The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-24
WAR ECHOES

Baltimore Evening Sun: To read of 4 battle in which 100000 men are engaged naturally raises visions of wholesale slaughter. All the appliances of modern warfare are designed to that end all t4e skill and science of the greatest military experts are directed to that purpose.
 Yet basing estimates on authentic his- torical records, there Is good reason to assume that the number of men killed in any one battle in France will be surpris- ingly low when compared with the death rate under normal circumstances among the same number of men. At Gttysburg for instance, the death rate per 1000 was 55.5 per cent, the highest in q battles in the civil war. According to the figures published by the North American experience table of mortality. for every 1000 men living at the age of 49 there will be 55.6 per cent deaths before reaching the age of 53. For all purposes, this is exactly the same rate of mortality as that on the field of Gettysburg. That Is to say, each soldier had the same chance Of surviving the battle of Gettysburg that d man now 49 years old has of living to be oS At the battle of -chancellorsville the death rate among the soldiers en- gagged was 20.3 per 1000. According to the lie Insurance tables, the death rate per 1oOo among men in peaceful pursuits rang ing in age from 42 to A is exactly the same. Every soldier at Shiloh, where the death rate in battle was 422 per 1000, had tae same chance of escaping alive as the average man of 30 has of reaching the age of 35.
 These figures are surprising in showing how far we are likely to be led astray in calculating the relative mortality in battle.
 Baltimore News: Turkey hasn't definite ly decided to take hand in the war; but just by way of evincing it's contempt for the allies 1t has issued an order that Turk ish newspapers are to say St. Petersburg. nc. Petrograd.
 The Porte is bound to overcome much of civilizations prejudice against it, if it shall succeed generally in suppressing the use of dumdum names. It is possible at this distance to maintain an open mind in the controversy as to which side, or whether all sides, are using inhuman mis- sles of war. but there is no doubt that the Russians are responsible for ortho- graphic and, orthoepic barbarities that stagger humanity
 Cleveland Plain Dealer: Germany and France have both been officially charged with using dumdum bullets. Both have denied the charge. Both are probably sin cere and honest in the denial. And yet dumdums are probably being used by both sides.
 The more humane bullets may easily be transformed into dumdums by the indi- vidual soldier in a vengeful mood. All that is required Is the. cutting of little hicks, which can be done with a jacA- knife. The utmost vigilance on the part of the officers could not prevent such clan destine operations.
 der such strain as that which is now felt in Europe is not likely to have hu- meane thoughts of his adversaries. lie wishes to infiict the maximum amount of damage. If a little work with jack knife will increase his chances of killing someone the jackknife is almost certain to be used.
 Meanwhile it is ridiculous to charge that either France or Germany is supplying soldiers with ready-made dumdums.