davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23

Medical Corps of 10000 Officers 10000
Nurses Larger Than the Whole United States
the War-Incudes Greatest Surgeons and Physi-
in Nation

and often skips up stairs without wait
ing for the elevator At his desk he is
dynamo Of action. Without austerity
or pompousness, he is firm, frank.
quick to perceive and quick to act.
II the War Department retires Cor
gas it must be for some reason not
apparent to the layman--and If it re-
tires him undoubtedly such action will
bring a demand for an answer to the
question "Why" That both the public
and the medical profession desire the
retention of General Gorgas is already
revealed by preliminary discussion Of
the proximity of the usual retirement
date. In the service to-day there are
dozens of officers called back to active
duty from the retired list.
Going back to the low, long building,
not unlike the structure one sees at
the cantonments, where the heart Of
the medical department, whose pulse
is felt in France, throbs to-day, there
is found initial evidence Of expansion.
When war came Surgeon General Cor
gas and his small staff occupied only
three rooms in the State, War and
Navy Building. Within a few days he
moved to an annex across the street.
Recently he moved into building con-
structed for the Medical Department.
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23

cannot be tolerated. The entire value
of the operation rests in the delicacy
and accuracy with which it Is per-
formed, and this in turn rests upon
perfect contacts. In such cases we
must have the platinum or 90 out Of
commission altogether. The aggregate
demand for platinum in this direction
Is not staggering one, since once a
contact is put in it lasts a long time
and may even be recovered after hav-
ing outlived the rest of the apparatus
that is, metal is not actually used up
as is the raw material of the ordinary
manufacturing process. But, whatever
IT may amount to, the demand for re-
placements and new installations is one
that must be met; and it Is at best far
from q trivial one.
Another interesting development is
the use Of platinum in electric lamp
bulbs. The principle of the incandes-
cent lamp is q familiar one, but there
are doubtless q good many folks to
whom It has never occurred that. since
the flsment is inside an alright and
non-conducting envelope Of glass there
must be some arrangement for gettinS
the current through to it In other
words, the glass bnlb must be pierced
by conductor.
This introduces . complication. The
passing of the current will heat this
conductor, and, in turn, the surround
ing glass will get warm. Both metal
and glass will expand. Now II the
glass expands faster than tho metal it
will shrink away from the latter and
the joint, carefully sealed In manu-
facture, will cease to be alright. Then,
of course, the vacuum inside will be
destroyed and the lamp will cease to
function, even If the bulb or the fla
mont does not collapse. On the other
hand, II the metal expands faster than
the glass it will press against the glass
and crack it by virtue Of the very fact
that the Joint is tight one. So the
only way out is to have metal whose
"coefficient Of expansion" is very close
ly equal to that Of the glass.
BY great good fortune-or is It bad
fortune ?---platinum is such metal.
Accordingly, it has been, and still is
to . certain extent, used in the base Of
incandescent lamps to make tho con-
tact between the external and internal
circuits. But, broadly speaking, by al
loying metals with different expansion
coelilcients No can produce . combina-
ton Of any desired sxpansibillty--
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23
Sixty three Hospitals With Capacity Men Country
Sight-Enormous Work Being Done in France Chief
Energetic When He Cleaned Up the
Panama Canal Zone

