The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1918-04-12

| the professional advice &C such skilled
! orthopedic surgeons as Major Osgood
and Ma1cr Allison. or the United states
! army: Professor Araar. OF Paris, and Sir
Robert Jones. of London. was sought.
and the establishment OF the American
/ Red Cross mandatory at Saint Mau-
rice was the result. The limbs turned
I out there are constructed upon the best
! principles Of all available models and
+ are held TO be as close an approach to
| 4 human member as mechanical skill
and provision can produce.
! IN the American Red Cross headousr-
/ ters IN Paris there IS a bureau o. the
Military Affairs Department which de
votes itself entirely 10 the equipment
/ of the "mutiles' with American arti-
/ fetal less and arms. And there is not
day in the week that this bureau
{ IS not busy over the task OF literally
! putting these unfortunates on their
/ feet again.
! As soon as the bureau Is opehed at
9 o'clock in the morning the uniformed
''mutles' begin coming in-toc-toc-toc
through the echoing archway Of the
/ headquarters entrance and across the
! cobbled court to the bureau door Some
come with slow. unsteady steps on
I their iron shod "ptIons." others swing
/ in on clutches with a tapping length
I 81 cloth below the knee. others are
upheld on the arras Of a cou1rade and
/ stiu others arc loudly dextrous in the
use or their peg and even wait 10
/ hold open the heavy doors tor their
/ less agile fellows.
I They are not talkative lot. these
i 'Tnutles." a they ST in the reception
/ room awaiting their turn to enter the
( bureau. But never does one come into
/ tho place where the others are with
out receiving some kind % greeting.
There IS nothing particularly personal
about It: il seems rather recognition
/ OF the shortened trouser leg or the
/ empty sleeve as the token OF what
they had all been through together
out there''-a sort OF grim fellowship
CT sacrifice
] Most os them are young men. man
/ trymen who have been wounded eth
er in the trenches Or IN the cheering
scramble over the top in an as
sault. They are a well-shaven. deoid-
cdly clean-1ooking crew. ard many
of them are bf fine physique barring
the lost orrn or leg. one of the singu-
lar things about them is the prolonged
silence IN which they SIT upon the
benches i'm the waiting room.
Shyness is scarcely what one would
expect Of men who have all save
struck their hands with the great
Adventurer-even Imagination does
not suggest shyness But. as mat
ter Of TACT. II Is with unfeigned dir
ference that these men talk Of them /
selves even to the bureau chief, whom
they see one by one and quite alone. |
The questions asked Of them. as part /
81 the necessary records Of the bureau, |
are answered with pauses OF confu-
sion. with resort to CONGRATULATIONS
which comprehend world or suffer-
ing in a sentence.
Here is one Of them Fernand Co..
q Young man. Just turned twenty-six,
once a farm laoorer in Normandie.
His right leg has been amputated
above the knee. and, with a "piion."
he clatters akwardly through the bu-
reau doorway upon two 'sinew., new
clutches.
How was wounded. Monsieur
Yes. my right leg When? II was IN
one OF the attacks a. Tahure We
came out OF the trenches that day.
More Monsieur All. yes.-we Were |
running forward-something burst be-
fore me and threw ne down. II was
A. 49, bsSh-d -Ir~. -Ls-- ~tn-- !