The Detroit times., 1914-11-20
lt's q Steel Shell Filled With
Bullets and Exploded
BY q Fuse
MOUND BY JAGGED PIECES
IS DIFFICULT TO TREAT
Another Wound That Bothers
the Field Hospital Is That
Of the Bayonet go

dumdum bullets. shrapnel h the curse
or modern warfare from a medical
standpoint according to DR.. c. u
{ Pierce, one of the surgeons connected
With the Public Health and Marine
Hospital Service.
-we can usually fix up man II he's
wounded by a bullet" said DR.. Pierce,
swhether the bullet comes from
rife or a machine gun. but the high
percentage of mortality In war comes
/ nom shrapnel. damdum and bayonets.
shrapnel is the worst Of all A shrap-
mel wound Is usually caused by a jag
sed, Irregular piece Of smell. winch
usually tears away the flesh and tissue
70 that there is little left TO mend.
"A shrapnel shell Is usually OF steel
loaded with cast-iron balls about an
Z Inch IN diameter. in the head Of the
she'll there h a time-fuse, which Ii set
on by the shock OF the shell as II
Rtrfkes The fuse communicates 10
\ the explosive within and the shells
bursts, scattering its fragments and
the iron shot inside. ..g .....
Field surgery has made great
strides. and no greater progress has
been made than In the use OF anti
oeptics. During the civil war II was
rood surgical practice TO carefully
clean the edges Of the wound, wash
with soap and water and then probe
FOR the bullet. or other foreign mat
Ter IN. the wound. The growing use OF
mcclure OF iodine as an antiseptic has
altogether changed this method. Now
xhaa we get the ordinary case Of gun
|Hh0t wound, We simply swah the
iodine into the wound. pick out any
visible foreign matter. and sew IL up.
10 It's nothing more than a bullet the
Dosh will grow about IL and there will
.be no more trouble.
n s'It IN almost useless to probe for 0
billet unless II Is through the thigh.
arm, shoulder or some other part that
q not vital In addition IL wastes
much time and the shock to the pa.
>ient IL terrific. t
"ShTapnel. military experts say, Is
|ioosd &c locate and silence small bat
.(eries. such as machine guns. The
only thing that prevents shrapnel
;ffcm being one Of the most deadly
weap<.ns ever devised. Is the fact that
20 direction cannot be fully controlled.
No one can tell in< which direction
the Fragments Will ny. A man com
carstively near the \ exploding shell
may Let be struck, while man fur
E(Aer away may have his head torn on.
sayonet Wound AIso Bad.
~ShrEpnel fragments strike with
hnr1ly more than one-thfrd the force
>of 4 bullet
-Another element of modern war.
|fnre which causes much trouble from
~ medical standpoint and which en-
'knfls high percentage OF mortality
- the bayonet The modern bayonet
- rkpaliy about an inch and half
a. width and perhaps ten inches long.
~ ID edged on one side and sharp
pointed ON the end. Bayonet fighting
~ = very deadly form Of warfare.
Usually. however, bayonet wounds
nro above the waist--in the shoulder,
neck and chest When q man has
been jabbed In the neck by q bayonet,
~ 80 cases cus OF hundred, ne will
bleed to death I'm Ave minutes through
enc Of the vital blood vessels being
Dierced.
sBayonets are used In modern war
Are for trench digging. and nearly
always these weapons carry infection
Into the wound. There is some talk
that the ccntending forces have been
rising saw-teeth bayonets, the bay
cnets having been saw-toothed In adj
vance to enable the soldiers TO saw
wood with them. The saw-tooth
weapon might hurt more, but II could
DO but little more damage
In the American Civil war, bay
0uets were long and pointed. not
much more than an inch wide at the
outside, and made In the form OF
'sticker' They were & little less
deadly in form. than the oayonets in
presentday use" 4
Thousands of housewives In Virgin
"a Maryland and Southern Pennsyl-
,ysnia are using old bayonets as stove. ]
lid lifters, having picked them UP on ]
Rcjacent battlefelds.