El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-07-25
MOVIES HELP To
TEACH SOLDIER
He Is Taught Things That
Mere Explanations Would
Not Garry Home.
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

Washington. d. c.. July 25.-A new
and unique moving picture concern
has recently been organized here
Some Of the most important men in
the moving picture industry are
working as its camera men; the fore
most American scientists are its stars,
and during the short period it has
been in operation it has produced
some Of the most remarkable pictures
ever registered on film. It is known
as "Gorgas Film company
The surgeon general has gone into
the moving picture business, and the
whole army medical department has
gone in with him. With the help Of
various officers and privates who for
merly owned. operated and worked
for large moving picture companies, q
moving picture plant has been in
stalled in a building near the army
medical headquarters, goverE-i- ent
film agency has been established, and
films at the rate of l56,000 feet
week are being produced for the en-
tertainmeut and education OF the
army. Take one film as an example;
The Why OF a Hernia.
First. with a few broad strokes.
the artist sketches an outline of the
human form as IL normally is Next
appears sketch Of the interior
showing the intestines. looking like
coils OF lead pipe, and intersected by
arteries and blood vessels. Imme-
diately one OF these coils begins TO
slip out OF place and drop down q
couple of inches hernia. has oc-
Cured Then the intestines fade out
again. and the next picture shows you
now the hernia looks on the outside
Comes now the operation A knife
suddenly floats into the picture and
makes an incision about an inch
above the hernia, being careful TO
avoid the main artery Of the intes-
tines and the larger blood vessels.
The incision is swathed with some
sort Of an antiseptic mixture by
hand that appears in the right hand
corner Of the picture, while from all
four corners appear animated forceps
which seize the skin about the in
cision and hold DC firmly back.
Again the hand appears this time
with a peculiar instrument resem- I
bling nut-pick. with which the
recalcitrant intestine is captured and
pushed back into place The rest Of
the operation IS finished in a few
seconds by a needle and thread
which float into the film and sew up
the inner lining and the outside skin. l
AT this point the real photograph Of
Is flashed on the screen, showing him T
On the operating table, with the doc ]
tor and nurse bending over him. and I
the young man himself ErinniuE and /
giving a military salute.
Using German Methods.
The energetic condition OF the
patient after this operation is ac-i
counted for by the fact that it has
been performed with a local anes-
n.s-H
German patent rights are not OBJ
served fin this country, and American /
surgeons are now using the German \
ocal anesthetic, uovocaine. with graf
flying results. In the middle OF this
operation, the young private smiles at.
lis nurse and says: u wonder what
he folks fin Frisco are doing now"
While the operation for hernia is a
comparatively simple one, the value
II such picture showing a difficult
operation may readily be seen. Med
cal textbooks are very good in de-
'cribing the theory Of an operation.
ut they cannot show the exact tech
iique
Indeed. according TO the army med
cal corps a moving picture OF an
.peration is better than a sight Of the
.peraGon itself, since the retina Of
he eye cannot possibly retain the
numerous Impressions photographed.
W Lle camera while the animated i.
.artoon-Which eliminates all un-
necessary detail and focuses the at
ention on the important POINTS,
he last word in medical instruction \
Helps Ordnance Work.
In addition to making films for
iealth propaganda. the moving pic
ure division Of the army medical I
.orps has been OF great service TO the
ordnance department Moving pic
ures of high power guns have been
AIKEN, showing just how the shells
ire expelled. while the camera has
proved an unerring discoverer Of de-
ective rifles.
Not long ago a reel was made for
he American gas division. showing a
lumber OF troops adjusting their gas
masks, i'm which it appeared that two
birds Of them were making many
uperfluous motions. A picture Of a
older adjusting his mask with the
east possible lost motion was then
made, the men were made 20 study
he picture, and this set Of motions,
which adjusts a mans gas mask fin ;
ess than six seconds. IS now incor-
GRATED into the regular military drill