The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-12-08
Lawrence Hick, Jr., in Philadelnbia
Record.)

more humane, ~
Until the bloody sun of conflict rose
q few months ago over Eurone IT,
world dreamed that the very avn
ness OF the modern engines Of destruc-
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES rifles, great guns
pal of sending a huge proiectile
through the steel-plated sides of .
battleshlp, explosives comparable ONLY
10 the dynamic forces of nature. suh.
marines bearing death through the
depths OF the seas, a]eroplanes and
Ieppellns hurting it from the skies
was the Surest guarantee Of peace.
Yet war came, the most frightful
war of all the ages. Carnage is in the
air. Europe is one vast battlefield
and n vast cemetery. Hospitals in
england, in France, in Germany, in
with the wounded. Great cities are
as If each a been the scene Of some
terrible catastrophe-their hotels
their public buildings, the dwellings
of their principal citizens have been
transformed into nursing homes for
the victims OF the holocaust Of Mars.
And yet it is true that this a a hu-
name war!
Death Ratio Less.
Wounds have been no fewer than in
other modern wars, but the ropor
ton OF deaths from wounds has been
FAR less. And there has been less sick
ness. There has been less suffering on
the Held OF battle. Never before had
soldiers who escape instant death on
the battlefield a better chance of re
turning home alive. 1t may be that
they will pass home through the
doors of a hospital, after a long con-
valescence. But no longer is it true
that to enter "a field hospital is to en-
ter the outer portals of death. In
other war disease uaS m ononoy-
more to be feared than the armed SOL
der OF a hostile force, and hospital
gangrene following the wound far
more serious than the wound itself.
Not SO today.
The man responsible for the change
is the army surgeon.
In warfare nowadays the doctor is
more important h the officer. The
latter cad his men against a. en-
envy who q be seen, n in a meas
ure guarded against; the former
shields them night and day from an
enemy far more insidious and deadly.
Mortality figures for wars Of COM
paratively recent date simply take
ones breath away. They prove that
the bacillus is deadlier than the bull
let. In Napoleon's Peninsular cam
,paign 5000 of his soldiers were kill
ed by the enemy; 100000 died of dis
ease. In June, 1912, a splendid army
oI OUU,UVU CIOSSto lIIC 4 NAASA
faces set toward the bleak steppes OF
Russia. Six months later, in Deem
Der, the beaten remnant struggled
home. There were scarcely 10000
survivors. Most of the $50, 600 who
persisted died Of disease.
England suffered almost as severely
In the Crimea. There almost one
fourth OF her troops died of typhoid
fever, d~ysentery and other infection:
diseases. IL the Franco-Prusslan wal
the tide Of death from disease begal
to turn. France lost lao out OF every
1000 men by disease. now
ever, even then advanced in the med
ical science of the battlefield. lost b!
sickness only "a men out of ever.
thousand.
The army surgeon has a double job
He must learn how to cut down tn
mortality from disease, and ne mus
study also how to cut down the ihoi
tality from wounds
A century or SO ago Tor ever,
thousand dead on the field from sever
To twelve thousand others dleo d lihs
ering death from their injuries. l.
our own civil war, bad as condltion
were in many of the field hoSpitals
$1,000 died on the field. as compare
to 43, 900 who died of wounds. III III
Franco-Prussian war 1900 German
were killed in battle, while only ll'Oo
died in hospitals. After the war DC
tween Japan and Russia the ia
army doctors figured that only ll'oo
of their countrymen had oleo :
wounds compared to $4,000 who 1e
In battle.
Figures on Chances.
DR.. Woods Hutchinson In a receI
article summarized the comparatle
risk of war as follows: "Ihe chance
of a modern soldier being kllIeu :
hattie in a wears campaign have bee
reduced to about one in 80; n
chances of dying of wounds receive
In battle about one in 60; his chahct
Of dying of disease to about one l
100"
The horrors Of this great PIes,
w.r. tho awful stories of regimen
wiped out and long corpse trains nile
with the dead tied in bundles: IN
mass Of shocking. stunning news lns