Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-10
Mending the Soldiers
BY Frederic J. Haskin

Washington. -. C., Dec $50 much
has been said about the governments
benefits and compensation for soldiers
and sailors that il seems hardly possible
that any man who fought IN the war
should not know MI about his rights. Yet
hundreds Of ex-soIdiers who suffered IN
luries, small or important, IN army ser
vice have not applied to the government
for the benefits provided.
Men who suffered a slight injury 10
the eve. for instance, do not seem ~
understand that the government VIII
have their eyes examined ny COM
pctent oculst, specialist II necessary,
and that glasses will &c furnished, kept m
repair, and replaced, as long as needed.
all at government expense. That -, oi
course, il the injury Is due 70 military
service. In most cases this ~ easily
proved, but occasionally the injury dld
not become noticeable until after the
man received his discharge Then the
cause must be traced aud the origin Of
the trouble proved to be- connected To
service IN the armed forces IN order for
the man to obtain compensation.
The term man rs used here must be
taken 10 mean any person who served
with United States forces The govern
nnent does not limit these benefits 70 the
fighting man; the army or navy nurse,
the marinette. the yeoman ~ or the tele-
phone girl Of the signal corps are placed on
exactly the same footing rs the dough
boy who stopped a machine pIn bullet in
the Argonnc, or the gob who broke his
leg on a slippery deck.
rorIowISe MET Up
The medical division Of thc Bureau Of
War Risk Insurance, which is IN charge Of
these matters, IL now following up IN
jured and diseased men still IN service To
inform them of their compensation and
insurance rights The need for this IN
formative service was tested At Walter
Reed Hospital in Washington. board n
medical officers of the United States Pub
lie Health Service went 10 the hospital
with the permission Of the hospltal an
thorifics and explained to the patients
that those fotallv disabled are entitled 70
insurance from date of injury. Men par
tally disabled get no insurance, but after
discharge from service receive compensa-
ton in proportion ~ injury lhis II
seems i the most misunderstood fact
about the government insurance. Only
man totally disabled, Or the beneficiary
+ Of deceased soldier, can obtain the
insurance. while any man Who sustained
/ fen per cent Or more Of injury Il eligible
i for monetary compensation and medical
i care A number of men who had not
i known about benefits due them we're
/ found The board Il now operating IN
/ New York where it located twenty-five
4 such men In one hospital alone
] 50 long as 4 man Is in the service he IS
cared for bv military doctors IN military
hospitals When hc leaves the army,
+ he -till needs attention he becomes 2
patient Of the Medical Division Of the
Bureau of War Risk Insurance
i CONDENSATION as awarded hv the conn
nansation and insurance claims division
of tho bureau means . sum Of money PAID
monthly to the disabled man In add
tion to this the medical division furnishes
an artificial eye, tooth, pr arm course q
treatment in q sanatorium Or hospital.
examination by specialist. or whatever
i other treatment seems llkelY 70 restore
the man to a. near normal as possible
The medical division hss divided. the
United states INTO fourteen districts, each
under care 0f a supervisor. The ex-
service man III need 0f medical attention
aDnIies TO this supervisor or to the chief
medical advisor Of the bureau of War Risk
Insurance He IS then referred 10 ms
nearest examiner. who decides that he
should have further hospital care, or an
artificIa! limb as the case may be, and
sees to the matter. Or else the examiner
sends him at once to q specialist TOR more
exv)err examination. 4 corps Of specialists.
located in aIl large cities Of the nlted
states. handles the government cases.
They are not entirely II government en-
pIov. but IRE paid by ne government Ior
the individual cases ii sends them, Many
81 these specialists Sucn Is the uelFo-
surgeons. and gnaxlllo facial surgeons
have taken Ip their present work since
tha war began Then there are OrthOpedlc,
N-ras and laboratory specialists. and eX-
pertS in various forms OF surgery and on
different parts ol the body
The system nv which the government
r4fp. disability vas worked out N TINS
country without reference 70 systems used
Is, other governments Injuries are rated
by percentages. ten per cent, as before
stated being the least compensaDie IN
ulrv. Some of the other countries give no
monetary compensation Tor disability
less than sixty per cent
RATING Dis lBIL TIES
As our rating table was made up lnde-
DendentN Of any other in use. the medical
division found it interesting TO compare 1t
with the Canadian table when some
Canadian officers came here not long ago.
The Canadian rating table had been made
out after study oi 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 \ Slight variation was
noted in respect TO loss OF hands Canada
gives the same compensation for loss Of
right or left hand, while the United Sta te
provides more for the hand most used,
Strange difficulties arise IN rating a
mans disability For example, il Is some
times no easy matter 10 decide whether
or not man IS totally blind. for
instance Of this. = man may be able to
see only when his head is tilted far back
or placed in some other pecuhsr position.
such man is rated totally blind by the
government Any man whose corrected
vision that is with glasses IS less than
200 is adjudged totally blind, while a
man whose corrected vision Is 2040 is q
normal sight by the government standing
Another problem IS 10 Judge deafness
Total deafness is inability to hear, well
bv hony conduction To test this tun ng
fork is started vibrating and is then
placed close to the ear. Ii the man cannot