The Washington herald., 1906-11-12
SUICIDE RATE HIGH
Surprising Percentage Is Re
corded Among Soldiers.
ALCOHOLISM GROWS ALSO
of the Canteen at the POsTs
Is Held Responsible for the IN
crease i'm Drinking Cases in the
Report Submitted by surg. Gen
O'Reilly-PecuIiar Facts Cited.

Surg. Gen. r. NJ. OReilly, Of the
United States army, in his report to the
Secretary of War, made public to-day,
: makes the statement that practically 10
per cent-09SS. TO be exact-of the total
deaths among our soldiers in continental
United States. exclusive of Alaska, dur
ing the year ended June 80 last. was
caused by suicide The Surgeon General
adds thar the practice Of self-destruction
Is more than twice as common among
white soldiers as among colored troops
on the other hand. of the deaths from
homicide. more than per cent of the
. total. were about twelve times more fire.
quent among the blacks than among the
whites. The report also notes that while
there We're twenty-five deaths from
drowning among the white troops. none Of
the cOlOred soldiers died from this cause
The Surgeon General makes no comment
upon these figures. and attempts no ex-
PLANTATION cf the frequency of suicide
among white soldiers. or the prevalence
of homicide among the blacks. Neither
does the report show what percentage Of
the dead soldiers were OF foreign birth.
The two principal causes Of death were
! tuberculosis, 81 out of a total of 263. and
4 gunshot wounds. 80 OF these latter -
4 were suicidal . homicidaI accidental.
by police, . by guard, and > in a brawl
Drowning ranks next with a total of -.
of which p cases We're accidental PneU-
monia claimed IS victims. and typhoid
Fever 13, Alcoholism is charged with /:
deaths OF which S cases were acute and
q chronic
Rate for Alcoholism Higher.
In regard to this last-named disease the
! Surgeon General says; The admission
rate for alcoholism increased from 25.42.
in 1904 TO S022. in 1895. The other rates
were about the same Many medical Of
ncers consider that the abolition of the
sale of beer in post exchanges has had
much to do with the increase in alcohol
ism and other diseases. by driving the
q soldiers 10 disreputable resorts outside
4 the post and beyond the control of
&c post authorities. In that opinion this
office concurs
The recruiting circular for 1905 reduced
the minimum age for enlistment from
tweHty-one years TO eighteen. and this re-
suited in the enlistment of 1210 men un-
der twenty years OF age.
Nevertheless the report continues,
"the total number Of recruits enlisted OF
twcnty-four years and under was con-
sidcrably less than last year
The average mean enlisted strength Of
the troops serving in the United States
during the year was 12.S3f OF which 81 500
we're white and 3.32S were colored. All
blOred troops served within the limits Of
The United States proper.
\ The total death rate is shown 10 be Ga
4 per cent. of which $50 was due to diseases
259 10 external causes. or this the
port says: The death rate for disease,
%, Is the lowest attained since the ex-
> epti0nally low rate Of 31A in 1897. Ex-
Guiding eight deaths among soldiers whose
commands were in the Philippines and
who had been invalided home, the death
rate reaches the extremely low figure
Of 3.36.
Less IN Philippines.
in the Philippines the mean strength Of
tie command was 1l.CJ7-nearly loo0 less
than the year before There were H.
CSS admissions TO sick report but. Of
. course. many men reported many times
and were counted on the report each
time. There were 80 deaths. 81 men sent
home invalided. and $3.50 constantly on
home to die. mentioned before, the total
number of deaths amounted 10 9S and
the ratio 20 S.S6 per cent. Not counting
these s men, the Philippine per cent is
found 10 be SIl. of which 3S9 We're caused
by diseases and 45 by injuries. OF the
first. dysentery and malaTial fever led
with : euch typhoid and alcoholism claim
ing but each or injuries. gUnshots, and
stab wounds in battles are credited with
y deaths besides suicides and ! homi-
cJies There were also a deaths caused
by accidental drowning.
Speaking of the increase in malaria. the
Surgeon General says: This increase in
q disease which is entirely preventable,
| and which last year caused seven deaths
and an immense amount of nOneffective-
p pess. should cause serious consideration
rs to the sufficiency OF preventive meas
-ires heretofore taken. Inasmuch
as a large percentage OF the natives, es-
pecfally native children, have been shown
TO harbor the malarial parasite. even when
they show no symptom of disease, il is
important that gaTrisous should be lOCat-
ed as far as possible outside of native
communities and that natives should be
kept away from the barracks of American
troops.
Peculiar Facts Cited.
Peculiar facts are stated in regard to
,bospital admissions, some of which
might seem 10 show that alcoholism is a
preventive Of other diseases, while others,
at first sight, appear contradictory For
fnstance-Dage p: '"rhe admission rate
was highest in the field artillery and low
est in the hospital corps while the death
rate was highest in the hospital corps and
lowest in the coast artillery The coast
artillery had the highest rate for alco-
holism and the lowest for dysentery.
malaria. and typhoid fever; the field ar
tiilery had the lowest rate for alcohoIsm
and the highest for malaria. the
engineers had the highest rates for
oL,-sentart- and tNnhoid feNer and the low