The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1898-07-08
MODERN SEA FIGHTS.
Casualties Are Few and Mortality
Small.
Up-tO-Date Surgery Saves Most of
the Wounded Sailors and
Marines-LOss at Wei
Hai-Wei.
ICopyright, 1881

The report which was read at the
Moscow conference by Mr.. S. Suzuki,
feet surgeon in the imperial japanese
navy, contains a great deal of interest
ing information about Wei-hai-wei
which now becomes topical. When
Wei-hai-wei was taken in February,
1895, 12 ships of the attacking feet,
which consisted of 25 large vessels be-
sides Is torpedo boats, were struck by
% projectiles, but the resulting loss
was not very great, only 20 of the
Japanese having been killed and 46
wounded. The percentage of casualties
in each grade was as follows: Officers,
100; noncommissioned officers, 10; en-
gineers and stokers, 0.6; bluejackets,
1.2; noncombatants, 0.6. During the
Yalu engagement 125 missiles of various
kinds reached the Japanese ships, the
percentage of killed and wounded in
this case being officers, rs; noncom-
missioned officers, ST.; engineers and
stokers, 2.6; bluejackets, 9.4; noncom-
batants, 9.S. At the beginning of the
fight single projectile, 80 centimeters
in diameter, killed so men on board the
Metsushima and wounded 70 more. On
board the Hiyei shot of similar dimen
sions killed IA men and wounded 81,
without reckoning ten more who were
injured by splinters. On board the
Itsukushima eight men were killed and
three wounded by a projectile of 81
centimeters; five stokers were severely
wounded by 15centimeter she'll which
penetrated the starboard coal bunker
three feet above water line; and a
smaller shell, only five centimeters in
diameter, suffced to place ten sailors
hors de combat, four of them with
mortal wounds. On board the Aitsus-
hima five men were killed and nine
wounded by 21-centimeter projectile;
and on the Fusco ten men were disabled
by the fragments of shattered chin
ney stack. The Saikyo was more fortu-
nate than the aforementioned vessels,
for although her hull was penetrated
several times by the largest sized mis-
siles she nevertheless suffered compare
lively little damage, as none Of them eX-
ploded. The torpedo boats seem to
have gone through both engagements
without injury from the enemy with
the exception of No. 0, which was hit
no fewer than 13 times at Wei-haiwei
on February 5. Most of the shots were
marless, but one she'll exploded in her
boiler and caused the death of eight
men by scalding. The Japanese sur
geons one and all treated their wounded
antiseptically in the most enlightened
fashion and with the happiest results.
One man died from erysipelas, but this
was the only preventable complication
which occurred. They also practiced
the most strict conservatism in their
operations, amputations being per-
formed solely as last resource in cases
where the larger blood vessels were i'm
plicated or where articulations were en-
tirely disorganized. In many instances
joints that had been penetrated were
preserved at the expense of more or
less complete anlylosis; 21 per cent. of
the total injuries were situated on the
head and the next place the parts af-
fected were the upper and lower ex-
tremities. Then in their order came
wounds of the abdomen, the chest, the
back, and finally the neck. Several
cases of ruptured tympanum were due
to the heavy ordnance.