile or alludes to as a joke, but
sometimes cost a soldier his life I
am speaking of a sick or wounded sol
der, who has become helpless to battle
with this enemy and has no comrade
or Red Cross nurse to help, when they
mass their forces in countless mum
| berS and torture the once brave hero
/ until death brings him relief Then
the smile and the joke are cast one
side
/ Our soldier boys abroad have new or
modern phrases. Our Civil war Corey
! back or body louise has become a
i "cootie. They are the same trouble
some pest. When / was in the hos
Pital at Fort Schuyler N. Y. in the
winter of 1868 they were in the beds
4 | found them uncomfortable bed fell
lows. | have been informed by Ander-
! sonville prisoners that it was hard for
anyone to believe how our sick soldiers
suffered from this little pest in that
i prison. Our boys abroad tell of rats
in The trenches and dugouts being
very troublesome. There are no sick
or wounded in those places. 1t is the
strong healthy soldier, and he can hold
the fort
| There is another small enemy that is
the most dangerous of all among woun-
ded soldiers, especially in hot weather.
That is the common horse fv. 1t was
after the battle of the Wilderness in
the hospital at fredericksburg where
: the wounded Were taken. It is hard
for anyone to believe who has never
seen The fearful ravages of the fly in
: the pupae state.
, | know that one poor fellow who
! lost leg and became delirious ant
i who died in the room where / was Hi,
ease is too repulsive to describe. There
G were no trained nurses nor half enough
t OF the common soldiers TO care for an(
Q help the Overworked doctors. My reg
, mental doctor was in the same build
ing and as he passed my room ! called
? to him to do something for me. /
T. seemed to me as though l could no
! live through the night. | lay on tn
floor with Just a filthy blanket undo
me. lie gave me a quoting powde
and said to me while doing his kin,
s act: Chase. | have amputated on
: hundred limbs today The Wounds
> were icing crowded into the city an
the odor from the wounded seemed t
attract the large flies in swarms.
There is one insect that is not consid
cred dangerous but it is most loathsom
) and hated of all Most women get mel
vous and are over the top at singl
bound at the mention of the bedbus
IS Two or three good sized ones i'll one
bed in hot night will pass for iok
in the morning, but when they swarl
around you for days in mass formatio
, 1t is no joke.
II | am speaking from real experience
i 1t came about in this way. | was thrt
II times wounded in the battle of the WI
derness, one. being a compound fra
ture of the middle third of left thig
While / was at Fredericksburg my l.
was put into a box and packed
y oakum to keep it in place, no spin
or bandages being used. In this cond
ion | was taken to the Mansion Hou
Is hospital in Alexandria. After / hf
q been there few weeks | was trouble
T. with terrible smarting, burning Sc
=. sation on the under side of my lie
s which was as hard to endure as Il
TX pain. l was being told from day
" day that it was because it was gettil
~ better and that ! would break it ov
he If I meddled with it.
70. As n boy soldier | .prided myse
N that no man soldier, big or small, cou
IN control his nerves or stand more pa
Than I could. My leg had been bro
+ en- and reset four times in 90 days,
d. l began to work my fingers down
n. the bottom of the box. Soon | fou1
ot that it was raw and to my great ST
III prise the oakum in the bottom of I
I'll box was alive with hedbugs from t
II. size of a mustard seed to full groN
iii ones that could run like grey houn
nd There were hundreds of them. 7
,er battle was on and one of eXterminati'
nd Needless to say the box was clean
al out and new oakum put in, and f
, : like young soldier.
lre Science has revealed many wond
ck full things in the care and treatms
ION of sick and wounded soldiers in
last so years. and no one rejoices M
IN than the old soldier.
pet PETER s. CIfAS
hat Go. |. I'd Regt. VT "
or