Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-29
To Stop Tattooing.

To Stop Tattooing.
The surgeon general of the navy has
sounded strong note of warning against
the dangers of the practice of tattooins
in the navy The department and Its
subordinate officers" says he in a report
to the Secretary. may not realize the eX-
| istence of a serious side to the practice
| which threatens the best interest of oclh
seaman and service, but the hope Is en-
tertained that heed may be given to the
| now established fact that the process OF
| tattooing constitutes an unusually potent
! vehicle for the transmission OF the most
dreaded cut:cuiar and constitutional dis
eases in virulent form. 1t is type Oh
! vaccination, conducted with utterly lSno-
| rant and condennable lack of precautlon,
in which the virus Embedded may consist
of any one or combination of lnfecllons'
and which is attended by imminent posi-
bilitv, if not probability, of disastrous
! consequences to health. Syphilis and tu-
| berculosis and various other local ana
general ailments are recorded results OF
| tattOoins, and deaths have been reported
from blood poisoning acquired in TINS
/ manner 1t is an evil to be suppressed.
and official action to that end should De
prompt and vigorous. The German gov
eminent has recognized the insidious dan
ger of the practice, and steps are being
I taken to suppress il. The British are
| awakening to the same danger and urging
| action by the government In the matter
| as regards it's army and navy. There Is
need for the naval authorities of the
| United States to take official cogniZance
of the danger in the practice, and it Is
| recommended that the department direct
the discontinuance of tattooing through
out the navy, at least so far as concerns
the performance of the operation by per-
| sons in the navy, by an order which shall
| express absolute prohibition, as nothing
| short of that would be effective. Medical
/ officers educational work among the en-
fGta N Gh
! should include a word of advice on this
subject in the light of its dangers, and
| such enlightenment would simplify the
enforcement Of any regulation against it. -
Long Cruise of Army Tugs.
\ notable cruise will begin tomorrow,
when Capt. +. Ferguson of the Coast
Artillery will sail from Hampton roads In
command of two seagoing tugs, mine
planters, for the Pacific coast, and Lieut..
Maxwell Murray of the same branch of
the service will sail for Manila, via SueZ,
! with two vessels of like character With
! Capt. FERGUSON will go Lieut.. Clifford
| Corbin nephew of Lieut. Gen. Corbin.
! These little vessels. approximately 80
feet in length, % feet beam and of about
| $50 tons burden, will be the smallest mil
itary vessels which have ever undertaken
| SO long a voyage without escort of
| larger ships. Capt Ferguson. who is re-
garded an expert on mine planting, will
/ proceed to San Francisco, where he is 10
make a careful study of the problem of
mining the different waters about the
| Golden Gate, and will instruct the OFF,
GERS and men of the corps in the general
| principles of mine planting On leaving
San Francisco Lieut.. Corbin will take one
| of the boats to Puget sound. where he will
drill the corps in the planting of subma-
! rine mines.
| Lieut. Murray, who is a son of Gen. Ar
thur Murray. chief of Coast Artillery and
I,iu- toto iaI1t 60 N
the Suez canal, and will give instructions
in mine planting to the coast defense de-
tachment in the Philippines. at Manila
and Corregidor, and later Will return ny
way of Hawaii. These mine planters We're
| designed by Gen. Murray for the Coast
Defense Artillery.
Examination of Military Surgeons.
Preliminary examinations will be held
at the various army posts in the United
States for entrance into the Army Medi-
cal Corps. The examinations will begin
January II, and it is hoped that all who
successfully qualify for appointment will
be appointed to the medical reserve corps
preliminary to their attendance at the
Army Medical School in this city Those
who succeed in passing the examinations
will be appointed to the reserve corps as
| fast as use can be made of their services.
This will have an added advantage Of
giving candidates for permanent appoint
ment some actual experience In army
medical work before joining the next
years class at the Army Medical School,
the regular term of which opens in Octo-
Der There are fiftyseven vacancies in
the medical corps. and, a class at the
medical school this year numbers about
thirty, there will still be a number of
vacancies, without regard to retirements
or deaths which may occur in the mean
time.
What Is Wrong With Maj. Mearns.
In explanation of the transfer to the
retired list of Maj. Edgar A. Mearns of
the Medical Corps of the army it is
stated at the War Department that re-
cent physical examination Of that officer
showed that during the last few years
| "he has undergone while on most active
service extensive atrophy of the abdom-
| 1nothoraclc muscles, involving the cpl
gastric and hypochondriac regions, with
| d partial paralysis on the perimsyic and
| sorcoemmic membranes extending to the
obliduus externus abdominis and the rec
tus abdominis." In addition. 1t is said
| symptoms We're found of serious chronic
| malady which of itself would in a short
period of time have rendered retirement
| necessary. In view of Maj. Mearns' re-
| tirement on the ground that he is physic-
ally unable to perform the duties of
| surgeon in the army, it appears peculiar
that he should be selected to accompany
MIR. Roosevelt in his hunt for big game in
the wlds OF Africa. His friends attri-
butte his Willingness to go to his scientific
zeal. and say that he will exercise every
precaution to maintain his health under
the arduouS conditions that will undoubt-
edly beset him in the tropics.
Delayed Christmas Gifts.
1t was hoped that the supply ship Gel
tic. at New York, would get away by
: December 16 and take a supply of Christ
mas boxes for the sailors of the Atlantic
fleet. which she is to meet, but it is not
likely now that she will get away before
the new year, and the hopes of Sweet
hearts and wives that their loved ones
would receive Christmas greetings some
where within seasonable range are doomed
TO disappointment.
Five Years for Assault.
Five years Imprisonment at hard labor
in the military prison at Fort Leaven-
worth. Kan, was the sentence imposed on
Military Convict Alfred Senay. That SOL
der was convicted by court-martial at
Fort Adams, r. l., of the charge of hav-
ing conspiIed with Private Miles Stone,
10th Company, Coast Artillery Corps and
Military Convict d. +. Taylor to 'as-
sault, rob and escape from the sentinel
detailed to guard them while at work on
| the day of the September payment of the
command 1t was specified that Senay