The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-08-17

VOL. xxXVII NO. 81
AMERICAN LEGION
WEEKLY letter
State NJ
THE hath Tu sis,':stkc is5,':stct &! !
(By Edward NICE. Lewis, }, ...,..-.
ton Staff Correspondent of Til,
American Legion
Few are there, indeed, who hav,
particular concern. General Saw
\ yer. # 81 n. 3
Recently the writer visited the For
McHenry Veterans hospital at Balti
q more to ascertain the effect Of a fir.
q the night before upon the hospital ans
it's patients. Sparks from confla
grafton in nearby railroad yards hae
ignited the fimsy hospital buildings
scores Of times. Only the most eff.
cient measures by medical officers il
charge, the city fire department, the
" regular army and a providential del
uge Of rain had prevented the destruc.
tion Of the wooden buildings.
The conflagration was in the face
OF statement by Brig. Gen. c.. E.
Sawyer, in a letter written, July IL
that "it is rare indeed to have a SER
ious hospital fire. s..s zs. ;, ..s:5 WI
There were housed there at the
time more than 400 disabled soldiers
(our boys, we called them four years
ago) still undergoing treatment in an
effort to restore their mutilated bod
les, shattered nerves and darkened
minds, to degree where they can
again hope To take their places in the
outer world. Il. 81 s.. .s. i. I. 81
The huge gates Of the hospital were
closed, and outside stormed a crowd
Of several hundred friends and rela-
tives, frantic to learn Of their own
knowledge, how their disabled loved
ones had suffered from the trying ,ex-
periences of the night. ee.@.s>se -. :.
For many were still helpless, others
insane, while all were liable to SER
ious injury from the unusual excite
nent of being removed from buildings
with roofs aflame and carted across
town in a downpour of rain, to be
housed in school building for the
night. The hospital officials, fearing
to increase their patients nervous
condition, wisely denied the throng
admission, and did their best to assure
the women that their, boys were safe
and could be visited on the morrow.
Meanwhile the crowd refused to leave
continuing to peer through the iron
gates as the rain drifted down. 49,.
Because Of my profession, and the
organization I represented, was adj
mitted Immediately. The excitement
had diminished inside, the boys had
dried their clothing and been returned
to their wards. Little physical dam
age to the property was discernable.
What damage the nations precious
wards housed there had received, re-
mains to be seen, for tuberculosis and
surgical cases had suffered exposure,
and mental cases experienced the ex-
citement of a fire. =
e After examining building and re-
ports, and discussing the situation
with the medical officers, learned
the boys were at mess, so was about
to depart, when I asked the officer
in charge, doctor, weren't some of
the worst surgical cases left in the
buildings? Haven't you any in such
bad shape that it was dangerous to
move them 2" - 81 II -..3 ,.3 =
esWell, we had to take a lot Of them
out in stretchers ard ambulances, OF
course" he replied, "but there was
only one we didn't move. 1t would
probably have killed him, If we'd
taken him out. That was Lieut.. Mack
all, the bath tub case He's in a ward
all by himself, and we We're prepared
TO move him, too, but luckily his
building did not catch fire. He was
as game as pebble about il" !"
: I asked to be taken to MackaIls
ward. On the way over the medical Of
fcer told me his story. 5.sss:= I
,a A member Of a prominent Mary
land family, Maclfall was rs years old
making good in business and engaged
to be married when the war broke out.
But the call to the colors was impera-
tive. Mackall enlisted in the national
guard and went overseas as a lieuten-
ant in the 115th Infantry of the 29th
Division. .ss< ~.
Pursuing the Germans with his di-
vision October 16, 1913, Mackall was
shot in the back by 4 German sniper
while crossing mo Mans Lane" The
bullet partly severed his spinal cord.
For six months he remained in French
hospitals, receiving treatment from
the ablest allied specialists. They fin
ally declared his case hopeless and
still suffering Intensely, he was brot
! TO America in June 1919, and placed
\ in the converted Fort tMcHenry hos
pital, there to receive the considers
tion Of the most eminent surgeons il
the country. 155. @
Mackall slept little. Forced by the
nature Of his injury to lie continually
upon his face, ard suffering intense
w, the front of his body finally be-
came 50 tender that new methods had
. TO be devised to- care for him, So
three years ago the doctors evolved
r