Show A tJ mIA 71 rR slrr rAO R ARI R fi DIAlD in The fRQ NORfIl Heroic SelfSacrifice of Per Sur9eoR bY LD YARD D 4L4r4Yc gr t t rltf1 l W il ljfioi L w lH tlI 6 IC OMB DAY It may be Commander Com-mander Robert E Peary will tell in his own words the story of tho self sncrlflce of Dr Edward E Vincent the youthful surgeon who accompanied accom-panied the Peary arctic expedition expe-dition of 1893 All the stories of heroism In the Arctic regions re-gions have not yet been told The leaders of the polar expeditions ex-peditions have not been the only men to show high courage cour-age and devotion to duty In the faro of danger Dr Edward E Vincent was killed accidentally not long ago in the city of Detroit Ho Vns the brother of Judge William A Vincent of Chicago Tho story of tho young physicians ddvotlon and selfsacrifice has been told by one man James Davidson who until recently was In the United States consular service Davidson was a member of the arctic expedition of 1893 and It was on his behalf that Vincent looked death In the face It Is a simple talc this yet It Is one that strengthens faith in human nature and makes the most unemotional of us give thanks that such men as this young Illinois physician sometimes live Peary and his party of 10 men started from Etah In early April of the second year of the expedition to make tho dash for the pole April the spring month the thermometer registered GO degrees de-grees below zero when the little band of hardy spirits reached a place about 140 miles from their starting point One night they pitched their two tents and turned IDA ID-A storm arose It was n howling blizzard without the snowfall blizzard with tho thermometer 92 degree below the freezing point Tho tent In which one hnlf of the explorers slept was ripped by the blast Into threads The occupants made their way as best they could to their comrades shelter The distance was not great but In covering It the feet of one of the men Davidson were frozen It became necessary almost at once to amputate ampu-tate portions of both extremities Tho operation was performed by Surgeon Vincent It was of course Impossible for Davidson to proceed with the party on the dash to the pole To leave him where he was meant death There was but ono thing to do and that Was to send him back over the wastes and the Ice floes and through the awful bitterness of the cold to the place whence they had come Seven miles back were some natives and something like adequate shelter Peary could spare but one man to go back with Davidson David-son It was obviously the place of the surgeon to go on the return journey with his patient a journey that everyone a every-one in the band believed meant death for tho two men who would under r take It Edward E Vincent gave up without a murmur that for which he had so longed the chance to be ono of the men to reach that goal of the explorers explor-ers ambition tho north pole His duty was to Davidson and with Davidson Da-vidson he stayed Peary gave the + rM two men a sledge four dogs and some supplies They turned their faces In tho direction of Etah and set out through that region of frozen silence Davidson was unable to walk He was a big man and his weight proved a burden to the dogs For two days they went on slowly On the evening of the second day they made their small fire and started to brew some tea The bottom fell out of the pot and It could not be fixed It was the only vessel of any kind that they had with them In It they had hpated their pemmican and steeped their tea That accident acci-dent apparently trifling In Itself those two men felt might mean their death From that time on they ate frozen food and had no warming beverage On on they went and at last there came a realizing sense that they were lost There was no food left which could be spared to keep up the strength of the dogs Vincent led two of tho creatures away and killed them that they might serve as food for the two remaining animals ani-mals Both men were weak to the point of exhaustion Vincent kept up his good cheer and rallied his patient m by his hopefulness Then he went into the harness takIng tak-Ing the place of the animals that ho had slain and used his remaining strength to help drag the sledge onward The two remaining dogs gave out There would have been the blackness of despair had It not been for some thing in tho spirit of those two men that made them see light Doctor said Davidson you cant drag me further There is no reason why both of us should die Unencumbered Unen-cumbered perhaps you can make your way to the old camp Try It Vincents answer was tho fitting of tho harness over his shoulders once more and the trudging onward dragging drag-ging the sledge with its weakened burden behind him Doctor said Davidson once more youd better go Vincent turned with a sort of half smile Davidson he said Its barely possible as a mere matter between men I might find It In my heart to desert you and leave you here to die You must remember however that I am a doctor and youre my patient and It would bo unethical un-ethical to the last degree for me to go away and leave you so Im afraid youll have to put up with me The physician dragged his patient on through tho horror of the awful stillness Finally the end was at hand Vincent was tottering and Davidson weakened as the result of tho operation he had undergone coupled with the exposure and