Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-21
ARMY WORK COM PLETED,
DR.. HOWELL RETURNS.
He Had an Intensive Period of
Service at Embarkation
Camp

Or Harrison W. Howell cx-mayor
OF Wilmington. has ju~i been honor
ably discharged from the | 5 Army,
and has resumed his practice in Viii
mington He enlisted, and took mill
tary rank rs captain, peri rning n very
useful. responsible service com
manding officer Of patient, At l. s. A.
Embarkatinn Hospital, Ne |, at Ho-
bokcn, y ] lie has hecn engaged
in every aspect Of the mobilization
work here IIc really wanted TO go
abroad but when he got 10 lioboken
they needed him there 50 badly that he
had to forego his ambitions for foreign
service and work here, where it had been
decided il was most necessary The
doctor is disappointed that he couldn't
20 to France but glad that he was
part 81 il all and would not have fore
gone his experiences for any considera-
tIon he says
When registration began DIR. Howell
was on the Board Of Registration. and
later gave drafteeS their physical ex-
aminationS and then was on Board of
Exempt No After that he went to
Camp Cireenleaf. and was put through
drill there Just rs though he had never
been mayor of city, or u well-knoWn
doctor in short like the vcriest rookie
"Reveilc sounds IL $50 al $40 your re
out b v D's, trousers, 10 puttces,
ready for roll-cal and then march
out douhlc-quick for setting-up exer-
ciscs You don't get much time to
dress up. hrush yoUr hair and look pretty
for breakfast The whole day is spent
III drill and lectures, with the exception
oi two hours quiz, that YOU get every
single day. and there's an hour for
study but you've got 70 sit down and
study YOU can't run about Al o'clock
YOU retire Which sounds like a
busting program for a man to 90
through when nc had probably been
doing a great deal more brain work
than physical work before his enlist
ment
At the Embarkation Hospital DR.
Howell was registrar when he first
arrived later admission officer. and
who had been filling the important
position of commanding officer Of patients
Dr. Howell. when seen today, made
no mention If his own devotion 10 his
work. tut il Is known that he must
have been right in line with the other
doctors working away from morning
to night orders being Get on the
Job no later than a. m as much
earlier as possible, and don't stop until
your work Is done And work never
seemed 10 be done The Red Cross
nurses came IN for a great deal Of praise
from DR. Howell as we'll as the chcre-
men. who were Army men, and had
been trained TO do the heavy work
around the wards The hospital was
cxctlcntly equipped had all the supplies
needed, and was used to capacity as
it still IS
Or Howell is thankful for his ok
perience, and thankful to gel back TO
his own city again, among his friends
and Wilmington viii look TO him TO
help cure their SIck. IN his resumed
capacity Of civilian doctor
PLENTY OF WORK. BUT INTERESTING.
In this position Capt Howell had
charge OF the welfare Of every patient
in the hospital which accommodated
an average Of 100. although originally |
made 10 care for 700 The hospital had |
been run before by the Sisters. in con
junction with the hospital, but was taken |
over by the government last July. Here |
all men, coming from camps all over |
the country, for embaTkation 10 France, |
would be examined, and no one allowed |
to get onto an outgoing boat unless he |
was pronounced perfectly fit He stayed |
1T ttlt llCoIlbdl IHtI Jit WAS cured, no /
matter how long it took Boats coming |
back from France, with wounded soldiers |
on them, would have their wounded |
cared for at the Embarkation Hospital |
During the week before DR. Howell !
left, they had been receiving patients +
at the rate Of 400 a day returned fight |
ers many of them with arms or legs off |
DIR Howell lauded the courage Of the |
patients, and their excessive modeSty |
with regard to their own deeds BOYS |
bearing two or three decorations could |
hardly be got 10 talk about the deeds |
hat had won them. and the spirit was |
not one of. repining for injury they had |
suffered but thankfulness that they |
were home again and had suffered no |
worse hurt
The doctor encountered several VIII
fnngt onians at the hospital and remarked, /
ut certainly did look good to see |
face from the hometown One Of his
neighbors came to the hospital. and
the doctor although he was
not recognized himself Why, you're
DR. Howell aren't your he asked
Yes how did you know" 'I'm your
1eighbor why that can't be, / don't
YOU Don't you remember
Miss Rose Wsll, surely the doctor
Miss Rose, whom he had
boarded with for a while How did you
get here, he asked. You ought to
know, captain" the boy responded,
you gave me my physical, and passed
NE into tho army"