Part 9 (1/2)

”Not for a million dollars,” Dr. Gardner replied.

”But my men need these things,” he said, his tone and face expressing anxiety. ”I think a great deal of my men. I am proud of them.”

”And we know they are proud of you, Colonel. But we can't sell Red Cross supplies,” answered Dr. Gardner.

”Then, how can I get them? I must have proper food for my sick men,” he said.

”Just ask for them, Colonel,” replied Dr. Gardner.

”Oh,” he said, his face suddenly lighting up with a bright smile; ”then I do ask for them.”

”All right, Colonel; what is your list?”

The list included malted milk, condensed milk, oatmeal, cornmeal, canned fruits, dried fruits, rice, tea, chocolate, and even prepared beefsteak and vegetables, and other things good for men who could not eat army rations.

”Now, Colonel, when will you send for these supplies?” asked Dr.

Gardner. ”They will be ready any time.”

”Lend me a sack and I'll take them right along,” he answered with characteristic decision.

Mrs. Gardner at once looked up a sack, and when filled it must have held a good many pounds of supplies. Before we had recovered from our surprise, the incident was closed by the future President of the United States slinging the big sack over his shoulders, striding off, and out of sight through the jungle.

The gruel still remained the staple, but malted milk, chocolate, rice, and tea had come in, and little by little various things were added by which our _menage_ quite resembled a hotel. The wounded were still being taken away by ambulance and wagon, a.s.sorted and picked over like fruit.

Those who would bear transportation were taken away, the others left where they were. By the third day our patients seemed strong enough that we might risk giving them food as solid as rice, and the great kettles were filled with that, cooked soft, mixed with condensed and malted milk. The number of wounded grew less day by day, and better care could be taken of them.

At Siboney, the great needs of the hour were met by the little band of surgeons and nurses, working night and day. The following is from a letter in the Times-Herald, now Record-Herald, of Chicago, by Miss Janet Jennings, who volunteered her service in the hospital. One gets from this simple, direct picture, a better appreciation of that heroism which lives after excitement, which survives the rush and shouting of a.s.sault, which is sustained without comrades.h.i.+p:

”SIBONEY, _July 8, 1898_.

”Above hospital tents Red Cross flags are flying, and here is the real life--the suffering and heroism. Everybody who can do even so little as carry a cup of water lends willing hands to help the wounded. Most of the wounded are from the first day's engagement, when the infantry was ordered to lead the attack on Santiago, instead of using the artillery.

”And it all came at once--a quick blow--with little or no preparation to meet it. I mentioned in a former letter the lack of preparation on the part of the army to care for the sick. There was then almost nothing--no cots, bedding or proper food, for less than one hundred sick men.

”Two days later, when the wounded came in, the needs of the hour were overwhelming. The situation can not be described. Thousands of our men had been hurried to the front to fight. It was well understood that it would be a hard fight. The dead would need only burial, but the wounded would need care. And yet, with the exception of a limited number of stretchers, a medicine-chest and a few bandages, no preparation had been made--neither cots nor food--practically no hospital supplies.

”It is not strange that surgeons were desperate and nurses distressed.

The force of each was wholly inadequate. The exact number of wounded may never be known. But the estimate at this time is about 1,000 wounded--some 1,500 killed and wounded.

”Wounded men who made their way down on foot eight miles over the rough, hilly road will never know just how their strength held out. Others were brought down in army wagons by the load, as few ambulances were at hand. Fortunately, there were some tents here that had been used by troops before going to the front. Under these hay was spread and covered with blankets, and the improvised hospital was ready. One tent was taken for operating-tables, and the work of surgeons and nurses began. They worked night and day for forty-eight hours, with only brief intervals for coffee and hard-tack.

”Wounded men had to wait for hours before bullets could be extracted and wounds dressed. But there was no word of complaint--only silent, patient suffering, borne with a courage that was sublime. As the wounded continued to come in, tent-room gave out, and hay with blankets were placed outside, and to these 'beds' the less severely wounded were a.s.signed. It was evident that the medical department of the army had failed absolutely to send hospital supplies, or by this time they would have been landed. As it was, the surgeons turned to the Red Cross s.h.i.+p 'State of Texas' for help, and the supplies originally intended for the starving Cubans were sent ash.o.r.e for our wounded.

”Miss Barton had been urged and advised to wait until the army opened and made the way safe to land supplies for reconcentrados and refugees.

But she had foreseen the situation to a certain degree and followed the army as quickly as possible--to wait for the emergency, rather than have the emergency wait for her. The 'State of Texas' was here a week before the attack on Santiago.

”While surgeons and nurses were probing for bullets and dressing wounds, a force of men on the Red Cross s.h.i.+p worked half the night getting out cots and blankets, food and bandages, and at daylight next morning the supplies were landed, taking advantage of the smooth sea between four and nine o'clock, as later in the day the high surf makes it extremely difficult for landings. There were six tables in the operating-tent and eight surgeons. In twenty-four hours the surgeons had operated upon and dressed the wounds of 475 men. Four Red Cross sisters, trained nurses, a.s.sisted the surgeons. They were Sister Bettina, wife of Dr. Lesser, surgeon-in-chief of the Red Cross; Sister Minna, Sister Isabel, and Sister Blanche. Their knowledge of surgery, skill, and nerve were a revelation to the army surgeons. These young women, all under thirty, went from one operating-table to another, and, whatever was the nature of the wound or complication, proved equal to the emergency.

”In the Red Cross Hospital, across the way, Sister Anna was in charge of the sick men, turned over to the Red Cross two days before, when army surgeons with troops were all ordered to the front. With 475 wounded men to feed there was not a camp-kettle to be found in which gruel could be prepared, coffee made or anything cooked, not a kettle of any sort to be furnished by the army. The whole camp outfit at Tampa in the way of cooking utensils must have been left behind.