The times., 1898-07-11
DEFECTS FOUND BY EXPERTS
Few Candidates for the Army Phys
icnlIy Perfect,

IL is to find a man free from physical de- |
fects. 1t would seem as if, among these |
young men, filled with ambition and patri- |
otism, and eager for the scenes of war,
a large percentage of men who came up
TO the standard of perfection should be
found, but it is not so. II have seen but
three men since l have been examining
applicants said an examining surgeon
yesterday, who were physically perfect.
AS he had examined more than 800 ap -,
cants, it will be seen that, if his standard
of what constitutes the physically per-
feet man is correct, only very small per
cent of those who have gone to the field
can be said to have no defect of physique
and no trace of disease.
Still, there must be men to go to the
front to fight. and, If enlisting officers
took only the absolutely sound men, the
Spanish would have a walk-over in Cuba.
For all the purposes of war, practical
soundness is good enough. Perhaps many
men barely able to meet the physical re-
quirements for enlistment would be
stronger, abler soldiers than another who
might be pronounced a perfect specimen
of physical manhood.
The surgeons who have in charge this
work of examining applicants for en-
hstment have a responsibility that is
greater than Ihat of filing up the ranks
of their various commands; greater even
than that of seeing that the ranks are
filled with men who are able TO stand
the hardships of a campaign. and who
VIII make good soldiers On the work of
the medical examiners depends largely
what the experience of the country is TO
be in the matter Of pensions arising from
the present war
Among the causes for dropping names
from the pension lists. none is more
prominent than disability existed prior
TO the time of service" Just how many
frauds of this sort exist II is. of course
impossible TO tell, but from the frequent
cases that come TO the notice OF the
officials, and for which names of pen
sioners are dropped ii is but a fair pre-
sumption that the number is very great.
There is, indeed, a difference Of opinion
10 whether the securing of a pnsion
for a disability that existed prior TO the
term of service constitutes a fraud. for IL
is presumed that men who are accepted
for service are sound physically, and ii
is argued that if a government surgeon
accepts an applicant 10 go 10 the front.
the soldier is justified in claiming that
he was sound when he was mustered
into the service. and should receive
pension for any disability that exists
after his term of service.
Be that IL may. there are certainly
many cases of the kind Toward the end
of the last war the conditions of eXami-
nation became very lax. II is said that
in some cases men were mustered into
service without examination so urgent
was the demand for men. To preclude
the possibility of taking in unsound men,
the requirements of the service have now
been made very severe.
1T is not because ii is assumed that
the patriotic young men who go 10 the
! front today will apply for pensions in the
/ future, unless they deserve them. that so
/ great precautions are taken" said an ex-
aminer, but, with the experience of the
4 last war, with the record of pensions hav-
/ ing been paid TO men who never should
! have been taken into the service il is
/ wise to lay sure foundation now.
With the precautions taken. few, IL
any, men will go into the service with
/ disability that of itself would, If Incurred
in war. entitle them TO pensions. The
men who come out of the war with disa-
/ bilities will. as a class, have honest rea-
/ son to ask for pension money.
Without any purpose Of imposing on the
/ Government, many young man who IS
rejected for one reason or another is
! eager to go out, even after The surgeon
/ has pronounced that he unit to do so.
! The examining surgeon has plenty to per
/ pick him. and not the least Of his trou-
bes is the young man who cannot see
! why he has been thrown out and who
tries to argue the examiner into chang
ing the verdict. tall. slender young
man, who haG failed TO pass the examina-
tion at one of the offices, made a second
/ call at the office yesterday and said TO
/ the surgeon: They tell me that If you
will sign my application l will he taken
/ anyhow. Now there is no. doubt about
my being physically strong, and / dom t
see why you can't let me through He
was told that it would be impossible and
when he had left the room the surgeon
said: That young fellow thinks l am
/ harsh with him because he hasn't been
told why he was rejected. On the con-
trary, l am doing him a favor, for If
/ taken ne would develop consumption be-
fore he had been week in camp.
! Then there Is trouble for the surgeon
with the applicant who wishes to conceal
| some little defect of hearing or eyesight.
DO you have any trouble about hear
ing?" said a surgeon TO one of the appli.
cants the other day.
What's that, sir?" asked the applicant
| turning his left ear toward the examiner.
in order TO catch what was said. f,.-.-
II asked If you have any difficulty about
hearing, said the surgeon, in louder
! tone
"Oh, no, sir, none whatever" was the
reply.
1t was pretty evident, however, from
the fact that the left ear was turned to-
ward the questioner that the right WASH I
just as right as il should be. The surgeon
/ then began 10 ask questions concerning
! the eyesight of the candidate, holding a
| paper to be read. While he thus held the
! 9th he l.nf+I
his watch from his pocket and held Il
| near the applicants ear. and then moved
it nearer, until the watch was ticking
merrily away within an inch of the ear,
but still the applicant read on: re
Your eyesight seems to be good" said
the surgeon, but don't you hear noiss
like the ticking of a watch?'' The appli-
cant said that he did not. and then turned
to see the watch that had been but an
inch from his ear.
Many of the applicants are rejected be.
cause of some slight affection of the
heart. Surgeons say tnat few of these
are free from the cigarette habit, anC
that some are persistent cigarette smok.
ers. On the other hand. 1t is said. few
who are free from the habit are dsquali-
fed because of heart difficulty. The ap-
plicant, who having a heart trouble
passes the examiner is lucky. To guard
against this the applicant is first told tc
run about the room If he takes a quiet
jog he is told to sharpen his gait bit
and by the end of five or ten minutes he
has gone through pretty sharp exercise
After that any trace of heart difficulty
is easily detected with the aid of the
stethascope.
Some of the recruiting officers say thai
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G A Great