El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-05-28
SENDS WEDDING
RING To BRUHN
Germans Shower Gold on
Dental Surgeon Who Makes
Jaws Out of Shinbones.

Dusseldorf Germany. May 2S.-"Tou
don't need TO thank me for This. It long
ago lost its significance"
The this" was a woman's wedding
ring, worn and scratched the mes
sage was blurred and poorly written.
Ring and message. indicating some hid
den tragedy that never viii be revealed.
we're sent to DR.. Christian Bruhn, one
Of Germany's most distinguished dental
surgeons. for the furtheranCe Of his
present life wOrk-the patching Up Of
soldiers whose jaws and teeth have
Much Gold Needed.
The patching W. process required
much gold DR.. Bruins clinic is free
and thus far at least. unsupported from
any official quarter. As his fame has
gone out over Germany. however, his
gold reserve has increased amazingly.
& famous actress has given 2 heavy
medallion. the gift Of the ruler Of 2
German state A noted literateur has
donated a similar gift from the king
OF Sweden ~ Wedding rings seal rings.
necklaces, gold coins, from England
ana from Turkey even old gold
teeth, have poured in on DR.. Bruhn. to
De melted up and find their way into
the mouths of wounded soldiers
Men who have viewed war from all
angles. and who are intimately &C
qualnted with its horrors have de
clared repeatedly thar the worst part Of
II IS in the hospitals. The orthoDedic
institutions, where the esOldiers are
palnstakingly made new again so that
they may go back to the front, are in
finitely depressing.
Men With But Half Faces.
But they cannot compare for sheer
horror with the great Institution in
Dusseldorf and with DR.. NBruhn's pri-
Nate clinic, where dozens and scores of
men sit or lie with half of their faces
left with noses and upper teeth miss
ing with hands enclosed in steel frame
work that supports broken lower jaws
until newly inserted bones shall have
had 4 time to knit
The Dusseldorf institution. Of which
Dr. Bruhn is the chief surgeon is de
voted exclusively to the care OF SOL
uleEs VINO nave been injured in the
Jaws ana IS far and away the largest
Of its kind in Germany. Weekly il is
turning out men who. aside from scars
and somewhat impeded speech, are
ABOUT as good as before the war. men
VINO lew weeks or months before
were brought in in such shocking con
uitlon that the layman, if he could
enaure 70 gaze Tor long. would despair
OF ever saving them.
The patients frequently are found TO
have rifle bullets imbedded in the
bones Of their jaws, bullets often that
nave been fattened out or twisted by
the compact of lead against bone More
serious are the shrapnel and grenade
wounds. which tear away whole sec
tons Of the face and leave a Jaw frac-
LalEN IN . score OF places.
Bones Are Replaced.
Through use of the Roehtgen ray. or
A-ray- the patients exact injury is es-
Iabllshed on his admission. In a ma
1ority Of cases there is some portion
of bone missing portion that must
be replaced by bone from some part OF
his body
Each patient is his own bone sup7lv.
50 10 speak, and generally IL is the shin
bone that serves The ribs also ares n
fertile field and. so fast does nature
work the piece Of bone taken out for
use IN the jaw is rapidly replaced by
new growth
Wears Shinbone in Jaw.
One patient in the hospital late I'm
April. slowly recovering from a shock
ing wound that gouged out his whole
lower jaw has a strip Of shin bone "A
centlmeters long in his mouth On TOP
Of that is a new set Of seTvfcea bic teeth
The man is healthy and reasonably
happy
In dozens Of cases is It not only
necessary TO replace bone. but skin as
well Here again each man must SUD
ply his own Great strips Of skin are
taken from the patients arms and
grated onto cheeks or chins. Aside /
from the scar along the line OF stitch
ing there is usually little indication Of I
the original injury
Each man is photographed on the day
Of arrival and then az intervals later.
as his recovery progresses To the Law
man the results accomplished are little &
short OF miraculous.