The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-06-15
TOReduce
-Frauds--
dimensions

Although the present war II bound TO
add Materially to the size Of our pension
list, it is some consolation to know that
the experience gained by the wal and
navy DEPARTMENTS during the civil war
has borro fruit In such record systems
as to minimize for the future tho danger
Of pension frauds. Necessarily, owing
TO the character and distribution Of the
service, the navy has a moro complete
system Of keeping the medical records
Of its men than the army.
In the navy men who have hospital
records are serving either on shipboard
or at one Of the yards, docks or sta
tions. Attached TO every ship with .
large enough complement OF men to
warrant it there Is q medical officer or
an apothecary. To him is intrusted the
business of keeping the medical record
of that vessel. It Is kept in 9 book call |
cd q journal, in which are entered the
name, description and ailment of every |
man requiring medical or surgical at
tendance and a very completes account
of his trouble and it's treatment. All
Journals when finished are fled at the
surgeon generals Office in Washington.
where they are supplemented by a card
index, SO that 1t takes only q minute or
two to get at the medical history OF any
man on any ship.
II q man is sent to n shore hospital,
he takes with him q sheet called a 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 a bag with his
hammock aud 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 ny an
impostor to palm himself of as . sailor
with a hospital record wonld be very
likely 10 fail through his inability to
answer some Of the questions which
might DO asked him after reference to
his ticket. vi
To the ticket the medical officer in
charge OF the ward nppends the history
of the case from day to day and IL 1t Is
of sufficient Importance accompanies the
written text with q temperature chart
and other technical data Of that sort.
These papers are forwarded to Wash
Yngton, where at tho close Of a year they
are bound and go upon the shelves OF
the surgeon generals Office, with a caro-
index for instant reference. When an
inquiry comes in from the pension office
or from a committee of congress and a
mans record is searched in the surgeon
generals Office, the response OF the OF
flee is runthrough the copying press, the
copy is jacketed and properly Endorsed
and q card index entry made OF 1t, and
it is then put into its proper place in o
file case to facilitate the next search
which may have to be madc against thu
same namo.
On vessel where no surgeon or apoth'
ecary is ~employed-snch as tugs, boats
for transporting supplies and the like
the officer in command is Furnished
with a pad of blank forms, ON which IN
makes his entries covering the healtl
of the men under him. These ne tear
of as fast as filed and sends to tho SUI
geon generals office, where they ar
filed like the reports from medical ON
GERS. The completeness Of this system
leaves no ship in the entire navy with
out some officer responsible for report
on the ailments or wounds Of the men
and no man without q record in tn
surgeon generals Office if he has ha
any need Of medical services Will
aaoat.
Mention Of the ships medical jour
nails world not DO complete without
reference to u important lesson taugf
by the experience Of the civil war.
will be recalled that a large number {
civilians wcro drawn into the navi
medical service at that time as actin
assistant surgeons. 1t was hard to NAL
some Of them understand where the
personal rights ceased and tho rights
the government began. Not . few a
sumed that the medical journals whit
they kept belonged to them as ind
viduals after their immediate use du
ing the war had ended. They carrie
the books Off, therefore, some keepii
them simply as souvenirs, others usii
them for reference in their private pra
tice or in writing papers for medic
conventions or the scientific press, viii
others still turned them to pecuniary a
vantage by selling their conrents pie'
meal to applicants for pensions wht
records werc contained in these books
The navy department has made p'
sistent efforts to recover all the recoi
of the civil war and complete its nj
Wherever it could ascertain hat a pf
sician who had returned to private
had a medical journal Of a ship in
possession il, would write to him
questing the restoration Of tho volur
In the largest number of instances
request was more or less promptly GO
piled with, but here and thero would
found a man resolved to hold on to
booty as long as he could. In such
stances recourse was had to tho dcp'
ment Of Justice, the attorney gene
sardino fha obstinate doctor a letter {