WAR NOTES

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 30 March 1917, Page 5

WAR NOTES

A BULLET IN HIS HEART. j SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED BY.' \ SURGEON. ; Details of an operation fon the re* moval of a bullet from the heart of a' Russian officer at Cannes are given in' the Eclaireur de Nice. The operation' was performed at the South African Ambulance Hospital, in the Hotel BeauRivage* by Professor Gaudien, of Lille, and was quite successful. According to the latest bullein, the patient is going on as well as possible. Ensign Pachikov, the wounded officer, belonged to the Salonika Expeditionary Force and was wounded while lying down. The Bulgarian bullet ploughed along his skull, touched his collar-bone and entered his chest. The external wounds healed rather quickly, and M? Pacikov was sent to Cannes as a con< valescent. He soon showed symptoms of heart affection, and a radiographic, examination revealed a bullet in hig heart. Dr. Caslis de Pur, head of the South African Ambulance, decided to. attempt an operation to save his life. The operation did not last half an; hour, and was witnessed by many leading medical men. Professor Gaudier, aided by Dr. Casalis de Pury, laid the patients chest open by a large median flap, and the pericardium was severed by a length of nine centimetres. The bullet was situated in a horizontal position in the tissues of the apex, in the interior wall of the left ventricle. It formed a protuberance. AfteT its ex-< traction the pericardium and pleura were closed by ordinary stitches. During the operation the patient's heart continued to beat regularly. Only the opening of the chest caused stoppage for five pulsations. The projectile, slightly bent by the impact, weighs 16 grammes.

GERMAN TRAITORS IN RUSSIA. Pew speeches delivered in the Duma have created a deeper impression, says the Times' correspondent, than that of the well-known Kursk Deputy, Purishkevitch, formerly a notorious reactionary, but now devoting all his time to the work'of the army. The orator, while still avowing himself the most Right of the Right, declined to shut his eyes to the dangerous malady from which eon« sfcituted authority was suffering, or to the fact that the overwhelming majority of the country was on the side of the majority of the Dunia,;fcogethsr with; which it condemns the policy 'of the Government. The speech took nearly two hou: ( s in. delivery, and contained many startling fact and accusations, which were all the weightier, because the good faith of their source was not open to the smallest doubt. The entire House-roared when the speaker likened the members of the Cabinet to the twelve sleeping vingins. He assailed specifically and mercilessly M. Protopopoff, the food speculators, the censorship, and Germanic influence.

There was some molignant will, he said, some strong hand pulling the strings'on behalf of the Germans, despite the effonts of the Imperial headquarters to defeat the foe.

M. Purishkevitch, turning to where the Mininsters sat, adjured them to hasten to Imperial headquarters, and throw: themselves at the feet of the Czar. "If the Ministers duty is higher, than' career—and I think at the present morment duty is higher than career —if you are really a united Cabinet, then go to the Czar, and tell him it is impossible for things to go on as they are. This is not an abuse of powen; this is your duty to the Emperor. If you are loyal subjejets of the glory and might of Eussia, which are closely and indissolubly bound up with the august and illustrious Imperial name, are dear to you, then go to Imperial headquarters, throw yourself at the feet of the Czar, and pray him to open his eyes to the terrible reality, and not to permit the destinies of the country to be guided by persons in German pay.''