The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1901-02-16
HORRORS OF WAR.
Thousands of British Soldiers Are
Sent Home for Disability.

Thousands Of British Soldiers Are
Sent Home for Disability.
The terrible tragedy of the Soutl
African war viewed in it's medical
and surgical aspects, forms the sub
ject of an interesting communication
received by Mayor Ames today from
Iieutenant-C Colonel G. Sterling Ryer
son, M. D., lately British and Cana
dian Red Cross commissioner with
Lord Roberts headquarters in South
| Africa, says the Minneapolis Journal:
Dr. Ryerson has just returned to
his home in Toronto direct from
Bioemfontein, Orange River, and 9th
en- points along the "far-hung battle
line" AS chairman of the Red Cross
society, the doctor few days ago
appealed for help for the sick and
wounded declaring that the sick alone
would number from $4,000 to 1900
| His statement was regarded as chin
erical, but the statistics bear him
out.
Up to July 25, 1894 sick officers
and men were sent to England while
no less than 81 .O95 have been treated
in the base hospitals at Capetown,
and Dr. Ryerson asserts that it would
not be far from the truth to say that
one hundred thousand men have pass
ed through the hospital from disease
alone, which emphasizes the fact tina
in war the physician is of more &C
count than the surgeon, in spite Ct
the generally accepted notion.
| DR.. Ryerson attributes the epidemic
OF enteric fever, which ragged in South
Africa, to the Modder river campaign
where the army lay for three months
The soil is of light character and
became pulveriZed into an impalpa
Bile powder, which mixed with tn
eXcreta was waited in dense clouds
into the mems tents, into their
mouths, food and drin.1.
| DR.. RyersOn is of the opinion that
with improved serum it will yet be
possible to prevent mis- great scourge
(enteric fever. from decimatins
armies. He also dwells upon the fact
that there was no typhoid fever nor
smallpox, the latter showing the i'm
portance of vaccination, as in an army
of 100000 men not single case of
smallpox was reported.
Discussing the effects of the cam
paign from the surgeons view point
DR.. Ryerson says: 1T is too early
yet to draw deductions from statistics
of the war, but it may be noted in
passing, that while 936 officers and
ll,7Ol nOn-commissioned officers and
men have been wounded, only 1872 have
died of their wounds received in &C.
ton. an infinitesimal proportion,
which may be fairly ascribed to the
asceptic character of the bullet, to the
prompt application of first dressing
and to the efficient treatment which
the wounded received rom the medi
cal officers. The Mauser has justly
been described as merciful one"
Il Speaking of the Beers methods OF
treating their wounded, DR.. Ryerson
says: AT Kimberley, we had 147
wounded Beers in a temporary hospi
tai. ranging from Is to 65 years Of
age. The universal remedy of the
Boer is tobacco juice"
i Il examined a good many Boer
wounded and found that the bullet OF
the Lee-Metford rifle inflicted wound
very similar in character to that OF
the Mauser. The effect of shell fire
was interesting ii not destructive
The Beers say it is no good. and only
makes one keep ones head down.
The lyddite shells are not nearly SO
destructive as was supposed.
When they strike soft ground they
do not explode. When they strike
rock they explode with great vic.
lence but our friends, the enemy, were
so cleverly entrenched that but few
We're injured by them. remember
seeing one man stained a bright vel.
low from head to foot without being
any the worse for it. They said that
the escaping gas made their heads
ache. and they found that few drops
of vinegar taken inwardly relieved it.
Every Boer was provided with a small
bottle of vinegar to ward off the i'll
effects of the lyddite Shells"