Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-07-16
BUILDING DETECTIVES
SEEMING MIRACLES ARE Being Done.

SaNWS "dUy "oh Ss"e'"eS
Crooked Spines, Flat Feet and
Various Joint Defects Are Remedi-
ed-Physieai and Mental Wrecks
Built Up.
He came to the big training camp
at Wrightstown, N. j.. in a recent
draft from a rural district in New
York state. How the home board
came to accept him Is q mystery. for
he was 80 round shouldered he looked
like a hunchback. Had he arrived q
few months earlier the camp examin-
Ing board would have sent him back
posthaste, but under the new ruling
which permits the army to salvage
from this human stream called forth
by the draft much Of the material
that was formerly stamped unfit" he
was accepted.
For several days he drilled with his
company in the depot brigade. A.
least he tried to drill. but nothing
could get him to straighten up and
throw back his shoulders. To make
matters worse his feet went had" and
finally he could scarcely hobble about.
Then he was sent to the base hospital
where he became a patient In the new
orthopedic department.
Experts Take Charge.
Experts looked over his bent form
and set to work. They massaged his
back, and even baked" 1t under an
electric heater. They compelled him to
undergo exercises until he WINGED at
the pain of muscles and tendons
which had been useless for years. The
crooked spine became supple. With
a supreme effort he could straighten
his back while in bed, but when he
sat up or walked he slouched in the
same old stoop- -shouldered posture.
Its no use. I can't do It," he
pleaded when a physical director told
him to straighten up and go through
the exercises. and apparently he could
not. But the experts Of this new de-
partment had still another card to
play. They began to teach him self
confidence. and in q week had proved
to his own satisfaction that he could
straighten those shoulders.
He is now fit, not for a camp job
but for a first line unit. The ortho-
pedic experts actually inverted the
hump on his back and made 1t bulge
out his chest. He carries his head
erect, his shoulders thrown back, and
he now walks with a confident, easy
stride, for they have strengthened the
arches of his feet and have given him
special shoes to correct any threaten
ing defects.
Nsverte.s--has been the physical
Mango, 1t is SURPASSED, Lhy his improv-
I'd mental condition. He was inclined
to be dull. listless, and ca+rftss. The
straighteneing of his body seems to
have given him higher, brighter out
look on life, and there is snap even In
his conversation. The doctors have
made a better citizen as well as a
good soldier.
"Puts q Man On HIS rect.
The story Of this young farmer Is
one of the many cases in which Won
derful results have been obtained In
this new branch of the army hospital
service. Like many Of the other pro-
jects planned for the new armies OF
the United States, Camp Dix has been
made the experimental center for this
science, which aims to put man on
his feet again." The orthopedic treat
ment does not confine itself merely to
correction of foot defects; it applies
to Joints in any part of the body. A
rheumatic knee, a stifr shoulder, dis
lodged vertebra, all come under the
ministrations of this science: so
broad Is the field covered that Lieut..
Col. w. Cole Davis. commandant OF
the base hospital, has allotted five
wards for patients Of the orthopedic
department, and already they are fill
ed.
The work of the new department Is
under the personal direction Of Cap
tain ROLAND Meisenbach Of Buffalo,
and the manner in which he has made
the lame walk and performed other
seeming miracles has convinced war
department officials that this new sci
ence can be made one Of the most I'M
portant factors in the general scheme
Of rehabilitation of human bodies. Dr.
Meisenbach's chief assistant Is Lieut.
NJ. A. Blumer Of Pittsburgh.
Experts have estimated that as
many as IS per cent Of negroes and ~
per cent Of whites called in the draft
have foot defects Of one kind or an
other and large numbers become
acute under the stress Of continued
marching. A year ago the Hat
footed" recruit was rejected. Today
he is accepted, and eventually LANDS
in the orthopedic hospital for course
Of treatment that 1t would be almost
impossible for him to get In civil life.
One Of the patients most recently dis
charged as cured was the son Of
wealthy physician. who had been un-
able to obtain for his boy the special
treatment which he received free here.
Build Up "Broken" Arches.
So-called broken arches are built up
by massage. various prescribed exer-
cises, development Of self-confidence'
and. last but not least. the equipment
Of the patient with shoes specially
built to overcome the defects from
which he is suffering. A special cob
bler's shop has been opened In the
main ward. Former cobblers among
the patients sent to the hospital are
now doing the work. and incidentally
are learning a branch Of their trade
which will enable them to demand big
wages when they return to civil SER
vice.
Captain Meisenbach and his assist
ants render another important service
to the army in that they can quickly
spot the man who may be- "stalling
in the hone of getting out Of the ser