The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-12-06
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN, Director.
Washington, D. C.
AfENDING THE SOLDIERS.

l
and sailors and it seems hardly pos
sibie taht any man who fought in the
war should not know all about his
| rights. Yet hundreds of ex-soldiers
who suffered injuries, small or i'm
portant, in army service have not ap-
piled to the government for the bene-I
fits provided.
Men who suffered a slight injury to
the eye. for instance, do not seem to
understand that the government will
| have their eyes examined by COM
petent occuliSt, a specialist if neces-
sary, and that glasses will be fur
! nished, kept in repair, and replaced,
as long as needed, all at government
expense. That is, of course, If the in
jury is due to military service. In
most cases this is easily proved, but
| occasionally the injury did not become
noticeable until after the man received
his discharge. Then the cause must
! be traced and the origin of the trou-
BILE proved to be connected to service
in the armed forces in order for the
man to obtain compensation.
The term man as used here must
! be taken to mean any person who
served with United States forces. The
government does not limit these bene-
| fits to the fighting man; the army or
i navy nurse, the marinette, the yeo-
man ~ or the telephone girl of the
signal corps is placed on exactly the
same footing as the doughboy who
| stopped machine gun bullet in the
Argonnes or the COB who broke his
leg on slippery deck.
The medical division of the bureau
of war risk insurance, which Is in
| charge of these matters, Is now follow
| ing up injured and diseased men still
| in service to inform them of their
| compensation and insurance rights.
The need for this informative service
was tested at Walter Reed hospital in
Washington. a board of medical Of
| ficers of the United States public
health service went to the hospital
with the permission of the hospital
authorities and explained to the pa
| TENTS that those totally disabled are
entitled to insurance from date of in
| jury. Men partially disabled get no
| insurance. but after discharge from
service receive compensation In pro
portion to injury. This it seems is the
most misunderstood fact. about the
government insurance. Only a man
totally disabled. or the beneficiary OF
Il deceased soldier, can obtain the IN
surance while any man who sus-
tanned ten per cent or more of injury
| is eligible for monetary compensation
and medical care. A number of men
who had not known about benefits
| due them were found. The board Is
now operating in New York where 1t
located twenty-five such men in one
hospital alone.
So long as a man ia in the service
he is cared for by military doctors in
military hospitals. When hs leaves the
army If he still needs ektention. he
becomes a patient of the medical di-
vision of the bureau of war risk in
| surance-
Compensation as awarded by the
! compensation and insurance claims
division of the bureau means a sum
| of money paid monthly to the disab led
! man. In addition to this the medical
| division furnishes an artificial eye,
| tooth, or arm; course or treatment
| in a sanatorium or hospital; eXamina-
! ton by a specialist. or whatever other
| treatment seems likely to restore the
man to as near normal possible.
The medical division has divided
the United States into fourteen dis
tricts, each under care of a supervisor.
| The ex-service man in need of med
ical attention applies to this super
visor or to tie chief medical adviser
of the bureai of war risk insurance.
He is then referred to his nearest en-
aminer, who decides that he should
have further hospital care, or an arti-
ficial limb, as the case may be, and
sees to the matter, or else the eXamin
er sends him at once to a specialist
for more expert examination. A corps
of specialists, located in all large cities
| of the United States, handles the gov
eminent cases. They are not entirely
in government employ. but are paid
| by the government for the individual
cases it sends them. Many of these
| specialists, such as the neuro-surgeons,
and maxillo-facial surgeons. have
taken up their present work since the
war began. Then there are orthopedic,
X-ray, and laboratory specialists, and
| experts in various forms of surgery
and on different parts of the body.
The system by which the govern
ment rates disability was worked out
| in this country without reference to
| systems used by other governments.
| Injuries are rated by percentages. ten
per cent, as before stated, being the
| least compensa BILE injury. Some of
the other countries give no monetary
compensation for disability less than
| sixty per cent.
! As our rating table was made I'D
! independently of any other in use the
| Medical Division found it interesting
to compare it with the Canadian table
when Some Canadian officers came
| here not long ago. The Canadian rat
| ing table had been made out after
study of French, English,. and Italian
| tables. Comparison showed that the
| Canadian and United States ratings
! differed not more than three or four
| per cent in any case. A slight varia-
| ton was noted in respect to loss of
| right Or left hand, while the United
States provides more for the hand
most used.
Strange difficulties arise in rating
mans disability. For example, it is
| sometimes no easy matter to decide
whether or not man is totally blind.
AS an instance OF this, man may be
able to see only when his head Is tilted
! far back or placed in some other pecu-
liar position. Such a man is rated
totally blind by the government Any
man whose, corrected vision chat is
with g1asses) is less than $500 is adj
! judged totally blind. while d man
| whose corrected vision lis 20.40 has
normal sight by the government
standard
Another problem is to judge deaf
ness. Total deafness is inability to
hear, even by bony combustion To
\ test this a tuning fork is started vi
brating and is first placed close to the
ear. If the man cannot hear the
i singing. the fork is placed back of the