Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-11
Working Sick Men
To Make EN- Well
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

Situated on the outskirts Of Washing
| ton IN n htgh stretch of open country, -
the Walter Reed Army Hospital, now
engaged IN ITS reconstruction wards, ~
| restoring 10 health American wohnded
! sent back from France. They are corning
m rapidlv nov mostly amputation cases.
| Physiolog caly, they present very lew
| difficulties The work OF the surgeons ~
the front can seldom be improved upon
But psychoIogically. they present a PROB
lem Which il has taken m entirely new
science to solve the science Of occ1ipa-
| tlonal therapy.
Here Mt the Walter Reed Hospital they
not only have operating roofns, H'ck
wards, convalesccnt wards and nil the
other features Of n regular hospital, put
they have carpenter shop, business
college printing establishment, farm,
an oriental rug factory, an elementary
school and courses IN advanced nathena-
tics. From few red brick buildings,
with white plarcd portIros, the inatlt'l.
ton has grown 10 the size ot small
town, with n power plant at one end,
farm af the other, and thick scattering
Of rough pune workshops and long, naT
row frame d0rrnit0rics IN between u ~
were not for the screened porches that
run the full length Of the dorintorleS,
and the Informal costume ot the patents'
which IS grey flannel bath robe, VISITOR
might easily mistake the Walter kccd
Hospital for university possibly speci1i-
izing IN medicine
CURATIVE WORKSHOP
The other day a group Of bathrobed
men werc sitting about long phIong
table on the porch Of building marked
| { urntIve Workshop" Three of them
1 - feufs EUp
small, dark Siciians, two were blond
raw boned youths from our own rural DIS
ircts. and one was q Negro All were bus
ily copying passages ont On textbooks
under tho supervision If 4 man ~ khaki
One of the Swedes was writing with his
left hand because bis right hand was
missing. This ls n class If lllIterafcs,
explained ono Of the hospital instructors
They are J1st learning how - read ami
write, and they are fascinated ~ =
Under the stimulus of this new interest
they are getting veil At a great rate
We have men Of al natlonahties
here the instructor continued mon
IF all degrees of education, intelligence
and physical capacity. Each mans
caee must be considered separately. We
must find Some occupation Tor hI1n, but
Il must bc an occupation adapted 70 his
specific needs If he has q stiff Jo,nt, he
must he given work ~ take the stiffness
out, If his legs are injured 20 that ne
cannot use them he must 5e taught some
occupation depending upon the use Of hIs
hands. if nervous be IS gwen work 70
occupy his mind. and il his hcart is weak
his occupation must be hight
ANOTHER PHASE
Not far from the grouD of students On
the porch, under the shade If q stretched
canvas roof three pryatcs - blue oveTaiis
were working on three different auto
mobiles in varlons stages ot derreptnde
One vas barely more than chass7
one vas mnus Its front whceis and engine
and tito other was whole but extremely
battered The third private was pre-
paring to pant It dark blue. i vas q
hot dly
The mems faces were stained with
per4pIration, but they swore cncerfui!y
q ihev worked, winch IN the American
male II sign Of deep contentment.
Those are nervous patients, said the
instructor We gave them automobile
work because II keeps their minds oc-
cupied without producing any mental
STRAIN Thev don have 20 DO Il i they
don want to, bur they nave been AZ u
! ali day
occtipafIonal therapv IS instituted at
the II alter Reed Hospital as soon Is
patient Is able TO SIT Up N bed. before ne
can become q prey 70 melancholy re-
Hect,ons upon ms physical condition.
! Materials and tools are brought 70 hun
by cheerful women IN blue uniforms and
yels who snow INN now - make q
/ variety oi useful articles With i small
hand loom made Of discarded adhesive
plasJcr sI,oois and pine Mood IN the NOS
mtal carpenter shop. he i taught now 10
Knit helmets and socks and belts. he
belt oi khaki coIorcd WOOL Is Usually the
thiug that decides man 70 learn u anlt.
The, are very popular. ana nearly every
patient has one
Nany men prefer embroidery 70 knit
tIrg. but fewer OF them succeed st tins
because the average na.c Is hopelessly
clumsy when il comes 70 handing q
needle Nevertheless some very good
work : turned out They have a col
lection OF embroidered and stencled
bags. ccnterpIeccs and table covers here At
The hospital which would do credit 10 j
professional embroidery establishment.
Alsa one OF the men declares that the
: embroidered knitting bag he sent hoaLe TO
; | his wife VAS 50 well done that he has never
been able TO make her believe hc did It.
roy-uAKERs THERE, TOO.
Wooden TOYS are also made by the
men Whlle stll confined III their beds, and
willow baskets III al shapes and coiors.
The effect OF color on the sick Iuan 5
mlnd Is taken INTO consideration, and
: the sombrr colcrs are kept away from
l hm. Instead, his toys are made of
: brightly painted wood, his baskets are Of
: ysil,sw. orange. green and blue grass. and
: hls embroidery designs are planned by
: the new school of artists Recently, one
i Of the reconstruction aides developed an
2 apparatus which permits man to set
;, tyle in bed. and typesetting is now gaining
III popularity The other day one invalid
sci the type ot "a patriotic song IN large
! letters. while ms conrade IN the n~\t
I bed drew an illustration for It.
IS long is 4 man remains IN bed the
+ occupations afforded him are necessarily
Iu1tet. but when he is able to get up
! and walk about a really useful vocation
must be found for hun something that