In the days of temporary concern,
Surgeon General Gorgas was frank with
the public. He issued weekly health
statement covering all Of the training
camps. If there existed a shortage of
winter clothing, superinducing disease,
the surgeon general said so. although
tho implied criticism may not have
oeen welcome to the responsible Of
ficials. If the hospitals were made
quately provided with nurses and
equipment Gorgas admitted it and
promised correction-making good the
promise. If his recommendations
against crowding had not been fol-
lowed, Gorgas said that too, and the
chips fell as they would.
At one time there was presented to
General Gorgas an unfavorable report
on health conditions at one of the
Southern camps and the question of
publicity came up. A subordinate hint
ed that the report might be stoned
down" or withheld until conditions
were more favorable.
"Why?" asked Gorgas. "It's the
truth, isn't it? Well, then, let it be
made public and we'll correct the con-
ditions."
Instances Of this sort inspire the con-
fdence Of American mothers and
'athers who have intrusted the health
OF their sons to Gorgas and the men
about him. When he promised an
army practically free of disease, al
belt that army had been gathered
from the four corners of the country
and comprised all manner of men
the American people believed him.
1t was recurrence Of the faith had
when Gorgas began to drive the mos
quito and yellow fever from the Pan
ma Canal Zone. He did it, and with
out Gorgas a Goethals could nsve1
have built the canal and could have
only awaited the fate of De Lessons
whose workers were stricken by the
thousands.
One of the principal achievements
OF Surgeon General Gorgas has been
that of attracting to his aid in wax
work surgeons and physicians of ma
tional and international reputation
The staff Of the surgeon general in
cludes names of men renowned in the
fields of surgery, medicine, neurology
psychiatry, psychology, orthopedics and
the treatment of every known disease
| and disorder.
This list includes the Mayo brothers
Bevin, Yerkes, Binnie, Billings, Pearce
Bailey, Longcope, Mixter, Haggard
Mcclure, Ochsner, Cushing, Brewer
Grille, Hart, Finney, Beasley, Murphy
| and SO on, men eminent in their pro-
fession, with many others Of almost
equal prominence and reputation.
Every man who enters the army
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23
By ]. Malcolm Bird
Associate Editor, Scientific American

Associate Editor, Scientific American
4 GOOD deal of attention has been
~ paid Of late to platinum, both
in the news columns and by the
reviewers: but, on the whole, there
seems to have been a great deal of
a'k with very little said. The subject
mas been hitched up in a vague and
general way with that very vague gen.
erality munitions" which may mean
anything, from arnica and shoes and
Tooth paste to airplanes and big shells
and tanks. The careful reader must,
mdeed, have discovered that without
platinum we can't have munitions, and
snat without munitions we can't have
much Of q war, and he may have OBJ
serve" that there is or Is not short
ags .. platinum, according to who is
most successful in getting himself be-
l'ersd; but he may be forgiven If his
knowledge breaks down at this point.
Perhaps, first Of all, some Of us will
want to know just what platinum Is.
ia's want can be met with the state
ment that It is a white metal which in
general appearance is much like sill
yer or aluminium or Babbitt metal, for
uas matter, or any other white metal.
lake everything else, platinum has it's
sWn particular charscteristics, but it
distinguished from most things by
ns fact that practically all Of these
'orn out to be virtues, hardly any of
them vices.
10 begin with, platinum is q chemi-
"a aristocrst; It is extremely choice
spout Its associations. To be sure, it
wv travel, as alloy, with several other
Meals, ana it is always eager to be
se'ssd on and carried OF by an alkali.
nus It is totally unwilling to have any
.a'ns to do with such plebeian mem
0sss Of the chemical community as
.ads and oxygen. Save under extraor-
unary circumstances. no acid IL able
!" break down its barrier Of reserve,
"u u can oe exposed to the air in
ssuniteiy without any oxidation to
speak of.
tnis aloofness is bound to interest
wv sechnoloyist. as We shall presently
w. but 1t Is no exclusive possession
platinum. Gold has it in almost
.saai measure. and platinum has sew
sssa brother elements whose behavior
Nsfd the ordinary reagents IL Just
Mont the same as lie own. But com.
1.on ceases whom " look at the
say.'eal properties Of platinum. It is
49, o-s-''ot steel hard. but much harder
aa sold or silver--and when slioyed
.. MN about 2 per cent Of its near rela-
49, Iridium, II becomes almost steel
49, ats melting point Is high--7o0
ss above that Of copper, 200 de-
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23
Only $4,000 Ounces Yearly Supply Available for Nom
Teutonic Needs of 100000 Ounces-Mainly Pro-
duced in Colombia and All Taken by United States

