The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-07-31
THE AlIERIc An HOSPITAL IN PARIS
By Frederic j. Haskin.

4
H BY Frederic
How American ingenuity nnds ex-
Iuressfon In caring for the wounded
LOT Europe Is hown by q story Of the
American hospital in Paris told by an
American army omcer, Just back
from Europe. In = lecture before
some members Of the medical re-
serve corps few weeks ago. This
of1cer was at one OF the field dress
ing stations near the front In France.
where doctors and nurses. weak with
demonstration, were struggling to pre-
i pare the wounded fdr transportation
Ito the base hospitals. The dressing
/ station was dtsmant1ed church.
lscarred and riddled by shells. Its
floor was covered a foot deep with
\ discarded lint and bandages. Every
NOW and then an exhausted attendant
would throw himself down In a COR
ner and instantly fall asleep from
sheer fatigue.
Over against the wall this army Of
fcer saw a man lying with. his face
covered by a blood-stained cloth.
The wounded man was groaning in
| a way that racked the nerves, but
also showed that he had good deal
of life left in him. The American in
quired of the French fargRon in
charge why the man was not being
cared for. The Frenchman replied
that the man would die In q few
minutes and was not worth fooltng
with.
Hurried to Hospital.
The officer then lifted the cloth
over the wounded mans face andssaw
that he had been struck by a chrage
of shrapnel. The skin of his fore
head had been torn loose and fell
| jaw was broken and the bone pro-
truded. His nose had been complete
! ly shot away. To use the words OF
the officer, he was such a disgusting
mess that the surgeon did not care to
fool with him, but a brief exam1na-
ton showed that while terribly
mangled he had no wounds that he
loss of blood. The officer accordingly
had the man hurried to the base hos
pttal. which had been established by
the American residents in Paris.
The surgeon in charge operated
upon the man Immediately. The jaw
bone was easily set and the torn skin
sewed into place. The nose pre-
that just as this man was brought in
another one had died of exhaustion
in the anteroom of the hospital. The
nose of this latter man was removed
and grated upon the mangled race
of the other. This seemingly in
credible operation Is declared to have
been comparatively simple. and
merely involved the grating az skin
and and cartilage.
The officer who had been respon-
sib1e for bringing the man into the
hospital, did not see him again for
many weeks. When he wa9 visiting
the hospital later he asked for his
protege and found the man gazing
into a hand mirror with evident sat-
isfactfon. His face was absolutely
intact except for a few scars, aud he
declared that he was much better
looking than he had been before he
went to war. He was Welshman
and intended to return to Wales a5
soon as he was able TO travel in order
i to be married.
Numerous Difficulties.
This is only one Of many stories
of unusual feats of surgery accom-
plished In the American hospital at
Paris. This hospital was established
by the American community in Paris
not. without overcoming considerable
difficulties. The French government
had planned to take all OF its
wounded to the South of France, and
hospitals in Paris at all. Neverethe-
less, the Americans finally obtained
permission to use u large school
building for their purpose, and this
they furnished as hospital with a
capacity of about 500 patients. II
was ready for use about September
Ii. At this time, iioweber, nearly all
Of the wounded from the field hos
pitfalls were passing through Paris
and going on to the South, and the
Americans, with their hospital all
ready for work, were actually unable
to obtain wounded, despite the fact
that thousands of men were falling
every day.
The first patients of the American
hospital were obtained ~ going out
In automobiles and picking up the
fallen by the roadsides. Most of
these men were desperately wounded
and had been either OVERLOOKED or
abandoned. Many of them were saved
from lingering death. but owing to
the nature of their wounds and the
length of time before assistance
reached them, the percentage OF NOR
tally at the hospital during these
first weeks was very high. Soon,
however, the French government be-
gan to appreciate the efficiency or
the American hospital. and wounded
were regularly brought there from
the field hospitals.
In transporting their wounded the
Americans used light automobile
ambulances made in this country,
and these proved far more efficient
than the heavy European vehicles,
which frequently got stuck in rough
ground where the lighter cars oper.
ated successfully. These light cars
were also much easier upon the men
while the American hospital quickly
gained a reputation for comfort and