The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1917-08-23

man power is being saved, not NOR
tina none in thirty is killed.
Disease has staken no more than il
peace time.
Only one man in five hundre,
: loses limb-a chance no CREATE
; than that in hazardous occupation
at home Roger Babson.
/, From the Boston Post. -
give been drafted and will in al
: probability go to the firing line il
France. Are the chances for Of
against my returning home safely?'
1t was young man employee Of
Roger Babson, the Wellesley stats
tician, who asked the question. He
wasn't afraid of what might happier
to him, in fact, he was rather proud
to go, but he simply wanted informa-
ton for use in arranging his affairs.
Of course, Mr.. Babson, even
though he deals with figures at all
times, could not give the young man
an off hand answer. But he made
up his mind that the soldier-to-be de-
served a reliable answer So imme-
diately, the statistician got busy, OBJ
tanned official figures and was soon
able to give the young man this ans
wer.
"Fifteen out of sixteen of the boys
who fight in France, in all likelihood
will be safe and sound, one year af-
ter they enter the trenches"
Mr.. Babson's conclusions are bas-
ed on the morality figures of the
French army during the full three
wears of the war. 1t should be re-
membered that the present fighting
is not resulting in anywhere near the
number of deaths that occurred dur
ing the first two years, when such
battles as that at the Marine, at Ypres
and at Verdun sent the mortality rate
soaring.
"In the first place." Mr.. Babson
said, "the disease scourges which US
ed to raise havoc with armies in the
field are no more. Cholera, dysen-
terry and typhoid no more take hor-
rible toll from the ranks; modern
methods of sanitation and prevention
have made these things of the past.
Lets take a look at the figures
in the matter. In round numbers, 3
million men have fought under the
banner of France since the beginning
of the war. Of these approximately
sixty thousand have died from dis
eases of various kinds; comparing
these with the mortality figures Of
peace times for men of the same
ages, we find that they are about the
same. Remember, that during the
first months of the war, before it
was possible to care properly for all
ing soldiers, deaths were at terrible
rate. which brought the rate for the
three years much higher than it is at
present. 49,,
$50 under present methods of SAN
itation. a man is not as likely to die
from disease in an army as he is at
home.
"About 100000 men in the French
army have been killed or died from
wounds during the three years OF
war; half of these died during the
first year. But in compiling the sta
, tistics, Wen take the average. which
is 100000 a year, or about one-siX-
teenth of the total number engaged,
, Thus, considering a man in this war
| for one year. he has fifteen chances
| of returning home to one OF Delng
He'd.
"But. as have said, half of these
men, considered above, were killed
| n the first year of the war. Since
then the mortality rate has been
dwindling until now it is very low for
wear. If such a condition con-
tinues, it is very likely that. no more
than one man in thirty or forty will
be killed. Hiatt seems fully enough,
but the mother at home should re.
member that twelve men out OF
every thousand, at the army age, die
each year during peace time; that IS,
one man out of eighty-three dies
each year in civil life.
"Figuring deaths from both dis
eases and wounds, under conditions
such as our boys are likely to en-
counter, any young man is ABOUT
three times as likely to meet death
in the army as at home. In fact, a
man in the heavy artillery is in no
more danger of death than is an en-
ployee of railroad.
'tThe person at home is prone to
picture the boy at the front as in
dulging in constant charges against
the enemy, exposing his lfe every
hour of the day. Such is far from the
case. A mans turn to charge comes
once or twice month. Then, OF
course, he is in grave danger. But
at other times he is in no more dan,
ger than he is when walking about
the streets of New York.
"The likelihood of death from
poisonous gases has been reduced tt
minimum by the use of masks. A
the beginning of the war mel
thought it smart not to don theil
masks until the last instant; the!
think so no more. AS soon as the!
get warning of a gas attack the!
don their masks instantly. The!
are now fighting with their heads a
well as their arms and the result i
greater security.
| "Now let's look at the probabilit,
of a mans returning terribly wound
ed. 1t is an established fact tina
since the first few months of the wa
the number of amputations hav
been very few. Only one man i
five hundred loses an arm or a leg
few more than do those men engage
in hazardous occupations at home
| Only during charges is man likel
! to sustain wound that will mai
him for life.
UNos+ 90 tba uounds eustained i