grees above that Of iron: here. Of
course, as throughout the discussion.
we speak of the centigrade scale. Nor
are its physical characteristics greatly
affected by heat, which does not come
too close to the actual melting point,
When we add that platinum is worke d
with great deal of ease. and that it
is an eminently satisfactory electric
conductor, we must have made 1t plain
that the metal possesses wide indus
trial applicability.
Some OF the uses which are found
for this interesting material are made
possible by a single one OF its proper
ties, others by a combination Of two
or more OF them which happens to be a
tride unusual. Thus, there are plenty
Of metals that conduct electricity we'll,
and plenty that resist rust to a reason
able degree; but platinum stands ab-
solutely by itself an affording a COM
bination Of these two features. OF
course, under the most favorable cir
cumstances platinum is too expensive
to be employed for an entire electric
circuit; but there is a very large field
in which there is found electric
apparatus with d circuit that has to be
made and broken, automatically or
otherwise, at frequent intervals. In
the nature Of the case the contact
points which are used for this purpose
must be exposed to each other, and
hence to the air; and they must resist
certain amount Of mechanical wear
from their motion against one another.
Well. when we ask for an electric
conductor which shall resist atmos-
pheric action and be reasonably hard,
there is one answer-platinum. Ac-
cordingly, in electric clocks and cleo
trio controls for synchronised or auto
matte apparatus, and in wide variety
Of miscellaneous electric installations,
we find contact pofnts Of platinum to
be the standard procedure.
In any field, however, If we can't get
what we want we must take what we
~~" SSS VE ~ WltuOuI. 1uSEd CVWcB
inevitably q point at which further
difficulty in getting supplies means
substitution. Accordingly, in discuss
Ing any application Of platinum, It is
IN order TO ask what the possibility is
OF finding . suitable substitute. In the
case OF the contact point. no substitute
yet developed will give the same SER
vice II the apparatus 10 such that there
are intervals for renewal Of the con-
facts and If progressive deterioration in
the service up to the point where re-
placement occurs can be tolerated. b
softer and more easily oxidised con-
tact can be used In place Of platinum.
But the nature Of many operations car
risd on BY electric synchronisstion or
control 10 such thAt this deterioration
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23
Energetic as When
He Cleaned Panama

Ordinarily figures are uninteresting
save to the statistician. But part Of
the record of Gorgas must be told in
figures. The surgeon general deals in
beds, stretchers, surgical instruments
and medical missionaries to the suf-
fering-just as ordnance deals in guns
and shell cases, or the chief Of en-
gineers succeeds in the railroads, pom
toon bridges and docks constructed
in the war zone.
At sixty-four years General Gorgas
is apparently as energetic and capa-
bic to-day as when he made Panama
a healthy place to live in. He is
mentally alert and aggressive. His
eyes are clear. his form erect. Time
has hardly marked his features with
the signs Of age. He walks to work
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23

Corps was slow in its deliveries of
uniforms, blankets and stoves. This
added to the problem and anxiety of
the surgeon general
In few cases there was medical
negiigence-followed by courts martial
and dismissal from the service. Sem
sational charges were made in Con-
gress and elsewhere that disease had
gripped the American army in training
Army Sick List
Lowest in World
These are not heard to-day. Gorgas
and his staff have a grip on disease
instead and the mortality rate in the
American army. according to a recent
statement, is eight per 1,0oo-the low.
est any country has ever been able
to record.
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23
By Theodore Tiller

yAsHINGTON, D. c., June Iii
~ Just behind the old railroad
station site where President
Garfield was shot there stands in
washington to-day long, hurriedly
constructed, rambling building with a
zion over the door which reads:
Surgeon General Of the Army"
This building has nothing to do with
the story Of Surgeon General William
r. Gorgas except that it manifests
..h;evement. 1t is one of the physical
manifestations of the growth of tho
Army Medical Department under Gen
.rsl Gorgas. The wartime expansion
of the Medical Department in per-
.onnel, equipment, administrative ms
chinery and hospital facilities stretches
from the battlehelds of France to the
training camps and rehabilitation hos
p;tals in the United States and its
possessions.
Surgeon General Georgas will reach
The retirement age Of sixtyfour years
next October. Outside Of the popular
interest in the military rating Of Major
General Leonard Wood, the American
people to-day are probably more con-
earned over the possible retirement Of
Gorgss than about the use or non-use
Of any officer now in this country.
When the day recording the retire
ment age is reached the surgeon gen
eral--an international figure since he
drove yellow fever from Havana and
made the Panama Canal zone habita-
ble-Gorgas will be ready to give an
account Of his stewardship. This re-
view seeks to present briefly his major
accomplishments since the great war
put its pressure upon our military
establishment.
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23
Army Sick List
Lowest in World


