Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-10
UNDREDs Of thousands of

HHS7 81 UNDREDS of Thousands Of
% I'LL horses and mules will
|r probably be drafted for
Il q service in the war and It
will require small army OF reserve
veterinarians and helpers to accumu-
late and care for Them" says Maj. G. e.
Griffin. veterinarian of the Army Med
ical Corps "All those animals when
in the remount camps will afford a
wonderful sight to any one who is
fortunate to have a look at them.
They will come from all parts OF
the United States. There will be tho
cavalry horse, the field gun draft horse
and the big fellows that will have to
haul the siege yuns and howitzers; the
pack mule, the heavy wheel and the
lighter lead mule. Some days they Will
pour in upon the waiting camp by the
thousands and the grounds and the
pens, the stables. the hospitals and tho
convalescent yards must be put in con-
most inconceivable quantities must be
ready for them, water mains must Do
laid and. above all. host OF vet.
erinarians. farriers and helpers must
be gathered and trained into the army
way of doing all these things.
80
THE veterinarians are a part of tho
Army Medical Corps. and have the duty
of looking after the health OF tho
animals just as the surgeons care for
the physical well-being of the men.
Bear in mind that the highest art OF
that profession lies in avoiding dis
ease. or, at least, in preventing its
spread. rather than in curing any par
ticular case.
Horses, although they know moro
than some men, cannot talk, and there
is only one recorded case where four
legged ass spoke. SO when they are
sick they have to depend upon their
masters for care and cure.
Never before in the history Of this
nation has any one thought TO see
service, and the first thing to be done
to get them in good condition Is to
urge every horse owner to Keep his
stock in clean condition, free from
disease.
zone horse with a distemper will in
feet a whole drove; one in a carload
will give the contamination to his
twenty-one companions. and they will
spread it through the whole remount
MARIAN inspector detects it and quar-
antines the lot. At this time 1t is a
patriotic duty of every horseman. to
keep all his stock in the best of health
and to do everything possible, even to
killing a neighbours sale, to hold out
every horse that can give any disease
to other horses.
IF a good horse trader can put a
spawned horse over the vet that Is
a matter for his own conscience. but
any one who would let a diseased ami
NAL go with the others deserves to be
turned loose in a corral Of vicious
mules. whose actions would De louder
Congress, to meet such emergency.
provided in the national defense act for
the creation of a veterinary section OF
the ohicers' Reserve Corps. Appointees
the ages Of twenty-five and fifty-five
years graduates of a recognized vetert-
nary college. and be In the active prac-
tice of their profession in the states In
which they reside. me successful ap-
ond lieutenants in the officers Reserve
Corps, with the pay and allowances OF
that grade.
amined UP to May 6. but applications
have come in from all parts OF the
country of such promising material
that there will be no difficulty. as soon
different parts Of the country. in filling
the thousand or more vacancies.
"A much sitter test is made for those
who enter the Veterinary Corps Of the
regular army, where the tests are very
exacting and the written and oral ex-
last six days.
What may occur when the animals
begin to come in NAV be foretold In
some degree by what actually hap
pened on the Mexican border. that
providential prep school. last July:
when the regulars were ordered to
the border I was on the way with the
Sd Artillery to Camp Tobyhanna for
the summer practice. We were re-
called, and I was sent to Texas to look
after the animals to be used in the
army. and soon after that the militia
We're called out and we were charged
with caring for the horseS and mules
that the quartermaster was ordered TO
purchase.
THE quartermaster selects the num-
Der and types of horses that he wants
and turns them over to US for examtna-
ton lust >as the enlisting officers turn