The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-10-16
War Taught American Doctors That
There Was no Necessity for
Repulsive Disfigure-
ments.
NONE IN THIS COUNTRY
Science Has Accomplished Wonders
in Remaking Physiosnomies of
Men Wounded in
Battles.

How the facial disfigurment or
American soldiers wounded in the war,
has been prevented through the knowl-
edge of modern surgery is told in
papers which noted surgeons read be-
fore the convention of the Associa,
ton of Military Surgeons held this
week in st. Louis. There is not an
American soldier who is running about
nance or a repulsive face resulting
from INJURIES in battle. according to
the report given the surgeons.
Lieut.. Col. Vilray P. Blair of st
Louis declared in an address on plans
for Immediate Care and Reconstruc'
ton Of Battle Injuries of the Face
and Jaws" that all of the men who
suffered face injuries had been en-
tirely restored or at least their faces
were so reconstructed as to not ap'
pear repulsive.
I'VE found that there was no facial
injury of the battlefield that could not
be ultimately repaired by surgery he
declared DR.. Blair dwelt upon the
of the French that had de-
yeloped itself to such an extent that
many of the poilus were wearing skill
fully designed masks that effectually
their facial blemishes. He
said that this art was more than fifty
years old, and the American soldiers
did not take kindly to false faces" to
conceal their horrible injuries. They
would prefer, he said, to wear bandages
than to don one Of the masks. So the
who were detailed to create
such camouflaged masks for soldiers
only succeeded in making an artificial
pair Of ears, but these were rejected
by the soldier, for whom they were IN
tended, he giving his preference to the
artificial ears that had been created by
his surgeons, and waiting patiently
under bandages for the development OF
such ears.
DR.. Blair gave the analogy of two
American soldiers who had been treat
ed for jawbone fractures. One had
been treated independently and is still
in France Another was
treated by both a surgeon and den
fist and as a result of the co-opera-
ton, he shows no marks OF the oui-
let that had entered his cheek an
fractured his jawbone.
War Improved Method.
Army physicians and surgeons at
the convention pointed out the bene
fits of the war as they had been gath
cred by the medical staff. They SAID
that the entire war had developed
nothing new or unusual in surgery,
but had developed to great degree
the methods of cure that had previous
" been in use. The greatest scourge
to the men in France, as well as those
in camps in this country, was 1nfluen'
"a. they declared, but 1t had not been
definitely decided just what caused
this disease. There was talk for some
time of a new species OF pheumococ-
cus which is the bacteria causing the
that follows the primary
SYMPTOMS of influenza, but had not
been established. One of the surgeons
said that it had almost been estaD-
|ished that the epidemic was spread by
bandshaking. He added that there
was no danger of another siege OF the
dread disease this winter.
One great lesson learned of the war,
army physicians at the meeting at
tested, was JIldt d1upulfitioAio Soo'o
prevented by sllillful treatment or
fractures. BY skillfully setting bones
and by the new antiseptic drain treat.
ment the number of amputations were
reduced to minimum, although IN
previous wars the surgeons had ruth
lesslv removed shattered limbs.
The doctors said that the British
were the first to delve into recon
,truction work This was when the
kings army was badly pressed for
men and the authorities had to even
,earcn in the hospitals for available
lighting material. Under such an
80 percent of the class %
men or convalescent men We're res
tored to class A or active duty by
szillful medical or surgical attention. !
There was little or no typhoid or
tvphus in the American frees during
The war, the army surgeons reported,
Init there was much dysentery and
ras gangrene when the Americans
first entered actual war. These two