Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-05

Camp Lee. Petersburg. yn.. Sent.

Camp Lee, Petersburg. Va, Sept s.
How hundreds of men are being re-
constructed physically and put in shape
for the trenches and home industries is
told in the following figures that de.i
with the work of the development sec
ton at this canontment.
In seven weeks more than 500 men
have actually passed through the sec
tion and of that number less than ten
per cent have been rejected from the
army. Eighty men have been sent
overseas and the remainder distributed
among domestic units in ordnance,
chemical and guard organizations.
A majority of these men were suffer-
| ing from fiat feet and neart affections.
These troubles have been arrested and
| in vast majority of cases actually
| corrected.
That this phase of the army work
will develop to big proportions is the
opinion shared by physicians engaged
in it. 1t is quite true that the work
of reclaiming the physical detectives
Is expensive, but those who are engaged
In 1t are confident that 1t pays.
| Every Man Benefited
I'VE do not contend that it is possible
to rebuild every man who Is sent here
and make him fit for trench duty" says
| Captain w. G. Atwood commander of
the Third Battalion. Development Camp,
| but we do claim that every man who
undergoes the treatment is better able
TO earn a living and much more valu-
able to society"
Captain Atwood was the superintend.
| ent of schools at Hackettstown, y. j.,
before entering the army. He Is the
military commander of the Third Bat
TALON and has organized an efficient
medical staff
The most common ailments with which
the medical men are forced to meet are
fiat feet and heart affections. On the
orthopedic end Is Major T. Q. Nanamee
a specialist, from Portland, Me, The
| heart cases are in charge of First Lieu
tenant c. r. Wiley. of Chicago.
1t is impossible to give names, but tn,
following cases will emphasize the valu,
of the work. Soldier A was sent to thu
camp from a point of embarkation. II,
not only suffered from fiat feet but OF
one hand he was minus three fingers
| Having been turned down while on tn,
last leg of the trip to France, Soldier !
was detected His spirits. when he land
| ed here, were at such low ebb that a
first the doctors held out little hope,
| AS starter, the doctors injected q
little hope into Soldier A and in a few
days made him feel that he was not or
the road to cemetery. The psyche
logical effect was wonderful, for the
soldier Immediately began to show i'm
provement. Every day he indulged II
the physical exercises that are pre-
scribed for flat-footed men and in les:
than month his arches were built up
Minus three fingers, he could no
serve in n battle organization. but hrtni
an expert auto mechanic he was sen
to any army auto-repair station and il
now doing good work.
Serving In Gas Mask Factory
Soldier has been in the army fo
nearly a year and kicked around from
post to post He has actually served II
flfourteen units. and, like Comrade a, en-
tertained the thought that his case wa
hopeless He suffered from fiat feet
but after six weeks treatment he !:
now serving as a sergeant (first class
in gas mask factory.
Soldier c was operated on for doubl
7 hernia and was a poor specimen o
manhood when sent to the development
camp. A months special training
training that is designed to rebuild tbs
sue-and Soldier C was once more read.
| to work. He was not fit for oversee:
duty but as he had worked in chemi
, | cal plant before the war, he was sen
, to Government chemical station.
Scores of men We're suffering from
: nervous defects of the heart. but unde
T the army system of calisthemics thei
troubles have been corrected.
At the present there are 1900 mei
, in the battalion and 90 per cent Of them
in the opinion of army surgeons, will