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Show GUARDING HEALTH OF MILITIAMEN SURGEON-GENERAL'S GREAT TASK Col. Henry P. Birmingham, Who Made the Health Record With 20,000 Mon of the Maneuver Division at San Antonio Tells How It is DoneFirst Obligation of Sanitary Corps Is to Keep Men Fit for Duty. New York. Tho surgeon general of the United States nrmy and his medical medi-cal officers havo suddenly had placed upon them tho additional responsibility responsibil-ity for tho health and physical welfare wel-fare of approximately 100,000 men, nenrly all green nnd unseasoned, comprising com-prising tho members of the National Guard mobilized on account of tho Moxlcan Hltuatton. How they aro performing per-forming this new task Is a matter of deep concern to tho relatives and friends of tho Guardsmen. The acting surgeon general Is Col. Henry P. Birmingham, who kept tho camp of tho maneuver division of 20,000 men nt San Antonio In 1014 and Inter the military expedition nt Vera Crur. free from contnglon und tho men In better gcncrnl health than Is usual In well-managed municipalities. To a representative of tho New York Sun ho made tho following statement: "The first obligation upon tho sanitary sani-tary corps of tho nrmy Is to keep the men In such physical condition that they will bo nt nil times tit for duty, and since In the natural courso of things somo mny bo expected to be 111 and In case of war somo will be wounded, provision must be mndo for tho enre of the sick and the wounded ; but prevention of dlsenso nnd the maintenance of health are of the first military Importance. "No such loss from contagions as that which developed during the Spanish Span-ish war can bo repented In any concentration con-centration of troops on our southern borders or In stnto camps, although tho problem of caring for tho National Guard troops, who know very little about taking enro of themselves, Is not easy of solution. These men number num-ber more than twlco tho whole mobllo nrmy or regulars, and have had but little experience In campaign life. Few of them had camp service this year before they were called to tho federal army; nnd most of them lacked seasoning sea-soning and, In Its extended 6cnsc, discipline. "For flvo years wo have been engaged In looking after troops along tho southern south-ern borders ; we know tho dlsenscs wo must expect, nnd wo are prepared to meet them. If nn epidemic breaks out, or ninny men be taken seriously III, It will be because green men under Inexperienced officers, with sanitary conipnnles containing many recruits, hnve neglected or failed to comply with tho orders and Instructions of tho federal sanitary officers. Made Up of Experts. "Tho regular army medical corps Is mndo up of highly specialized physicians, physi-cians, surgeons nnd sanitarians. Men from all pnrts of tho country, graduates grad-uates of tho best medlcnl schools, receive re-ceive tentnntlvo appointments only after winning them In competitive ex-, nmlnntlons which test their professional, profes-sional, physical and moral fitness and nre open to nil the profession who nro below thirty years of age. They must then take n special course In the Army Medical school In administration, military mil-itary sanitation, bacteriology nnd other subjects before they recelvo their commissions com-missions as United States medlcnl officers. of-ficers. They havo to servo with tho .forces In tho field nnd by actunl work with responsibility learn their profession. profes-sion. "Attached to each organization, regiment, reg-iment, brlgado nnd division Is n medlcnl medl-cnl officer nnd staff responsible for tho health of tho men of that commnnd. In nddltlon are the ambulance companies, com-panies, whose duty It Is to gather In tho wounded and rcinovo them to (tho field hospital, to evneunto' It by removing remov-ing tho. wounded as soon as possible to a baso'riospltal ; and tho field hospl-tnls, hospl-tnls, whoso work Is to care for tho sick or wounded ami keep as closo to the fighting lino as they mny be needed. "In the regulnr hrmy theso sanitary sani-tary units linvo been brought to n high degree of efficiency, and In the Nntlounl Guard tho doctors nnd surgeons sur-geons nre of high ability, but neither they nor their enlisted men have had tho speclnl Instruction or intensified training which thoso of tho regulnr nrmy receive nnd In consequence, with nil professional skill and good Intention Inten-tion on their part, tho samo degree of excellence cannot bo expected from them. "No mntter how efficient may bo tho sanitary companies of tho National Guard, they enn accomplish very llttlo If they are not provided with medlcnl nnd surgical supplies enough to meet nny probable emergency. With a view to any emergency, as far as our means will permit, wo havo been creating n reservo of medicines, bandages, disinfectants, dis-infectants, surgical appliances, water filters nnd similar things. "This reserve has been crmtcd by forethought and economy In past yenrs; nnd It Is very fortunntc, for, ns Is well known, tho prices of nil drugs have advanced nnd somo havo gone about out of sight. Reserve of Surgeons. "But u reservo of even moro Importance Im-portance hns been stendlly growing, which today Is one of the comforts to this office, ns It should bo to all who havo friends In tho Nntlonnl Guard. None over called In vnln on tho medlcnl profession when help wns needed ; and the nrmy medical officers, of-ficers, six years ago foreseeing Hint n time