Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-08
Continued From Third page.)

cases for expensive and non-uniform
castings, while steel castings themselves
can be made to Withstand greater tenn
peratures and presSures than ever be-
fore. Similar interest has been aroused
IN the automotive industry by reason
OF recent successes attained by the
ordnance Department in developing
high-Speed track-laying vehicles, which
opens an enormous field for the power
ful but slow tractor
AT Watertown, Mass, the War De-
partment operates one of the great
physical laboratories of the world.
unique for the capacity of its testing
machines. The laboratory collaborates
with the Bureau of Standards and with
American industry.
Probably no military agency has such
immediate and beneficial contact with
the general public In time of peace as
does the Medical Corps. Its mission is
the relief Of human suffering: the ap-
plication of its discoveries knows no
boundaries of time, space or formality.
The Medical Corps is aware of the po-
tentialitieS of the Army as a body sub
ject to exact control and hence as a
group for demonstrating, on a large
scale, proven hygienic measures. The
conquest OF beri-beri. typhoid and para
typhoid feverS and the chlorination of
military surgeons we're aided by the
organization with which they worked.
William Beaumont, who laid the foun-
dation OF present-day knowledge of the
physiology of digestion; Walter Reed,
who identified the mosquito as the
transmitter Of yellow fever, and Will
liam c. Gorgas, who made possible the
building of the Panama Canal and
opened vast tropical areas to civilization,
were all Army surgeons. At the present
time Col w. L. Keller Medical Corps
is the surgeon at Walter Reed General
Hospital. He has attained interna-
tional repute in the treatment of frac-
lures and the removal of pus from the
lung cavity by surgical methods.
Sciences debt to him is equaled only
by humanitys.
Reed Hospital Only One Link.
Walter Reed General Hospital, with
its thousands of beds and modern equip
ment, forms only one link in the chain
Of the Army's medical service. The
hospital is component part of the
Army Medical Center at Washington.
Grouped around it are the Army Med
ical School for postgraduate work by
officers of the Medical Corps, the Army
Dental School, the Army Veterinary
School and the Army School for Nurses.
Here recent graduates from recognized
medical schools, commissioned as Re-
serve Officers, are permitted to serve
as internes. with the opportunity of
qualifying for commission in the Regu-
lar Army Medical Corps upon the COM
pletion of their tour of duty. This
medical center is the capstone of the
Army medical service, represented at
every Army post. and still ministering
to disabled veterans of the World War.
Army engineers we're builders of the
Panama Canal; they are now engaged
in surveying the route of the projected
canal across Nicaragua. The stupen-
dous task of controlling the floods of
the Mississippi Missouri River system
is in their hands today. In the i'm
provement of rivers and harbors for
commercial traffic their accomplish
ments are conspicuous. They built the
great 800" locks, which i'm the course
of q year transmit almost four times
as much freight as enters and leaves
New York Harbor.
As a result of their labors, the in
land waterways of the country are
approaching a standardized system.
Even today flour ground at Minneapolis
floats down the Mississippi to the
Gulf. thence through the Gulf Intra-
coastal Waterway to the Warrior River
and up that stream to Birmingham,
Ala.
Identified With Construction.
Army engineers are identified with
the construction of some of the magnih-
cent buildings in Washington. They
built the wings and dome of the Capt.
toll and the Library of Congress. They
strengthened the foundations of the
Washington Monument while 1t was still
in process of construction, and there
after carried the monument to COM
pletion.
The Chemical Warfare Service is an
other Army agency which directly bene-
fits the nation by its research. The
fumigation of ships and the develop
ment of industrial gas masks are now
old stories. This service is continuing
with problems of wide industrial interest
as the march Of science places new and
untried materials and processes at our
disposal. Recent achievements include
the development of paints to prevent
the growth of barnacleS on ship bot
toms and Of impregnating fluids which
protect submerged piling against the
destruction acton Of marine borerS.
Frequently craftsmanship is forced
upon the soldier; George Rogers CLARK
in the Northwest, for example was conf
PEELED to work out the most delicate
negotiations in order to accomplish his
mission Soldiers have been drafted
In very recent days, Gen. Pershing In
his mission to South America, laid the
foundation for harmonious relations
with South American republics. Gen.
Crowder as Ambassador to Cuba en-
ployed his tact and wisdom in the
interests Of internal peace. Gen. Frank
r. Mccoy after successfully supervising
an orderly election in Nicaragua was
recently engaged in the adjustment OF
the Chaco boundary dispute between
Paraguay and Bolivia. The late Gen.
Leonard Wood has received Worldwide
recognition for his able administration
of Cuba and the Philippines.
The Army co-operates with other
branches of the Government The first
airmail was flown in Army planes
This year, as in the past, military motor
trucks will be used by the Post Office
Department to assist in handling the
Christmas mail. During the last Sum.
mer, in response to the Department OF
Justices need for increased prison ac-
commodations, the War Department
lent its disciplinary barracks at Fort
Leavenworth, KanS.. for use as Federal
penal institution. Marines in Nicaragua
are served by Army transports. Last
year the Air Corps made aerial maps OF
the flooded areas along the Mississippi,
Missouri and Ohio Rivers. This was the
only possible method of obtaining &C
curate maps of flood conditions that
would have vanished before Topographic
cal surveys could have been instituted.
Built First National Roads.
The Army built our first national
roads and railroads. AS civilization
marched westward, the Army was
always in the vans 1t broke the trails
for the settlers and mapped the regions
Of wEich they toOk DOSSeSSiOn During