Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-05-27
SURGEON GENERAL
 OF NAVY IS NOW
 PREPARING PLANS
Dr. Braisted Responsible for Health of Every Person
 in the Service.

Washington, May 24.-How would you like to be a physician or surgeon and have your list of clients increased by nearly 100000 in a single month? Such is the experience of pr. William
 C. Braistcd, the present Surgeon Gen
 eral of the United States navy, and the man who, above all others, is
 charged with the preservation of the health of the American sailor and ma
 rine during the present war The Bureau of Medicine and Sur sery of which he is the official head, superintenGs everything relating to medicines, medical stores, surgical in
 struments and hospital supplies re- quired for the sick and wounded for i the navy and marine corps. Except as otherwise provided for, the duties
 Of the Bureau also include the upkeep and operation of the medical supply dcpots. the medical laboratories, nav al hospitals dispensaries, technical
 schools for the medical and hospital corps, and the administration of the nurse corps. dental corps and medi cal reserve corps.
 Dr. Braisted was born in Toledo, O., f;fty-three years ego, but he does not look more than forty One at first
 suspects that he is only thirty-five, and that his hair has turned prema- turely gray. He got his foot fairly on ] the ladder under Surgeon General Rixey of the public health service. Rixey was 2, progressive and an en- | thusiast. In those days the naval hos pitals were about as bad as they
 could be. Rraisted shared with Rixcy the credit due for their improvement.
 They are now mighty good hospitals indeed
 At the battle of Puerto Cabello Braisteds services in caring for the Venezuelan wounded earned him the Order of Bolivar. A decoration also
 was bestowed upon him by the emper-
 or of Japan. And he has been honor
 ed with the presidency of the associa-
 tion of military surgeons, an honor
 granted only to eminence.
 Failure in any one of dozen duties
 not specifically outlined in the sur
 gcon's orders might bring down upon
 the men in the naval service one of the diseases that especially flourish in
 time of war. Because of these things Dr. Braisted and his men are working nights and Sundays now, but his of flee door stands wide open. There is continual stream of official callers
 passing through it. Dr. BraisteG
 stands at his desk half the time. That
 makes for speed in action. If privacy seems necessary in con- pro ic%o oi h0 L. tant go into one of the corners of the office and talk it out. Persons who specialize in departmental gossip, the
 latest funny story, and bad news, are not welcomed.
 The surgeon general has habit of keeping forefinger in file of papers and looking at one in kindly fashion 1 over his eyeglasses. His voice is soft,
 his manner deprecating, but there is' no lack of firmness. He had ad- ventures enough during the Russo ! Japanese war-it was for his report ! upon the Japanese hospital service that the Mkado decorated him-but an interviewer could not squeeze story out of him along this line, for the reason that he don't think the | public is interested in that sort of thing"
 Dr. Braisted graduated from the medical department of the University of Michigan in 1883 and three years later received the degree of m. d. from Columbia University. He com pleted his medical education with service of more than two years at Bellevue hospital in New York city. 1 In 1888 he began the practice of his 1, profession in Detroit. After two years of private practice he entered the naval service as an assistant sur geon and was promoted to surgeon in 1913. |
 His experiences were many and varied before he was selected in tho early part of 1914 to become chief of the bureau of medicine and surgery, Eau