The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1918-09-13


uHAA40xNEHIu partial success In Its solution.
vA2y Based upon the combined ex-
perience Of the allies and the
central powers studied at nrst hand BY . corps
of specialists. and supplemented BY cooperative
research under the direction of the Red Cross
Institute for Crippled and Disabled Men, and the
National Association Of Manufacturers a pro-
gramme has been worked out by the surgeon gen
erals ohlce OF the army which Is calculated to
insure to every soldier OF the United States who
comes back from lover there" minus an arm or
a leg, blind, deaf. otherwise handicapped .
better chance Of reinstatement a useful mem
Der Of society than was afforded to any Of the
soldiers Of the allies In the 6rst two or three
years of the
Germany alone. the only nation that was pre-
pared for this war. had included detailed plans
for the reconstruction Of MANNED and mutilated
soldiers In Its program from the beginning,
and, under Its autocrauc system OF government.
has been able to enforce these plans, with the
result that every crippled German soldier Is put
to work at some useful occupation with the slight
est possible delay after his injury. The allies
have had to evolve their general plans well
as particular methods out Of the bitter experience
af war, In this in other phases Of the great
conflict, writes Frank Parker Stockbndge in New
York Times.
1t was not until after the United States e.
tered the warm May, 1917. to be exact-that
there anything like q complete exchange Of
experiences and principles evolved from them In
respect to the war cripple. Out Of the nrvt inter
allied conference on reconstruction and re-educa-
ton Of the disabled combatant held in Parfs May
to II, 1917, at which delegates from the United
States surgeon generals Office sat for the nrst
time as representatives Of their nation at war.
came an International interchange of knowledge
and ideas concerning the cripple. At a sec
ond conference held In London last November a
pormanent interaed committee was established
which will have its headquarters In q new Der.
manent institute for the disabled. endowed by
the French government with 10000 francs $780,
0O0) for building and equipment, and maintained
by annual appropriations Of 10000 francs &$6OOO)
each by the different allied nations represented.
Already this clearing house of scientific and
economic information for the benefit Of the war
cripple has done invaluable work In enabling the
warning nations to profit BY each others expert
ences and mistakes. Not the least valuable con-
trihutons have from American sources, our
army surgeons having had opportunities for COM
parative observation Of methods In vogue In DIFF
ferent countries denied to those whose nations
had been actually at for three years. The
United States therefore will begin its work Of
restoration with the accumulated experience Of
nearly four years to build upon
The first steps toward reinstatement to a SELF
supporting status, and by far the most important
steps, must be begun almost Immediately after
the soldier receives the incapacitat1ng injury
and carried on continuously and cumulatively
throughout the period of his hospital care.
This Is especially true In the case Of the SOL
der who has lost a limb. or who has been blinded.
One OF the most important lessons gained from
the experience of the allies, II not the most i'm
portant, is that the problem Of the restoration to
usefulness Of the crippled soldier Is a psyche
logical one, even more than 1t IL surgical or
economic The experience Of the French authori-
ties, who had to deal with Il terrific proportion Of
mutiles In the first two years Of the war.
disheartening. FeYer than II per cent Of dis
abled soldiers expressed q desire willing
70 m how n IN fy11 In
proportion bad 'lost their nerve" at the same
time that they lost their limbs or their eyesight.
most Of them felt that they had done enough for
their country-that the nation owed them their
early employment Of patients. even at trivial oc-
cupatons, were lacking in the military hospitals,
they had acquired the habit Of idleness which,
when once nxed is almost ineradicable.
The experience Of France differed only in de-
gree from that OF the other allied nations To
avoid similar experience and not only give
every crippled soldier the best possible chance
to become sef-supporting. but to insure that he
avails himself Of the opportunity thus afforded
the psychological and economic rehabilitation of
every American incapacitated by his injuries for
further military service will begin with and 60
on parallel with his physical rehabilitation
which, In turn, will be a process not merely OF
patching up," but Of the actual development to
their utmost usefulness Of all the injured mans
remaining physical powers.
The first reaction Of the man who has lost Q
limb Is utter despair. He is "done for" in his
estimation. Nobody has any use for q Grip
pie" is the way In which nine out Of ten express
II. Unless he is man whose former occupa-
tion has mental, not dependent upon the
use OF h,s physical energies, he sees no ray Of
hope fa Ats future. Unless Immediately
rectided .his state of mind quickly becomes fixed
and all but irremediable So the nrst step to
ward rehabilitation, which will begin almost %
soon ns the injured comes out from under
the anesthetic. is what they arc terming in the
surgeon generals office "cheer-up work" BY
every means that be devised .he cripple 10 to
he convinced that his case is NOT hopeless. that
he si,ll ias chances of becoming again . useful