Evening star., 1914-08-18
MOST HUMANE WAR,
SURGEONS BELIEVE
Civil Conflict Death Ratio s to
I Will DWindIe to 3 to /,
They Say.
MODERN SANITATION AND
SMALL BULLETS is REASON
Cost of Hospital Work, as Discussed
by Medical Writer, Shows It to
Be Very High.

That the present European war. the
greatest in the history of the world, will
also be the most humane is the belief of
leading surgeons. They point out that in
the American civil war eight soldiers
died Of disease to one from wounds. They
estimate that In the war now in progress
the ratio will be three to ono. They
say that those who die will die more
quickly. and that gangrene and infection
will be practically unknown.
The modern high-power. Quick-nring
military rife and the development in ar
tillery are given credit for much Of this
change.
| The Americans and Japanese have been
leaders in the improvement OF army sani-
tation during the last fifty years. The
United States Army hospitals have in
stalled many remarkab BILE Innovations since
the Spanish-American war, with its dread
full lesson in the danger of typhoid, and
these new ideas have been adopted by
the army surgeons of old-world powers.
Hideous Wounds Lessened.
Before the Russo-Japanese conflict the
armies the world over used large-caEber
bullet. made of unsheathed lead and
creased to overcome friction in the bar
tel. The muzzle velocity was less than
half that of the missiles now employed
Then, too. bayonet and saber charges
were more common. These resulted in
hideous wounds. very difficult for sur
geons to handle.
The bullets which are flying in Europe
today are Of less d ameter than the ordi-
nary lead pencil. They are jacketed with
nickel or steel, and have tremendous
yelocity.
The soft mushrooming bullet Of the
Did day resulted in the shattering of
Zones and the crushing rather than cut
sing Of tissues. Infection was almost in
evttable. the grease being especially in
sanitary. wound in the abdomen was
considered necessarily fatal The death
Y In recent campaigns there are instances
where soldiers shot in what were once
considered vital spots have walked un-
supported to the field hospitals
T Small Caliber Bullets.
\ Germany uses a Mauser rifle, with a
bullet Of nm. caliber. steel and copper
coated. Great Britain's missile is the
Lee-Enfeld. caliber II NM. the coating
being supro-nickel.
The French weapon is the Lebel rife, of
mm. caliber, with bullets coated with
1ickel. Russia uses Mossin-Nagant rifles
saliber T.e2 nm, with bullets cupro-nickei
coated. Austria's chief small arm is the
Nannlicher. caliber NM. with a steel
theet over the tip.
Hitting man beyond $50 yards the
wounds inflicted by all these bullets are
slean-cut. They frequently pass through
bone tissue without splintering.
Amputations are very rare compared
Fith wars of more than fifty years ago.
4 bullet wound through a joint. such
sitated the amputation Of the limb Now
such wound is easily opened and
dressed.
Even Russia, which made a sad sani-
tary showing In the war with Japan, Has
tfcal arrangements.
All the nations use vaccine to combat
typhoid, the scourge which once deci-
mated camps and killed 1000 in our
Spanish war.
Field Hospitals
Every army division d2o00 to 1900
mem is supplied with four field hospitals,
each capable Of caring for 1O6 patients.
There are also two evacuation hospitals,
with a capacity of 100 each. for each
division. The evacuation hospitals send
the more seriously wounded back to the
hospitals at home.
Then every officer Ii instructed In first
aid treatment This alleviates q great
deal of suffering on the field Of battle.
Next to typhoid dysentery is the great
army scourge. This Is attacked by ster.
lizing the drinking water.
History shows sanitation has often de-
termined the fate of nations In 1892.
when the fine Prussian troops marched
of the young republic met and repulsed
them. Gen. Du Mouries, commander OF
the French troops, shows clearly in his
report that the Prussians had been un-.
fitted for service by dysentery. Ordinary
sanitary precautions would have pre-
vented this.
Battle casualties in recent wars have
been from 10 to 20 per cent OF the num-
ber of men engaged, and the ratio Of men
killed and wounded has been about one in
four, according to interesting statistics
on the cost Of medical service in war.
which appear in an editorial In the New
York Medical Journal.
Rifle Fire Wounds.
OF the casualties. from 6o to 80 per cent
were caused by rife fire, and from 20 to
30 per cent by artillery fire. chiefiy shrap-
mel. Bayonet and saber wounds have been
Of comparatively infreQuent occurrence.
and little mention is made Of them in re-
ports. The journal quotes Prof. Charles
Richet of the University of Paris as au-
thority for the assertion that ambulance
service alone for 10000 wounded or Ill
costs 81 day for each. or 100000.
This Is startling sum-" says the edi-
torial, "but apparently 1t does not take
into consideration the cost of feeding the
DOCTORS nurses and either chauffeurs or
drivers of horses connected with the am
bulance service. while there Is no esti-
mate of the first cost Of the elaborate
paraphernalia, drugs, apparatus, instru.