The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-08-14

MALlADY is HARD
ONE TO SOLVE
nav RHETTA cRIl. nE nORRN

(By Rt1ETTA C9lEDE pORR,)
By the time the news reaches US
here in America that one beloved
has been wounded in France the
worst is usually over and the pa
tient is often out Of danger. It takes
several days for such news to reach
Washington and be telegraphed to
soldiers relatives, and no second
telegram comes closely on the first
We may be truly, thankful ~
My son was wounded on or about
the 26th OF May, and it was nearly
g. week before I heard of it. If it
had happened a year ago 1 should
have been paralyzed with fear,
not because of the wound, but be-
couse of dread Of the after effects.
One enormous advantage we have
not only benefit from their expert
ence in battle, but from their expert
ence in the hospital. Wounds which
for the first three years Of the war
were impossible to cure are now in
the class called favorable.
It is this knowledge that helps to
keep me in courage and I hope it
will help the others. We are too far
away to realize the war, but we
know that our sons are in deadly
peril from German shot and shell.
about the magnificent work Of the
army surgeons in restoring men. One
of their greatest achievements was
the conquest Of trench fever. In a
previous article told that. story. In
this one shall tell of the great
fight they have made--a fight AL
most If not quite Won against a still
more terribly malady, wound shock.
Shock has been called the great
mystery Of the war. It followed
severe wounds, especially those CT
ly it occurred in men only slightly
wounded. And it was horribly ia
tai. -
-. Work Shows Results.
Here was a case: A splendid
young man OF twenty three was
brought into an advanced dressing
station with a foot shot off. Not a
fatal wound in ordinary circum=
stances. But this man who, an hour
ago, had been in perfect health now
lay white as marble, cold and al
most pulseless. The wounded stump
did not even bleed. In a short time
he was dead. He was shocked to
death.
The best physicians in the world
have been working for nearly four
years to find out why he, and Others
died like that. They were complete
ly baffled at first, but they kept
steadily on. They worked in 'front.'
line trenches and even on the battle
fields trying to understand wound
shock. .s-.
They undertook extensive and in
tensive laboratory work to discov-
er the blood changes that took place
in men suffering from the strange
malady. To a great extent their
work has been successful, sand the
work Is triumphantly going on.
Must Use Animals. ...-..
The medical research department
OF the American Red Cross is now
conducting. a series Of experiments
and 1t might as we'll be admitted at
the outset that these experiments,
which are to save mems lives in in
told numbers, involve destroying
some animal life. For this reason
the Observation-Disclosures and that
small section Of the press which sup
ports their views, are at the present
time holly assailing the research de-
partment of the Red Cross.
Says one statement Of the opposi-
tom mo extensively equipped
laboratory Is needed to seek out
wounded soldiers on the battlefields
and give them aid and comfort in
the, hospital; and 1t will cause deep
sorrow among innumerable contribu-
tors to know that the Red Cross is
going beyond the activities Of its
charter rights and is supporting a
cruel and disputed form of medical
experimentation"
Putting aside for the moment all
except the first sentence of this
statement, No extensively equipped
laboratory is needed to seek out
wounded soldiers in the battlefields
and give them aid and comfort in
the hospitals" the answer, is that
without the laboratory the hospitals
would be back in the days when
gunshot wounds were treated by
having hot oil poured into them, and
when the only way OF dealing with
shattered limbs was amputation.
Wounds BIoodless.