The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-06-16

Although the present war is bound
add materially to the size of our pensic
list, il is some consolation TO know tn,
the experience gained by the war an
navy departments during the civil Wa
has borne fruit in such record system
as to minimize for the future the DANCE
OF pension frauds. Necessarily, OWN
TO the character and distribution of tn
service, the navy has more complet
system Of keeping the medical record
OF its men than the army.
In the navy men who have hospita
records are serving either on shipboarc
or at one of the yards, docks or sta
lions. Attached to every ship with {
large enough complement of men Il
warrant it there is medical officer OF
an apothecary. To him is intrusted the
business of keeping the medical record
of that vessel. 1t is kept in book call.
ed journal, in which are entered the
name, description and ailment of every
man requiring medical or surgical at
tendance and very complete account
OF his trouble and its treatment. All
journals when finished are filed at the
surgeon generals Office in Washington,
where they are supplemented by card
index, so that it takes only minute or
two to get at the medical history of any
man on any ship.
II a man is sent to q shore hospital,
he takes with him sheet called tick.
ct, on which are entered his name, de-
scriptive list, disease, etc., and to these
is appended memorandum showing
the clothing and personal effects which
came with him to the hospital, and
which are done up in bag with his
hammock and preserved for return to
him when he is discharged. An abstract
OF his enlistment papers accompanies
these details, so that the Identification
OF the man lacks no practical element
OF completeness, and an attempt by an
impostor to palm himself off as a sailor
with hospital record would be very
likely to fail through his inability to
answer some of the questions which
might be asked him after reference to
his ticket.
To the ticket the medical officer in
charge OF the ward appends the history
OF the case from day to day and if it is
of sufficient importance accompanies the
written text with temperature chart
and other technical data of that sort.
These papers are forwarded 10 WASH
ington, where at the close of year they
are bound and go upon the shelves Of
the surgeon generals office, with card
irasy for ii,1lss.rs,.,;t reference, When an
ipqairy Gomez II f.1 GO: q: Tie pension office
or from committee Of congress and
mans record is searched in the surgeon
generals office, the response of the Of
fee is run through the copying press, the
copy is jacketed and properly Endorsed
and card index entry made of it, and
it is then put into its proper place in a
file case to facilitate the next search
which may have to be made against the
same name.
On vessel where no surgeon or apoth-
ecary is mployed-such as tugs boats
for transporting supplies and the like
the officer in command is furnished
with pad of blank forms, on which ne
makes his entries covering the health
of the men under him. These he tears
off as fast as filled and sends to the sur
geon generals Office, where they are
filed like the reports from medical off,
GERS The completeness of this system
leaves no ship in the entire navy with
out some officer responsible for reports
ON the ailments or wounds Of the men,
and no man without a record in the
surgeon generals office if he has had
any need of medical services while
ahoat.
Mention of the ships medical jour
nails would not be complete without q
reference to one important lesson taught
by the experience of the civil war. 1t
will be recalled that large number of
civilians were drawn into the naval
medical service at that time as acting
assistant surgeons. 1t was hard to make
some Of them understand where their
personal rights ceased and the rights of
the government began. Not q few as
sumed that the medical journals which
they kept belonged TO them as indi-
viduals after their immediate use dur
ing the war had ended. They carried
the books off, therefore, some keeping
them simply as souvenirs, others using
them for reference in their private prac-
tice or in writing papers for medical
conventions or the scientific press, while
others still turned them to pecuniary adj
vantage by selling their contents piece
meal to applicants for pensions whose
records were contained in these books.
The navy department has made per-
Estent efforts to recover all the records
of the civil war and complete its files
Wherever it could ascertain that q ply
stefan who had returned to private life
had medical journal Of ship in his
possession it would write to him re-
questing the restoration of the volume.
In the largest number of instances the
request was more or less promptly COM
piled with, but here and there would be
found a man resolved to hold on to his
booty as long as he could. In such in
stances recourse was had to the depart
ment of justice, the attorney general
1f..~. - i.