The Washington herald., 1917-02-22
Interesting Chats
From Hotel Lobbies

Medical science has received boost. a
great boost one that 1t would not have
! gotten for twenty years or more In norma
times since the great draft on the medical
profession at the start of the war;, said
Dr. Franz l.. Wiekert, of st. Paul, MINI.
registered at the Willard. we have
learned wonders in two years apou'
things that some of US dared not think
about,' remarked the doctor. and ever
II the war has all its horrors, 1t sun has
Its advantages
THE number of American doctors al
work on the battlefelds and in the Euro
pean hospitals is amazing. Necessity Il
the mother of invention, and methods
have been devised and operations per
formed that would never have taker
place If the occasion had not demanded
quick and certain action. II is even now
possible to have time table on hand fol
wounds; that is, surgeons can tell almost
to the day when a wound will heal.
Infection Is another item that has al
but been overcome. II we can control II
In the haste and heat of battle, what car
we do with 1t in normal times? New
antiseptics, serums. instruments, fever
treatments, and numerous other vitallS
needed innovations have come about as a
result OF blood-spilling by the gallon.
The work of restoring to use manned
hands, feet and different parts of the
body has made wonderful strides. We
by the time the war Is over science will
be tremendously advanced, thanks to the
Kaiser.
Remarkably few deaths occur aftel
the wounded men once get attention; In
fact, fewer deaths have resulted from In
fection and faulty attention than in any
other war, and they are lessening ever,
day. Truly we may be going backward
as far as fighting is concerned, but We
are progressing along medical lines"
II do not believe that the automobile Of
twenty years from now will use gasoline
as fuel" said Frederick A. Martin, q
Boston scientist, who is stopping at thu
Shoreham. 1T Is absolutely a neces
sity that the public be relieved OF thu
Job of paying heavy tariff for fuel anc
be released from the grip of the big cor
porations. l am not a socialist, but an
enough OF chemist to know that W,
who use autos are paying entirely TOT
high a price for fuel
Again, on the other hand. the source
of supply is getting to be an uncertain
proposition. II is reasonable to believe
that when our patent laws are amended
to protect the small inventor we shall
have an efficient, cheap and practica
fuel at our disposal. We have not ye
started to get all we can get out Of elec
tricity. and 1 think that before man!
years roll over our heads someone will
have taken hold OF the Juice and made
gas from II, put It in tanks. and have &
used in the present type of internal com
bustion engine.
Il know this sounds foolish but a To-
of other things that have happened alsc
sounded foolish. We have paid too littl,
attention to electricity as a motive powe
for vehicles. Very soon we will be abl,
to see electricity as well as feel it. Th,
present high cost of fuel is a tremendous
drawback to science and industry. Thou
sands OF farmers would be using machin
cry, thereby cheapening food, IL it wer,
not for the gouging OF the fuel barons
"Other lines of business could be nor
economically conducted II we had a reas
onsbly priced fuel for commercial vehi
| cles. Whatever it is that comes to TAX
the place of gasoline must be inexpensiv,
and adaptable to the present type of en-
CINE"