I
"0 q"
the indispensable
o
Moonbe
raboHMe
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23
Doing Enormous
Work in France

In France to-day the surgeon general
is providing hospital accommodations
for 25 per cent of the American
men on the Aeld. One hospital is
under construction that will have H.
900 beds and there are numerous small
er hospitals.
When the United States entered this
war the army hospital capacity in
this country, outside of the limited
facilities at army posts, was for 3,843
men. Including army posts, accom-
modations were available for 5000 sick
men.
In this country to-day there is bed
capacity for $4,000 men, and provision
for 100000 is in sight.
There were seven army hospitals
when war was declared. To-day there
are sixty-three hospitals in this coun-
try, and Of this number twenty-nine
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23

out their graduates and 10000 nurse a
are eventually to Be enrolled.
Controls Red Cross
Nurses in Field
And here should be brought out one
point not generally understood. The
Red Cross nurse in this war ia an
army nurse. She is directed and con
trolled by the Medical Department
She wears a Red Cross, the emblem
OF the missionary to men who lie in
pain. but when she goes upon the bat
tlefield or the hospital she represents
essentially the Medical Department and
the surgeon general.
That is, when it comes to wartime
operations tho Red Cross nurse be
comes a ministering agent Of tho Med
ical Department and she is responsible
to the army and the army is RESPONSE.
BILE for her. This Is in no sense to
the disparagemenk of the American
Red Cross, which is mobilixinK our
nurses and has its relief agencies in
every land. 1t is simply the military
way whereby tho Medical Department
controls the treatment Of the soldier
and assumes supervision over the young
women who wear the Red Cross.
From the time a soldier becomes
sick in camp or In France to the
time when he is restored to health
the surgeon general of the army is
responsible for him. From the time
he is wounded on the field until he
leaves the convalescent ward the
surgeon general is his keeper. Even
the physical rehabilitation Of the SOL
dier who has lost limb or an eye is
directed by the Medical Corps, which
must equip him with an artificial mem
Der to replace the one sacrificed.
New-York tribune., 1918-06-23

passes the test Of q medical board
The system now is practically perfect
and covers a territory from the local
draft board to Pershing's headquarters
in France. In organizing for war work
the surgeon general added sections on: j:
Internal Medicine, Medical Officers
Training Camps, Medical Military In
struction, Psychology, Neurology and
Psychiatry; Surgery, Infectious Dis
eases and Laboratories; Head, Eye, Ear,
Mouth and Brain, Military Orthopedics,
Special Hospitals and Physical Recon-
struction, Gas Defence, Food and Office
Development and Filing System.
Organized Gas
Defence Service
Modern warfare has put an addi-
tional demand upon the surgeon gen.
eral CT the army, and he quickly met
1t by organizing the gas defence SER
vice.
The function Of this bureau is the
manufacture, inspection and distribu-
tion Of gas masks.
That the war indirectly will i'm
prove the health Of the nation is the
belief Of General Gorgas, who says
that about 100000 men have SO far
been rejected by army doctors as
unfit for active service. Great numbers
of these men, he believes. will return
to civil life and be treated for the
physical defects discovered. Another
tangible gain from the war will be q
raised standard of medical knowledge.
Army medical schools are now furnish
ing courses which might be likened to
postgraduate work.
Typhoid and
Special Diseases
The army's typhoid record is now
practically at zero. There is a steady
diminution in the number of soldiers
afflicted by venereal disease and it ia
asserted that most Of these diseases
shown on the camp records were
brought into camp at the time Of the
draft. Realizing the toll of these dis
eases in other armies, General Gorgas
began a systematic campaign against
them last fall and by instruction and
precautionary methods vencreal trou-
bles are being rapidly eliminated.
General Gorgas recently said that
fully $4,000 cases Of venereal disease
had been prevented since the men en-
tered camp, this being the estimated
number Of men who would have con-
tracted sex maladies had they remained
IN civil life. The virtual stamping out
of these diseases in the army, GEN.
eral Gorgas says, has come through
compulsory education in the army,
medical treatment, community coop
Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-07-07

because both allies and neutrals how
ever sincere their desire to affordihclp
Will have to abstain from any action
for reasons OF self-prcservation. Hence
the extreme urgency
Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-07-07
PAINT CARS BATTLESHlP GRAY
New Color Cnn BE Put on In Few Dnya
Says President Wheel
wright

