The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1917-10-03
HOPE FOR BOYS
IN TRENCHES
Eighty Per Cent Will Re.
turn Unhurt.
STATISTICS FOR THREE YEARS
Show That Fewer Than Seven
In One Hundred Will
Be Lost.

war rs dangerous. The soldier
risks his life daily. But nothing IS
more certain than that the civilian,
stay at home population vastly ex-
aggerates the dangers and the risks
of war.
There have been repeatedly print
ed sets Of figures which puTported to
show the percentage of deaths in the
armies Of the allies on the western
| front. According to those tables the
average life of an engineer or sap
per on the battle front was thirty
minutes; aviators could look forward
TO only thirty days OF Iife after
reaching the front; doctors were kill
ed within a week of going into ac-
tive service; the impression was
| plainly conveyed that nobody in any
branch of the service could expect to
survive more than few months on
/ the western front.
! The figures were aflse. They were
wicked. They increased the fear and
suffering of millions of people who
had sons or other relatives in the I'M
form Of the United States II not
direct German propaganda, they
serve at least unnecessarily to dis
courage and alarm the fathers ami
mothers Of America
/ The Truth About Danger.
The truth about the dangers and
risks Of war are told in this article,
as accurately as the official figures
will permit.
Canada, for example, during the
/ three years Of war has lost by death
seven out of every hundred she has
sent to the battle front. In times Of
peace certain percentage of men Of
military age will die. Deducting
/ that percentage from the total, it ap-
pears that the direct war loss among
the troops of the dominion has been
q little over G per cent.
/ 1t is especially noteworthy that
this percentage tends to grow small
er each year Of the war. When in
the first winter of fighting Canada
sent 33 600 practically unframed
| troops TO the front she lost in that
/ single season 2G27 men. Consider
how greatly the losses have been re-
duced to bring the total percentage
for three years OF constant fighting
down to 7 per cent, as against 8 per
cent Cor the first few months.
|. Trench Losses Cut.
| France, with its vast armies of
nearly 100000 men, has had a sim
/ liar experience. During the first
year of war it records casualties of
/ between 5 per cent and 6 per cent.
Last year these losses were cut
/ down to ~ per cent. For the last
six months Of 1916 the percentage Of
the whole French army killed. miss
ing or captured was only i.28 per
cent. about five men out of each 400.
These are the official French figures,
made public by the high commission
Ell of the French republic TO the
United States. They can be depend
ed on as accurate.
But consider this: OF all the SOL
diers wounded in battle the British
surgeons and hospitals are turning
out 90 per cent. in such conditions
that they can go back to the battle
I front. About 95 per cent. of the
wounded troops finally recover, and
only 8 per cent. of them are perma-
nently disabled.
1t is remarkable that the percent
age Of death from disease among
the troops Of the allied armies is ac-
tually less than it would Ne among
the same number and kind Of men
in times of peace. In spite OF the
hardships of trench life, constant
living in the open air, together with
the enforced physical exercises and
the watchful care Of skilled physi-
clans, have reduced the percentage
of soldiers dying from disease to lit
tie more than half what it would be
in normal days.
But mothers and fathers whose
sons have gone or are going TO war
may find some comfort in the state
ment that eight oGt Of every ten of
: the gay Young soldiers who are now
putting on the uniform will go