The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-07-20
The Surgeon in War.

The successful surgeon is not likely
to be ilattered By the offer OF any
position in the United States army
which can be given to him, yet there
arc dozens Of surgeons among the
recent volunteers who have gone into
the service knowing that it meant the
loss of fve-sixths Of their income dur
ing the time they remained in the
army. Such eminent specialists as
DR.. Nicholas Sem, Of Chicago, and
DR.. John Guiteras. Of Philadelphia,
are now serving their country in uni
form, with the modest emoluments OF
surgical officers Many others Of more
or less note all over the country have
sacrificed incomes two or three times
as great as they will receive in the
army, and have run the risk of injury
to their practices in order to serve IN
the present war. In fact, Uncle Sam S
surgical service can claim the highest
attainments in several special lines
likely to prove very important in this
way.
"The Importance Of having the
highest professional skill available in
behalf Of the wounded may be judged.
says Surgeon General Sternbery, "from
the fact that in the civil war for every
eleven men killed in battle seven
died of their wounds or died IN
hospitals, according to the records.
Antiseptic surgery and skillful opera
tors make it possible for US to improve
on that record in this war
REPAID Ely EXPERIENCE.
Another consideration, aside from
patriotism, that may have had in
huence in bringing some eminent
practitioners into the service is the
opportunity for valuable experience.
This may have been Of weight in the
case of DR.. Sem, who is now in charge
of the medical department at Camp
Thomas.
1t is precisely in operations for gun
shot wounds, and especially for those
wounds Of the abdomen, which were
conceded to be fatal in the war Of
1876, that DR.. Sem has made his
most interesting discoveries. DR..
Sem is one of the most popular sur
geons in Chicago and in Milwaukee,
where he made areputation before his
removal to the Western metropolis.
Some of DR.. Sem S friends say that it
is due mainly to his influence that
Mrs. L. q. Letter, Of Chicago, has
purchased the Chickamauga Park
Hotel, at Crawfsh Springs, and offered
it to the war department to be used as
a general hospital. The gift is to be
commcmorated in the name. "The
Letter United States General Hospi-
tai, bestowed on the only institution
Of its kind in the country. Some
magnificent demonstrations perhaps
discoveries, in the surgery of gunshot
wounds may be made there, it is
believed, before the close Of the pres
ent war.
1t is probable that DR.. Sem received
from his private practice not less
than ten times what his pay in the
service will be. Twenty times might
come nearer to the correct figures.
This is certainly no light sacrifice for
a professional man to make.
DIR. SEM S WORK
DR.. Sem vas at one time surgeon
general of the Wisconsin National
Guard, and while in the position he
conceived the idea Of organizing the
Association of Military Surgeons of
the United States. The society was
formed in 1891, and DR.. Sem became
its president. The Association has
been Of valuable service in furnishing
men to the Government in the present
war and is likely to grow far beyond
its original plans.
The chief surgical officer of
the United States, Brigadier Gen.
Sternberg, is a physician of high
attainments and an investigator of
originality and daring in the obscurer
germ diseases. DR.. Sternberg's re-
searches in the bacteriology of pneu-
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