Electric cars OF the Virginia Railway
and Power Company are TO be painted
4 battleShip gray, according to an an
nounccmcn; made b. President Thomas
:. Wheelwright yesterday This will
be done, he said. as Il matter OF efI
ncicncy and economy. At present there
are more than 800 cars In Richmond
that Will have their color changed be-
ginninN =. ~" s;,Slv da-;s TAO Sa.aa
color VIII be given to the cars or the
company that are operating in Norfolk
and Petersburg.
There has lon;, been tradition"
said President Whcclwright, that rail-
road coaches and street railway cars
should be painted ana vanished much
like = piano. But we are going TO
break away from this idea and at n
time when efficiency counts for moro
than ii ever did before. II will take
three or four days to paint n stree,
cars bati!eShip gray. Formerly when
car was taken out of service for re-
painting and revarnishing it took three
weeks or more to put it through the
shops. 1t will he more cconmical to
use hatt'"eHip gray paint, and efficiency
WI! be promoted because cars will NOT
be withdrawn from the service for such
long periods Of time"
Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-07-07

extent OF her ambition is not yet man.
| ifcst. It is evident that her commercial
plans In particular are widespread ana
well organized Military domination
will be succeeded by still more drastic
and complete e:Inomic domination. If
left undisturOed, even for shor. period,
! Germany may succeed In establishing
and entrenchng herself so strongly
| and so firmly that no peace terms will
encctually dislodSc her. Tho main in
| dustrieS OF the country will pass and
remain entirely under her control.
Into the possible ultimate political
! effects OF Gcrmany's economic-cum
military domination Of Russia It Is un-
necessary to enter at length But 4
brief study of the map of the Middle
| last Will suffice to show that these
effects are not mere matters Of con-
lecture. In the official German mind,
the mind of the governing class, the
ideal of Mitteieuropa has been cX-
banded. not contracted. by recent
events in the East.
But the plea for assistance from The
allies has its principal base at the
moment on humanitarian grounds.
Russia is on the eve of famine and
epidomics. Just as inevitably as po-
lit!cai anarchy was the result of mil
!iar% collapse. so will cholera. plague
and famine follow in the wax. OF the
present anarchy.
Try 10 conceive the present state of
the country. Industry is para!y=cd IN
the field as In the factory. Pro luc-
tion of even the accessories OF lisa
has been strangied. Agriculture is
practically at 4 s:andstill The twin.
specters OF poverty Dnd starvation
hover over the land.
Imagine Russia in the grip Of viru-
lcat, deadly epidemic. Without doctors.
without nurses, without medical COM
forts or medical organization to cope
with the calamity. tho consequence IS
Will be appalling. The death roll will
far outnumbcr the casualty lists of
this Gh@stly. dcc!mating war. The
plague will sweep through vast areas
of the country. and millions OF Rus
slams. many OF whom have fought
hrave!y for the allied cause. will fall
victims To n scourGe more fatal than
bullet or beyonet. sword or shell.
1t is on :hls ground that our plea
is based. Nothing but strong power
"A power accepted and respected by
the whole coun:ry--s capable OF stem
ming the tide OF cpidemics. Should
Russia fan a prey to these elemental
catastrophes, and fail to organize her
self for resistance, then some force from
without will have to be brought in.
Unlcss we realize this now, our next
door ncighbor with whom we share
1900 miles OF border. will have TO do
II to save himself.
Moreover. in the event OF Russia
being in the grip OF such disaster
as n cholera epidemic. II is obvious that
communication will become impossible