The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1914-10-08
War LEARNED FROM WAR
Sanitation and Surgery Have
Been Wonderfully Improved.
There Is Less Fear Of Disease Now.
Bullets Are Jacketed and Modern
Military Rifles Leave No
Gaping Wounds.

In the American Civil war eight SOL
diers died of disease to one from
wounds, writes a United States army
surgeon. Experts expect that in the
present general European struggle not
more than three will fall victim to
sickness to one killed on the field of
battle. Such is the advance Of army
sanitation and army surgery in so
years. The Americans and the Japa-
nese have been the leaders. The
United States army hospitals have In
stalled many remarkable innovations
since the Spanish-American war, with
it's dreadful lesson in the danger of
typhoid, and these new ideas have
been adopted by the army surgeons
of old world powers.
So 1t is expected that the present
war, the greatest yet in history, also
will be the most humane. There will
be no disproportionate mortality list
from disease and no army of cripples
as an aftermath.
The modern high-power, quick-fring
military rifle and the development in
artillery will have much to do with the
change.
Those who die will die more quickly.
Gangrene and infection will be prac-
tically unknown quantities, 1t Is
thought.
Before the Russo-Japanese conflict
the armies the world over used high
caliber bullet, made of unsheathed lead
and creased to overcome friction in
the barrel.
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 of the modern rifle are
of less diameter than the ordinary lead
pencil. They are jacketed with nickel,
lead or steel and have tremendous We
locity. H
The soft, mushrooming bullets of
the old day resulted in the shattering
of bones and the crushing, rather than
cutting, of tissues. Infection was al
most inevitable, the grease being spe-
cially unsanitary. A wound in the alb
domen was considered necessarily
fatal. The death rate among the
wounded was enormous.
In recent campaigns there are in
stances where soldiers shot in what
were once considered vital spots have
walked unsupported to the field hos
pitfalls.
Germany uses Mauser rife, with
bullet of 8 nm. caliber, steel and cop
per coated. Great Britain's missile is
the Lee-Enfield, caliber ~ mm., the
coating being cupro-nickel.
The French weapon is the Lebel
rifle, of 8 nm. caliber, with bullet
coated with nickel. Russia uses Mos
sin-Nagant rifles, 1852 NM, with bull
lets cupro-nickel coated. Austria's
chief small arm is the Mannlicher,
caliber NM, with steel sheet over
the tip.
Hitting a man beyond $50 yards,
the wounds inflicted by all these bull
let's are clean cut. They frequently
pass through bone tissue without splin-
tering. 4
When meeting an artery the bullet
usually pushes it to one side and goes
around without cutting the blood chan
mel.
Amputaticns are very rare compared
with wars of more than fifty years ago.
A bullet wound through a joint,
such as the knee or the elbow, then
necessitated the amputation OF the
limb. Now such wound is easily
opened and dressed.
Even Russia, which made sad SAM
tary showing in the war with japan,
now has learned her lesson and has
efficient surgical arrangements.
All the nations use vaccine to CON-
bat typhoid, the scourge which once
decimated camps, and killed 800 in
our Spanish war.
Every army division $4,000 to 49,
600 mem is supplied with four field
hospitals, each capable of caring for
108 patients. There are also two evacu-
alton hospitals, with a capacity Of 700
each, for each division. The evacua-
ton hospitals send the more seriously
wounded back to the hospitals at
home.
Then every officer is 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 sterilizing the drinking water.
History shows sanitation has often
determined the fate of nations. In
1892. when the fine Prussian troops
marched to the relief Of Louis XVI,
the raw levies of the young republic
met and repulsed them. General Du
INQUIRIES, commander Of the French
troops, shows clearly in his report that
the Prussians had been untitled for
service by dysentery Ordinary SAM
tary precautions would have prevent