lack of food was practically In a fainting condition The sledge had been brought to a point from which swept away for over a mile a gentle i declivity smooth with snow and Ice Vincent sat down an the edge of the sledge Old fellow he said Im sorry but Im afraid Its almost up with me Then he turned away his head but In a moment was on his feet Far down to the right oft of-t the sloping plain he saw a grimlooking rock which held t f1 his gaze Then he turned to Davidson again I dont u want to raise any false hopes he said but thatrock looks like one that stood not far from the place where the natives arc It is like a thousand others and probably prob-ably Iam wrong but God knows its our last hope I cant drag you further but Ill not leave you Well go together We can slide down this declivity with our sledge We may go into a crevasse as you know and that means death but Its death anyway unless when wo pass that rock wo BOO some huts beyond and to tho right rightThen I Then those two men kissed each other but spoke not a word 11 I Vincent used his last remaining strength to start the sledge It went slowly with its own momentum down tho barely perceptible Incline Occasionally tho accelerated accel-erated speed would be checked by a smooth billow of Ice over which they rode smoothly They were approaching syroi the rock which to Vincent had looked familiar They es were almost up to It On what the first look around the ugh rock should reveal tho physician knew meant life or 0 D death Ho turned and looked at his comrade David sons eyes were closed tight In the agony between the hopes and fear of tho momont They had reached the jock Vincent looked to tho right and beyond Doctor Is It death came a voice from behind No life Occasionally at tho United States military academy In seeking to teach the lesson of tho beauty of self sacrifice the chaplain will toll the cadets that all heroes he-roes who give up their lives for principle do not dlo by rifle shot or saber stroke Tho martial spirit that Is engendered by military Instruction and by the glorious heritage of the memory of tho sons of tho academy who gave up their lives for the flag often leads tho cadet minds Into a train of thought which holds that the death which Is more fitting to the soldier than any other is that which comes at the hands of tho enemy of his country Whllq tho occurrence oc-currence was fresher In the + memory of all than It is perhaps today the West Point 1 y chaplains In the pressing of their point loved to speak of tho death of 1 Lieut James E w Bell who died because of his devotion to duty Jimmie Bell lovingly called Jingle F 0 r 5 by his fellow cadets was a brother of MaJ W W Bell of Chicago and an uncle of Lilian Bell the writer When Lilian Bell wrote her story Tho Under Side of Things with Its pathetic ending she wove tho tale about the career of her uncle Lieut Boll and gave to the story the depth of pathos that truth compelled One of James E Bells classmates at West Point once said that when n man was fighting with another an-other man he had something to grapple with but that when a man was fighting disease the disease did all the grappling You cant wound a disease adversary Against him parry and thrust are nothing noth-ing AdJutanl Gen E D Townsend once said that In all his army career he had never known such honors to be paid to a subaltern as were offered to the memory of First Lieut James E Bell Two general orders were issued from headquarters of tho army each paying tribute to the devotion of the young officer of artillery who had died on the Dry Tortugas of yellow fever Fort Jefferson on the Tortugas In August of the year 1873 was garrisoned by Battery M First United Unit-ed States artillery Outside of the surgeons there < r > < u a tiiuit was only one officer Lieut Dell at the post ti L Langdon had been granted a leave of absence to go north to the bedside of his dying father On August 28 yellow fever appeared nt the post Within two days four of tho garrison had died Upon the first announcement of the appearance of the scourge Lieut Bell sent all the women and children and some of the married men to an Island three miles away Within a day or two he sont to the same place nearly all the well men of the garrison retaining only enough to nurse the sick There could have been no criticism of Bells course had he gone with the garrison leaving the sick to the care of the surgeons and nurses He stayed and devoted himself him-self to the care of the sick In the hospital assisted by the men who had volunteered The heat was fearful There was not n pound of ice on the island and many of the deaths that followed one after another were due to the lack of this necessity There were 20 cases of the fever and for whole days and nights continuously the devoted lieutenant the surgeons sur-geons and the nurses knew no rest With their own hands they dug the graves for the dead and with their own lips repeated over them the burial service Capt Langdon In the far north heard of tho yellow fever at Fort Jefferson He instantly relinquished his leave of absence and hastened to return to his station Some months before the outbreak of the fever Lieut Bell had put in an application to be detailed as instructor of military science at the University of Vermont Tho application ap-plication had been granted and Capt Langdon hurrying south to join his command carried