Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1917-12-13
Shephedswn Jefferson West 1917
Your Chances In The Present War.

Il
Your chances in France are:
Twenty-Five to one against being
killed in one years time.
Five to one against being wounded.
If wounded:
Four chances to one against being
hurt badly enough TO be sent home.
Four chances out of ten Of recover
ing completely and returning to the fir
ing line.
The American soldiers in France has
25 chances to be alive at the end of his
first years service at the front, to one
of being dead -Four men out of every
hundred who reach the firing line will
be killed in one years time.
This figure gives the lie TO the de-
liberate misstatements circulated in
print and word of mouth by German
agents or pacifist fanatics.
The order of danger in the various
branches of the army is:
Medical and sanitary service.
2-Engineers, miners and sappers.
3-Infantry.
4-Artillery.
5-Aviation.
The doctors have the most danger
Gus job, the airmen the safest, cavalry
are no longer used unless as infantry.
The yarns about the average life Of
an officer at the front being less than
two weeks, or a surgeon less than a
month, are of a piece with the fantas-
tic stories of men being drugged to
make them fight, or Of the French army
refusing to fight, circulated at the out
break of the war in crank and anar-
chiSt circles.
The War College figures and esti-
mates indicate the total loss in one
year of all belligerants is about 4 per
cent killed in action, died of wounds
and died of disease.
These figures compiled from casual
ty lists obtained from the Allies and
the Central Powers, are probably too
high for the fighting on the western
front, where the arts of protection,
cover, trenching and barrage fire cut
down the number of slain.
The estimates also include the ter
ribly heavy losses of the first months
of the war on the western front, when
the fighting was in the open and large
masses of men were frequently caught
by machine guns or subjected to di-
rect shrapnel bombardment.
There is reason to believe the western
front losses were twice as heavy ear
lier in the war as they are today, and
the tendency is still downward.
This conclusion is supported by fig
ures of insurance companies which in
sured Canadian regiments and the
records of German trade unions and
professional societies. Figures from
the records Of a German typographical
union, a teachers society and Berlin
bar association reveal early losses as
high as s per cent, later reduced by
half.
Death by disease at the front is less
likely than at home in time of peace,
thanks to the fresh air, hard work and
good food.
Death from wounds is becoming very
rare, owing to the skill of the surgeons.
About IS per cent of the American
armies will be wounded. This is less
than one chance in five, or five
chances of coming out with whole
skin against one chance of puncture.
Of the wounded, 40 per cent recover
completely and return to the fight.
About 40 per cent are patched up so
that they can do work behind the lines
such as policing, construction work
and garrisoning depots.
About 20 per cent are permanently in
capacitated for military service, but
over half of these are able to do light
work in civilian life.
AS the war has gone on and all the
new weapons like gas flame projectors
have been matched by new defensive
measures, the percentage of losses has
gone down steadily. 1t has now reach
ed about the same proportion as the
IoSses of the Civil War.