The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-02-09
FUNSTON PROBE


while the meals of the enlisted men
in the hospital costs the governrpent
about 60 cents a day. Also, table
linen is the only distinctive mark be-.
tween officers and enlisted mems
wards or dining rooms.
heated and are connected with hot
and cold water. for patients shower
baths.
This" said Captain Davis. when
the temporary wards were entered,
frame structures and are heated by
stoves instead of steam, and\all were
comfortable. For temporary struc-
lures to serve until permanent hospi-
tai buildings can be erected they serve
the purpose splendidly. 1t is granted,
however. that they would hardly do
for permanent use.- The government
doesn't 10 things that way. As they
are now the patients don't get much
better treatment and care than they
would get at home. The temporary
structures house what are known as
nuisance" cases, such as humps and
measles.
The records of the hospital show
that insofar as the physicians and
patients are concerned, such cases are
nuisance, nothing more. Since Oc-
tober L the hospital has cared for
1,749 cases of mumps without a single
death. In four months 2,347 cases of
measles were cured1 all of them. No
deaths resulted from eighteen cases
of smallpox.
~ Deaths From Meningitis
More than half of the 229 deaths
since October 1 have resulted from
spinal meningitis, of which there
were 154 actual cases and ~ deaths
This disease is the most menacing and
dangerous experienced by army camps
since mobilization began. The cpl
a hi ind 70,
Kansas, was seized upon by physicians
for the base hospital as a thing for
careful study, night and day, until it
has now simmered down to few less
dangerous cases. number of car
riers," men who spread the disease
but do not have it, are under quar-
antine. In the vernacular of the
army physician. these men have the
bug"
Two deatAs resulted in four months
from SO cases of diphtheria. and 81
casualties" were the outgrowth of
pneumonia.
Type of Men There.
Just a word about the type of army
physicians and surgeons in the hos
pital. There are 131 of these men, all
commissioned officers. and nearly all
of them stepped by way of the medi-
ilian life into uniform. Captain Davis,
the acting adjutant, is a fair sample.
He gave up a practice paying $4,000
a year to accept a commission as cap
tain at $500 month. There are men
from Vermont, men from California
and men from Louisiana whose yes
sub, "-betray their southern ancestry.
and men from this state, Kansas
The medicine chests at the hospital
are always kept full. Colonel Duval
looks after that end of the business
personally, and if there is a shortage
pending, he cuts red tape and buys
medicine wherever it can be obtained
He does this with Washington's APP
proval.
Reports that parents and friends
are kent in ignorance of their "peo-
pie, at the hospital arouse the ire of
Capt Leon Matassa-;n, registrar.
Keep Relatives Informed.
Fathers and mothers have a right
to know what is happening to their
sons. That is Matassarins gospel.
Pulling a bunch of telegraph copies
from his files. the registrar proved it
The copies showed that a woman in
Missouri, for instance, was notified
every day, sometimes twice day, as
to the Condition of her son who had
the meningitis. The kilograms were
not discontinued until ordered by the
mother.
Upon Captain Matassarin's shoulders
rests the responsibility of keeping
parents in touch with the condition of
their sons, ana every uay he RECEIVES
report of each patient in the hos
pital.
IF any relatives wants informa-
.tion about the hospital they have but
to wire me- said Matassain. Il have
that Information at my finger ends
and they'll get it by<return wire. We
are pleased to let out this information
have six children myself and L
know how it is
"A glimpse thru Matassarin's files
shows something of the quiet eff
cheney with which the hospital is run
One notation asserts that Sergeant So
and-So didn't observe general order
so and SO and Sergeant Someone
else has been placed in charge of Ser
geant So-and-So's duties. Sergeant
So-and-So's case is not an exception.