The Washington times., 1915-09-14
BLUE ELECTED HEAD
Of ASSOCIATION Of
MILITARY SURGEONS
Surgeon General Acclaimed
President-Medica Inspec.
tor Named Vice President
NEXT SESSION IN CHICAGO
Assistant Surgeon Ha|sey En-.
phasizes Right Selection Of
Men to Man

Surg. Gen. Robert Blue. Of the
United States Public Health Service.
today was elected president Of the As
sociation Of Military Surgeons. Sur
geon General Blues name was report
ed by the nominating committee and
his election was by acclamation. He
has been vice president of the asso.
citation.
Other officers elected this after
noon were: First vice president. Medi-
cal Inspector George A. Lung. u. 8. NJ:
second vice president. Lieut. Col.
Henry Alters. Medical Corps. New Jer-
sey National Guard; third vice presi-
dent. Col. Henry p. Birmingham. Med
ical Corps. U. 8. A.; secretary. Lieut..
Col Edward L. Munson. Medical Corps.
U. s. A.; treasurer. J. Htrry Ullrich.
Medical Corps. Maryland National
Guard.
The next meeting place will be Chi
cago. and the meeting will be held in
heretofore.
The selection Of men physically At Ia
man submarines. and keeping them so.
asserted Passed Assistant Surgeon W.
H. Halsey. u. 8. N, this morning. ID
one Of the principal factors in the sue
cess Of submarine warfare.
Medical Service Blamed.
That a large percentage of the heavy
pension fund paid veterans Of the civil
and spanish-American wars was the
direct result Of inadequate medical
treatment Of the wounded. was the
statement Of Major William o. owen.
U. S. A.. In the course Of q paper on
the relation Of the army medical corpa
to the army medical reserve corps OF
the organized militia
Keen interest was shown in the pa
per Of Surgeon Halsey. which was read
by the secretary in the absence Of the
author, because Of the wide attention.
now being paid problems Of submarine
warfare.
Men must retain tho highest physical
efficiency to be available for submarine
Of the slightest sort not only incapaci-
tates the men. but may endanger all on
board.
Among the slight affections which
might sIns he optss aess;
in the man at the periscope. or deaf
ness in the man at the diving rudder
or the man in charge Of the ballast
tanks.
An officer or man who shows the
slightest neurotic tendency" the pa
per continued, must be transferred
at once. An epileptic. for example.
on a submarine. is. like a lighted
"Diphtheria and other communicable
diseases may hold dread potentiali-
| ties. An illness or injury occurring
on a battleship, which would hardly
keep a man from performing his ordi-
would necessitate imm ediate remo> al
of the man afflicted"
Poisoning By Gasolene.
Enumerating the many dangers to
health and life entailed by service
on a submarine. DR.. Halsey went into
| the avoidance and treatment Of per-
| sons affected by sasolene poisoning.
aritinT either from unburned gas
escaping from the supply line and
from fires in the exhaust: gasolene
| explosions: trauna due to frequent
falls from the deck, and from the
sudden evolutions Of the vessel. sea
| sickness. leaks in tanks. escape Of
HCL gas. vitiation OF air. crea-
| tion Of noxious gases, notably the
| marsh gas from ballast tanks and
the effects Of terrific cold In northern
| waters in winter.
Another feld hardly touched upon,
as yet. in his opinion. are the
neurasthenic effects Of the strains and
fears Of submarine, service.
n.rxnns Each man nan is Working under . high
terical laugh or cry might. under GER
tain conditions. create a panic"
Pays Tribute to Men.
In conclusion the paper paid a high
tribute to men in submarine work. It
said: Dangers from without and with
In menace the men continually. yet a
, more CHEEKY. complaintless, courageous
set Of officers and men would be hard
| to fnd. And in the last analysis Il Is
| upon their courage and resourcefulness,
upon their health and we'll being, that
| the comparative safety Of the subma-
rine must depend"
Major Owen brought out that, at the
present time: there is a woeful lack
- ecens n the Mdsa Ne ;sd tosp asrs
Guiding the surgeon general. for an
army Of 10000 men. and that In war it
will require at least l per cent of the
But to increase the medical depart.
ment suddenly. he said. with unframed
men. would be Just as disastrous for
the medico- military service as would be
in the sending Of unframed infantry
| or artillery into battle.
| In the discussion that followed Major
Owens paper Col. j. d. Griffith urged
that the National Guard be taken out
Of politics and that there be greater
Federal control of State guards.
Charges Discrimination.
Major H. L. Gilchrist. of the Medical
Corps. U. s. A. charged discrimination
in expenditures, pointing out heavy ex-
penditures for rife shooting with no
funds allotted for the Medical Reserve
Corps. and he also pleaded that medi-
cal officers be permitted to participate
| In file matches.
j A discussion of gases in warfare was
contained in a paper by Medical Inspec-
tor George A. Lung, U. 8. N. He went
into the history of the use of gases. and
told Of the ethics of their use from the
viewpoints of various nations as we'll
as their effects on men and treatment
Of these effects.
What will the inactive medical re-
ii serve corps do in war" was the topic
III of naner nv DIR Henry Goa AAdical