The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-16
RECOVERY FROM WOUNDS IN WAR
Chances az Per Cent. Greater Than
During the CiviI War.

From the st. Louis Globe-DemOcrat.
Are the chances Of the United States SOL
der in battling with the Spaniard greater.
so far as escaping with his life is con-
cerned, than was the case with the men
who took part in the civil war? This ques-
ton is one which has caused any amount
OF discussion among medical men, and now
50 high an authority as Or. George f.
Shrady, president of the Red Cross Soci-
ETY. and editor of the Medical Record, says
that the soldiers chances of escaping with
his life are 70 per cent. greater than thirty
five years ago. This, the doctor declares, is
largely the result of the advance in asep
tic surgery. That frightful scourge Of the
hospital in war time years ago, known as
hospital gangrene, is nowadays so rare
that it is recognized with difficulty
There has been no end Of debate pro and
con as TO what the effects of the modern
projectiles and rifle bullets would be as to
the results of the wounds they would in
fiict The rifle bullet of to-day is totally
different from thai in use during our late
war, both in point of velocity and general
force as well as form. Each of these diff
ferences changes the effect. All this the
surgeons know but just what the effect
would be in actual conflict has been, Of
course, a matter of conjecture With the
penetrating and explosive effect of the
modern bullets and Shells the destruc-
ton of life would be supposed TO be cor
respondingly increased, but there are very
many ramitications 10 the question which
Or. Shrady discusses in a logical way,
that carries new light to the lay mind, as
well as being of absorbing interest to the
professional sN 10 -
DR.. Shrady has been giving this subject
| grave attention for some time past. AS
president of the Red Cross society it has
I L \.
| ly familiar with what the uorps of the So
ciety must be prepared to meet, and he has
also been in close consultation with the
| surgeons general of the army and navy,
! the president and the secretaries of war and
navy. The question as to what the soldier
| who wears the blue is likely to suffer In
| his conflict with the Spaniard has been
discussed and debated from all standpoints
| Thus Dr. Shrady has secured a grasp Of
| situation which enables him to speak with
more force and intelligence than almost
any other person in answer to the ques-
| ton propounded as to the chances of the
| United states soldiers in battle.
That there has been an advance in the
| systems employed in the case of persons
suffering from wounds or such diseases as
! are apt to attack large bodies of men every
l one knows, but that this advance has been
! so great as 10 warrant the statement that
1 a man goes into. battle to-day with the
/
/ ed, than they were So years ago, is a reve-
| lation. DR.. Shrady further states that the
| danger confronting our men in The form of
/ yellow fever and kindred tropical dis
| eases has been tremendously eXaggera ted.
| The medical departments of the army and
navy, he says. have become thoroughly
imbued with the belief that an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure, and
| thus the medical corps will not wait for
the men TO become sick, but will see to 1t
that they are in SUCH perfect condition
| physically as to in most instances be i'm
! pregnable fortresses against the assaults
of disease.
When l asked DR., Shrady to tell me the
difference form medical standpoint, be-
tween our last war and the present one,
he said: 'War to-day is a slaughter by
job lots. Modern methods have largely
eliminated the eliments of personal brave
| ry. The puniest of men may stand behind
a cannon. take his range finder, figure
| out the right range, touch a button and
destroy 1000 lives. To great extent bat
ties are fought in the dark Shells are
seen coming through the air perhaps from
unknown corners. They fall, and death
comes like bolt from the sky.
"In the civil war methods were alto
gether different Except as obseured by
the smoke of battle, the soldiers could see
their foes and their weapons. There was
no giant machine for hurting tons of
death-dealing iron and steel through the
air from points miles and miles away.
When the Swamp Angel came into ex-
istence we all thought it was a marvel,
and yet il was nothing compared with the
modern engines of war. In those times,
as my own experience has taught me, in
observing the men who fought, the num-
Der of dead and wounded, often depended
very largely upon the personal conduct
of the soldiers themselves. There was nc
machine for dealing out bullets by the
wholesale, and, therefore, the effect was
regulated infinitely more by circumstances
than it is to-day.
THE soldier who goes into battle in oul
present war with Spain must face a storm
Of bullets which are just as apt to come
from half a dozen machine guns as from a
regiment of soldiers These bullets fly al
SO many different angles that il is almost
like a cross fire al 1thnes.i with the result
that the soldiers are unable to protect
themselves. as they were I'm the old days
there was a bullet for every gun and nc
more. In spite of all this. however, | an
inclined to think that our modern meth
DDS are the most merciful, for the chanct
o ia man being hit by a bullet ana livinl
. are entirely altered from what they were
in the old days"
DO YOU consider these modern methods
more mercifu from the fact that sol
der Is more likely to be killed outright
than used TO he the casey
, IF q bullet strikes soldier IN the heac
or some vital part, death is almost GER
tain TO be practically instantaneous.
man may survive for "a few moments
but he is never likely to regain conscious
ness. IL the bullet does not strike vita
part. then the hospital methods OF to-day
and 1 am speaking OF the Held hospital
ARE such that unless there IS such a