Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-19
White Plague
In the Army
By IL d nc J. Haskin

not begin too quickly, aceoruinR bo eiso'
bureaus There is already desperate
need Of them
The War Risk Insurance Bureau
now has over $500 tuberculosis patients
on it's compensation lists, but this IL only
small percentage of the number OF
men actually discharged from the army
with this disease The army estimate
is $4,000 Due 10 lack Of knowledge
of their rights, many Of these men have
made no claim for disability compen-
sation Apparently, they are being turner
back into civil life, disabled dependent
ON their own resources, and often unable
| To secure the necessary care and treatment
As the war goes on, more ana more
| cases will develop. Upon the basis oi
| previous discharges, it is figured that IN
| orr proposed army Of nearly i've mil
/ lion men ut least IS, 1000 tuber ulosis
cases will be discharged by the end ot
| the next year This - not only great
| public health problem, but an economic
| problem M well. The war risk Law pro
| vides that these men shall be furnished
with government medical and s'rncai
service, but the present facilities 1f The
| government are altogether inadequate
! To meet this need Furthermore, All
the private and public sanitofla OF tins
country can not accommodate TINS nurnDcr
| Of cases There are only 1900 beds
to ,iac the medical expression for
t,ihercular persons, including men, wo1nen,
and children, in the United States, and
these are always fully occupied
THE FIRST sTrr.
The present bill IN Congress Is the
first step in m extensive program Tor
nuIatcd by the War Risk Insurance
| Bureau and the Public Health Service
| TO meet this emergency. II authorizes
the Secretary of the Treasury (the Pubic
lfcalth Servlre being under the Treasury
| Department. 10 spend ten and hail
million dollars In providing immediate
hospital and sanstorlum lacilities tor
the care and treatment of discharged
sick and disabled soldiers and saiiors
The money can be expended either
in purchasing or leaane existing facilities,
or in building rcw ones According
IT, the Public Health Service, there is
imperative need for 4 hospital fer Amerl-
ran sailors Mt Norfolk On the other
hand the enlargement of government
hosuital facilities already in existence
AZ such points NJ Boston. Chicago, Cteve-
land Detroit, Evansville, louisville,
san Francisci, Seattle and Wilmington.
North Carolina. would take care Of
many cases
But the most that thus ten and a half
million dollars will furnish i accommo-
datIons for 5 .00O patients The govern
nlrnt estimates that IL must spend ~
least s26. 900 900 on It's tuhercular soldiers
and sailors before Il gets through. In
; the meantime assistance is Deing offered
by civilians The National Association
Tor the Prevention of Tuberculosis - now
holding meetings all over the country
10 discuss means Of procuring adequate
facilities to care for tuberctilar victims
discharged from the army ans navy
Private philant rophy may also help
to solve the problem Mr. HarrfPayne
Whitney of New York has promised 70
build a hospital OF 500 beds in the Adiron-
dacks for tuberc,lar patients, and MAN
tam ii for a perIod of ten years.
The tremendous number Of cases Of
tuberculosis that have developed IN tn,
army Is not, according TO medical oplnloI
a disparagemen Of military life. 70
= healthy m n the outdoor exercise an,
slInple food Of the cantonment are ;
fortunate change from lis former hectl
existence He gains in strength an'
weight
: TOO STRENUOUS.
But the constant drilling and mArchin
are too strenuous for sick man. II
immediately collapses So the mIlitar
O men argue that the majority OF me
;. developing tuberculosis IN the army ha
the disease when they came into camI
Il In fact. it has been proved that the ms
4 iorltX are arrested cases that have broke
down under the Tigors OF military III
and which should have been detecte
Y by the examining physicians OF the
!. local draft boards.
q This failure of the local draft boar
II physician to detect tubercular vlctI
). is not surprising, Col L. c. Banks OF IN
War Risk Bureau points out, when 20
h consider that he is allowed but flftee
t minutes in which to make his examlnatlo
II on thirty items. In this brief perlo
' it Is physically impossible for him
i make 81 thorough an examination i
that made Of the man when he arrive
III camp Sometimes the man know
: that he i an arrested case of tubercuios
:, but says nothing because he is anxlol
h to 20 to war In other eases the ma
! himself Is totally un ware Of the Ia
/ that hc has the disease.
if DoEs EVERYBODY HASE n
This explanation of course. colncld,
with the present theory held by II
!. medical profession that everybody h,
tuberculosis sometime in his life Mo
- often II occurs in childhood when
( the child does not suecoumb 10 the ia
s ease he develops the necessary pr
: lection against the germ. The membran
st of the nose erect their barriers again
= the entrance of the tubercular baci
= special deadly secretion is manufacture
= for killing the germ in his stomach, al
4 his blood develops tuberculosis reslstal
= quality Ii at any time during his ilt
= however, a person becomes overworke
+ and run down, his resistance Is lowere
+ and the tuberculosis bacilll may mai
+ a successful offensive
+ Unless the disease has proceeded 4
Il far, it lis comparatively easy TO cur
+ 1t is believed, therefore, that with d
II necessary medical attention Americs
4 soldiers and sailors can cured al
4 sent back into civil life healthy and Sc
t supporting. Several months of res
i fresh air, outdoor slee ing, and go'
t nutritious iood will bring their reslstan
# up again and the disease viii be checke
II The majority will doubtless live to forg
Il that they ever had the disease.
Il MANY cases of arrested tuberculos
+ who have sufficiently recovered, a
+ benefited rather than injured by i
Il military life An American major Wl
f recently distinguished himself on t
It western front is such a case. As IA YOU
+ man he developed tuberculosis and "
Il not at all sure that he would get We
i recently distinguished himself on 4