The proportion of shots fired to casualties inflicted is known to be enormous in all wars and in Santo Domingo it is almost incredible. Battles have been fought lasting for hours with thousands of shots fired, yet with not one man lost. There have been revolutionary uprisings lasting for months with not a man wounded. In Puerto Plata it is said that when the government troops attacked the city in 1904 a fierce battle ensued which continued from morning till the town was taken by storm in the evening; yet only one man was killed and his death was due to his own carelessness, for he appeared not far from where soldiers of the other side were training a cannon and refused to obey their warning to get out of the way, whereupon the cannon was discharged and his arm shot off, causing a mortal wound. At other times, however, the results have been far more serious, as many a maimed soldier and bereaved family can testify. The graves of victims of the revolutions are scattered all over the Republic. How many have fallen in the disturbances of the past fifteen years it is impossible to determine; I have heard estimates ranging from 1000 up to 15,000. Nor is revolutionizing a pleasant business when continued for any length of time. When the men entered a town contributions could be levied on the merchants, but when they were harassed and forced to retreat to the mountains they roamed for weeks half nude, bare-headed, barefooted, exposed to the weather, living on what bananas and wild fruits they could find or occasional wild hogs they were able to kill, undermining their constitutions and brutalizing their natures. The landlady whose son sought political distinction with a gun told me amid sobs that her boys were dutiful, industrious lads before being caught in the revolutionary torrent, but that in the woods they lost all inclination for work and returned home completely demoralized. From grieving relatives of victims I have heard many another story of ruined lives and early deaths. It is saddening to reflect on the tears which have been shed and the misery which has been caused by this long continued civil strife. While women have been heavy sufferers from the revolutions they have not hesitated to take sides and contribute their mite. Many are the stories current in Santo Domingo of women who smilingly passed through the enemy's ranks and carried ammunition and supplies concealed beneath their garments to their friends in the woods.