Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-05
PRAISE Of THE women
WHO ARE AIDING IN WAR
Dr.. A. n. Fauntleroy Gives Result of
His Observation at Front
in France. ~
Artillery supplants Rifle to Large
Extent, He Says, and Hand
Grenades supersede Bayonets.

A profound respect for the business
end of cannon and the greatest pos
sible admiration for the dignified ac-
ceptance of their patriotic duties by
the women of France in general and
those OF the French Red, Cross in par
ticular are the two main Impressions
of the war brought back by DR.. A. N
Fauntleroy. professor Of surgery In
the Naval Medical College. Washing
ton. who has returned from France. DR..
Fauntleroy went to the front OF the
western theater Of war In April as a
representative Of the medical depart
ment of the navy. His report to the
Secretary of the Navy. embodyins his
observations, is in process Of prepare
ton and will be issued as soon as pos
sible.
That in this war the rife has. COM
paratively speaking, been relegated to
an unimportant position by the vastly
more destructive power of artillery of
various calibers, Is something that Dr.
Fauntleroy admits made a great Inn
preston on him.
Shell Wounds Numerous.
'Ninety-eight per cent of wounds
that are treated in hospitals" he said.
| shells. Rifle wounds. when they do &C.
cur, are usually received somewhere
in the head and result either in in
| slant death or in complicated wounds
of the Jaw. Therefore, many such
never reach the hospital at all. This
| is largely due to the fact that the men
| fight almost exclusively in trenches,
and when they expose any portion of
the body it is the head"
THE war is being fought with ar
| tillery," he continued. land the vast
numbers of pieces engaged. their ac-
curacy and the speed with which they
can be fired is incredible. unless one
! has seen 1t for himself. A certain
portion of territory or sector is picked
out by a battery or number Of bat
| teries and rendered absolutely untena-
BILE for the enemy. No living thing can
messed near Notre Dame de Lorette
a bombardment of such a sector, in
size roughly approximating Lafayette
Square. For twenty minutes French
poured rain Of shells into It. The
science of bombardment 10 exact; once
the range Is gotten there are no
misses Every shell falls with math-
ematical precision into the spot aimed
| for.
Bayonet Largely Superseded.
How about bayonet wounds? Does
their number demonstrate that the
again. as indicated by the Russo
Japanese war;? Dr. FauntIeroy was
asked.
extent taken the place of bayonets In
winning positions by charges" was the
reply. "a company Of charging men
which has broken through barb-wire
brink Of trench npds usually some
slight last obstruction at that point.
Then the 'grenadiers' begin hurting
into the trench the hand bombs which
they carry strung around their belts
Although the average soldier breads
cold steel as he breads nothing In the
way of shell or rifle fire, the hand
grenade method has apparently been
found more expeditions and surer."
Judging from 81 .o Dr.. snnsisros test est.
back to first principles. The Russo-Jap-
anese war saw the revival and firm estab-
lishment Of the bayonet AZ y weapon the
present conflict sees revival Of the i'm
portance OF the "grenadier' Of the seven.
lteenth and eighteenth centuries DR.
iFauntleroy says the Russian bayonet, nc
matter how far in the rear It's owner may
be stationed. II invariably fixed. and 10 al
much part OF the rife a. II the trigger
Work Of Women Praised,
DR.. Fauntleroy spoke in high terms Of
1.-THE working oenters maintained all over
France. where women Of all stations In
life engage in work Of all descriptions
ldealt out to them by the French Red
Cross. Tho units comprising the thre<
great divisions Of this work undertake r.
do whatever Ii suggested BY the Red Crosa
as beneficial to the able-bodied troops n
1.-The trenches. al well AZ the invalids IL
the many hospitals.
THE women Of France" he concluded
ARE Just a. busy working for their coun.
TRY as are the men In tho trenchea
Whatever the outcome of the war mas
be. ri wm BE- dsmonstratsd bsyonA !