in his pocket the order or-der relieving Lieut Bell from duty at Fort Jefferson and detailing him for work in Vermont Lf agdon reached his post Hocalled In his first lieutenant and said I have hero orders transferring you Immediately to Vermont You have done a noble work here There Is no reason why you should stay longer You have been through enough of the awful thing Go Bell said Captain I dont want the order If I read it I suppose I shall have to obey simply because It is an order You keep It In your pocket until the fever Is over and then Ill read it and go Langdon shook hands with him Bell went on with his work In a few days he felt the hot hand of the scourge on his brow Ho went to his tent pulled up his little camp table and wrote an official offi-cial letter to the assistant ndjutnnt general at headquarters headquar-ters of the Department of the Gulf Holly Springs Miss It was n long letter covering many pages There was In Bolls heart that day the fear that he might die and leave undone an act of duty to others lie cherished the thought of the loyalty of the surgeons and the enlisted men who had so nobly performed their duties to the sick z t IA r v r t f a p l rjn < < + 4fn 11a + neJJ rJ l t 4l 1rrr t J a dva 11 1161 t v tE yl M i + V A Y n1Yi 7 1 1r y r y 1 + rav a 4l rr 5 + i t J tl t 1 r + 1 t Y Y 1 + ti n i I + rrF t + LJ S r Kt r tfffaiWw + fyArt 1 J jW irt f J jiBjJB S v Harit H f J i ° V 11f aczroc GrrllpjldYllbrb Y Ybv4VV2 6 r + r b VWT y tti sctf l1 zl t 9 da ll P to Na 5C 4r ivJrSl fTj e 1 1 rv tr J 3zsfC y IAI rofi of lldoZtOV p > > vvt M nSs fyV r H v > V y rr 1111 1 n 1 r sae Jr a + r j r i4 r SiN t trr r + ttc w 1 j k a t F r r + r f aeS tr r < l 1 t < p f y w > < J pr Por PP fdfrKr P o L OFt1 OLPoRJ pv and dying facing the fever and death Itself without flinching lIe mentioned In tho official communication each doctor and man by name recommending them for recognition at the hands of the department Of himself he said nothing his whole thought was that recognition should be given others Limit James E Hell put down his pen went to the hospital and In three days was dead The closing paragraphs of one of tho general orders touching this mnn and his lovo of duty are these The only olllcer In an Isolated post when It was visited vis-ited by a dangerous epidemic he seemed to multiply himself in his everpresent care and watchfulness for the men of his command and it Is doubtless due to the exhaustion ex-haustion and fatigue resulting from his anxious discharge dis-charge of duty that he finally fell a victim to tho disease He died In the faithful discharge of a soldiers duty Way up north were wife and child The little one crept up to the blackrobed mother and sold Is my dar Inn foddy tummln home today Not today dear Perhaps tomorrow guns either by moving tho gun round on a fixed pivot on tho gun carriage or by altering the direction of the carriages would be out of place bore as being too slow So KruppsUn tho case of balloon artillery mounted on wheels have designed tho wheels BOas BO-as to bo pushed forward out of time > way with handles attached to cither axle which in n couple of simple revolutions rev-olutions can alter tho entlro direction of the gun For fortresses time balloon bal-loon guns can bo mounted with other ordnance on n pivot and tho mime mounting is used for balloon artillery fixed on tho platform of armored motor mo-tor cars which would pursue the air cruiser until a suitable range was obtained ob-tained Opinions are still divided ns to tho nature of projectile to be discharged For spherical balloons shrapnel Is undoubtedly un-doubtedly JJio bent but as a cruiser of tile Xcppclln typo t mighty sustain > but little damage from a few shrapnel shrap-nel pellets Krupp In contrast to Elip hardtB who pin their faith on shrapnel shrap-nel for all types of balloon artillery have Invented special shell fitted with a slow match which Ignites n gas wltb the object of causing an explosion In the hostile airship Tho shell on striking the airships envelope Immediately sets fire to thc filling gas and tho resultant explosion would totally annihilate tho aerial vessel ves-sel These deadly shells are moreovor designed to give off a very 4 derma smoko so as to leave a wake which with tho aid of n glass Is distinctly visible and of Immeasurable Importance Impor-tance In sighting for a second shot supposing the first to have missed The distance Is taken by a special apparatus ap-paratus sot up by the side of tho balloon bal-loon gun while the actual sighting Is done by means of an apparatus something some-thing similar to the periscope of the submarine Krupps have constructed hitherto three makes of bar loon gunsa G5 centimeter field gun which fires a 4kil ogram projectile with nn Initial velocity of 620 meters or about 2100 feet a second attaining at a maximum angle an-gle of discharge of GO degrees and a height of 17000 feet a fortress 75 gun firing a kllogrnm shell and a heavy gun of 105 caliber primarily Intended for use on board warships The fortress gun can hit and destroy an airship at a height of 24000 feet from a discharging angle of 75 degrees de-grees so that as on tho evidence of Count Zeppelin himself him-self an airship only in case of emergency rises to it height of 5000 feet the range the new balloon artillery covers all cases The naval gun can reach a height oT 35000 feet |