Newspapers / The Caduceus (Charlotte, N.C.) / Dec. 28, 1918, edition 1 / Page 7
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OFFICERS’ PAGE Conducted lay Capt. Chas. C. Chandler and Capt. Harry L. Babcock PAST YEAR HAS PROVEN MEDI CAL DEPARTMENT A POWER XTRACTS from the An nual Report of the Secre tary of War relative to the work of the Medical Department of the U. S. Army during the past year will be read with appreciative interest: It must be a source of the deepest gratification to the country, as it is to me, that the health of the Army has been so excellent, not only as com pared with the Army in other wars, but also as compared with the civil population. For the year ending Aug. 30, 1918, the death rate from disease among the troops of the United States was 6.4 per thousand, in the Ameri can Expeditionary Forces it was 4.7; for the combined forces it was 5.9. The male civilian population death rate at the same ages was substan tially the same as that of the Ameri can Expeditionary Forces. What this low figure means is shown by comparing it with the rate of 65 per thousand in the Union Army during the Civil War, and the rate of 26 per thousand during the Spanish War. Pneumonia, either primary or secondary to measles, caused 56 per cent of all deaths among troops and 63 per cent of the deaths from disease. During the year ending August 30, 1918, among the troops in the United States, the number of admissions to the sick report for venereal disease was 126 per thousand men, many of them duplicates, and the far larger number were contracted prior to ad mission to the Army. In the troops in France, where there were no admis sions from civli life, the record was immeasurably better than here at home, and concjitions improved so rapidly that by September of the present year, the cases were reduced to the minimum of 1 per thousand men! A showing unequaled in the records of any army of modern times. MEDICAL ORGANIZATION Up to the end of July last more than 15 per cent of the entire Medical profession (Fully 35 per cent of the most active class of practicioners, were in service on Nov. 11, 1918,) of the United States were on active duty as medical officers of the Army. The responses of the nurses of America were no less splendid than that of the doctors. During the period of the war, more than $500,000,000 was made available for the use of the Medical Department. Figures as to the health of our soldiers bear eloquent tribute to the efficiency of the Medical Department of the Army. With the invaluable assistance of the Red Cross, it found itself in a position to render very great service from the be ginning. It is significant to note in this connection, that the first casual ties of the war were in the Medical corps of the American Expeditionary Forces, when on Sept. 4, 1917, I officer ■ and 3 men were killed, and 5 officers and 6 men were wounded in a German aeroplane attack on one of our base hospitals. On Nov. 11, 1918, the Army had 80 fully equipped hospitgals in this country, with a capacity for 120,000 patients. In the Ameifcan Ex peditionary PQrces there are 104 Base Hospitals, 31 Evacuation Hospitals and an additional evacuation hospital in Siberia. Army hospitals in the United States cared for 1,407,191 pat ients during the war; those of the American Expeditionary Forces cared for 755,354; a total of 2,162,545. Aside from this work, the War Department detailed for service in the British Army, 913 American officers, and 169 others for service with base hospitals we have. turned over to the British. We have also several ambulance sec tions operating with the Italian Army. The various food stuffs issued to the millions of soldiers were care fully inspected, and special schools for cooks and bakers have been estab lished and maintained. RECONSTRUCTION WORK One of the most important activi- T is the consensus of opin ion among the officers that the dinner served at the mess hall on Christ mas day was one of un usual merit. Not only "was the meal very well prepared, but the manner in which it was served and the general atmosphere about the place was such that everyone seemed to grasp the Christmas spirit of good-will and hap piness. The decorations, too, were the ob ject of much favorable comment on the part of the officers who agreed that considerable effort had been ex pended in securing the pleasing result that was attained. The plain walls and unattractive interior assuming a colorful appearance that proved most inviting to the entire assemblage. GET HOLIDAY LEAVES Captain Hayes and Lieutenant Dew are absent from their duties at the Base Hospital and are on leaves of absence over the holidays. Captain William Cornog, command ing officer of the enlisted personnel, is visiting at his former home in Georgia. Capt. Cornog has been away since Sunday, the 22nd and is expected to return to-morrow. Captain Herman T. Elwyn has re turned to the hospital after a leave of ten days which he spent at his former home in New York City. ties under the direction of the Medical Department has been the reconstruc tion work planned for soldiers, sailors, and marines. At ports of embarka tion, arrangements have been made for the rapid classification of, and assign ment of returned sick and wounded to the general hospitals selected for re construction work. —Major Jos. H. Way SOUTHERN HARDWARE COMPANY Wishes the Officers and Men of Camp Greene and the People of Charlotte A Most Prosperous New Year OPPOSITE SELWYN HOTEL Phone 253 CHARLOTTE, N. C. 41 WEST TRADE STREET
The Caduceus (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 28, 1918, edition 1
7
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