Bisbee daily review., 1917-03-04


 healthy appetite he tried 10 eat the blanket off his nearest neighbOr.
 All the horses in hospital are fed i four times day. The more debilitat- ed ones are fed five and six times. When they are particularly run down and in danger of being mistaken for sort of bone-yard hat-racks, the pa tients get nothing but cooked foods. and they fairly revel in them They have tonics, too. and it is remarkable to see the improvement in their condi- tion that g few weeks work. The diet for "debilities" consists of oatmeal gruel, linseed gruel, boiled turnips and scalded oats. Later they get crushed oats and chopped hay. and almost before they know it are in the convalescent ward
 The operating rooms with their big beds spread upon the concrete floors. are as cheery and immaculate as if intended for human beings. For all except the most minor operations an anaesthetic is administered.
 The horses take the chloroform remarkably we'll" said the officer commanding one of the hospitals to the correspondent of The Associated Press. "I don't think we have lost but one patient in the last six months" he added.
 Patient seems a most appropriate designation for the horses. They are very pictures of patience until they reach the stage of cOnvalescence. Each patient has little aluminium tag and hospital chart which tells his age. color, where he came from, what he shall have to eat and drink and take, when he shall have nice hot bath and various nOtations as to his condition and behavior. There is a personal touch about the treatment of the horses which in itself bespeaks the esteem in which they are held Walking about the wards, the e. O." had a kind word or two for his pa tients. It seemed particularly hu- man thing to do. And he patted most of them and called many by name.
 This old charger" he said of one "is a great favorite in the hospital He has been one of the bravest of the brave. has lost an eye in battle, and so We call him Nelson. am going to send to Paris and get him a good glass eye before he goes back to the front, so none of the other horses will have g chance to 'swank' it over him. It won't really be a glass eye. because they are made of a composition not so fragile. The horses do not mind the artificial eyes at all and they look awfully well in them"
 So thorough is the work of the -eterinary service that if pationt de Telops Q contagious disease all the horses in the unit from which he came are called in for disinfection and examination. So successful is he work that S2 percent of all sick cases and casualties" are returned 10 active service.
 'lf We were dealing with human be.ags." said the officer commanding, i've could run the percentage up to the niaeiies. But unfortunately. in dealing with the horses we have at times to weigh their cases in the scales of pounds, shiliings and pence In other words. we have to decide whether ii will pay to save the ami nal Is he too old to be of much ser vice when he is cured. or will the course of treatment be so long and expensive as to outweigh the value Of future usefulness? Tn striving for war efficiency and the highest poten- tiality of horse power all these things must be considered. It is the old, old story again of the survival of the fit test. There Is no other way"
 Some idea of the number of Ameri- can horses doing their bit" in the war can be gained from the fact that 40 percent Of all admitted to hospital come from the United States.