would como when tho co-operation of the medlcnl fraternity would bo needed, began to prepnro by calling upon their brethren to enter n medical reserve. "Nor did thoy cnll In vnln, for, led by somo of the foremost men In tho profession, doctors havo submitted their records nnd hnve been graded until over 2,000 carefully selected havo been enrolled. Their work hns been nsslgned to them, nnd they nwnlt only tho order of tho surgeon gcnernl to tnke up their duties ns surgeons wherever wher-ever needed, presumably In tho base hospitals. These men, If called Into the service, would bo engaged In tho humnnltnrlnn work of treating the sick and the wounded rather than in that of prevention und sanitation, "Prevention work Is twofold. By menns of serums nnd vaccines tho Individuals In-dividuals are mndo liumuno, even when exposed to ccrtnln very fnttil contagions, conta-gions, nnd by camp snnttntlon nnd personal per-sonal hygiene certr.ln diseases may bo .kept from making their appearance altogether. "Tho success of tho first will depend de-pend upon the skill of the specialized jncmbers of the medlcnl stuff, particularly par-ticularly tho bacteriologists; tho latter, lat-ter, upon tho snultary companies In tho field, tho Intelligence nnd efficiency of the lino officers nnd the dlsclpllno and obedience of the troops. "Tho oldest Inoculation prnctlced against contagion Is vaccination to prevent pre-vent smallpox. This Is now In so general gen-eral use that Its Importance Is hardly realized. "The Inoculation most talked of Just now Is tho prophylaxis against typhoid, ty-phoid, which In war has caused more deaths many times over than nny human hu-man enemy can Inflict. Antl-typhold prophylaxis has eliminated tho disease. Principle of Prevention. "Tho principle of tho preventive Is simple enough. All contagious diseases dis-eases nre cnused by somo organism, mostly of tho lower forms of vegetable life, which finds Its way Into tho system, sys-tem, develops at a prodigious rato and attacks various organs of tho body. These organisms, however, by somo benign provision of nnturo not yet understood un-derstood produce nn nntltoxln or nntl-bodies nntl-bodies which destroy their own germs. "Tills may or may not be tho product prod-uct of tho death of somo of tho organisms or-ganisms ; but n practical way hns been found of tnklng tho living organism, developing colonies of many trillions of them, killing nnd sterilizing them, and making from them n prophylactic which hns tho power to produce tho antitoxin, without tho virulent properties proper-ties of tho living germ. If this be properly prop-erly mndo n person Inoculated with It Is practically Immune from typhoid for nt least three yenrs. "In 1011 the uso of this prophylactic wns mndo compulsory In tho regulnr nrmy; and typhoid In tho nrmy, llkp tho llttlo boy's npplo core, 'ain't going to bo nny core.' "Mnlnrln nnd yellow fever, the latter n dreadful dlheaso appearing In epidemic epi-demic form, aro both carried by mosquitoes. mos-quitoes. Tho mosquito sucks blood from n patient of either of the diseases, dis-eases, and then on thrusting his proboscis pro-boscis Into ''o veins of some sound man Inoculates him with the disease as easily and effectively as u few weeks before a sanitary officer may have used bis hypodermic syrlngo to administer the protecting typhoid prophylactic. pro-phylactic. "Tho only defenso known against this uttnek Is to kill tho mosquitoes, or prevent them from getting nt tho man by tho uso of mosquito bars. In a great undertaking, such as tho Pan- nmn canal, It Is possible to den(roy the mosquitoes by raiding their breeding places, draining mornssen, filling pools, removing underbrush, nnd lcnvlng no stagnant wnter where they may deposit de-posit their eggs and whero tho wig-glers wig-glers mny uninterruptedly wiggle. "In permanent cnnips this can bo done, nt least to a great extent, but In localities whero yellow fever nnd ma-larln ma-larln abound until mosquitoes nro annihilated an-nihilated tho men must bo made to sleep und If possible eat under mosquito mos-quito nettings. It Is n serious offense to sleep on post ; no good soldier would dolt. It Is better to shoot u man for disobedience of hcnlth orders than to bnvo nn outbreak of yellow fever In n camp, nnd !f men and officers alike will realize such things there will be no fear of yellow Jack. Fortunately there Is no yellow fever anywhere near tho army camps on tho southern border. Danger In Files. "Tho greatest danger In camp Is from thoso diseases which aro carried by files. Tho proventlvo remedy of courso Is to havo no tiles or to kill any that come. "Like mosquitoes, flics must bnvo a place to breed and their favorite place Ih horse refuse. This should bu removed re-moved dally to a place well beyond the camp precincts nnd burned. Since It takes eight dnyo f tho larvao to mature from tho egg and thoy are found where the ground Is moist to n depth of eight or ten inches, the safe treatment Is once n week to cover the plnco where tho horses stand first removing re-moving the horses with hnv moist ened with crude oil and to set fire tc It. The heat will destroy the larvae about to break forth Into n wicked generation of pcstllenco carriers. "Flro Is the great purifier and should bo applied to all other places In tho camp whero any Impurities exist ns often us the conditions call for It. "Camp stoves should be set up over pits lined with stones, the pits extending extend-ing well beyond tho stove at tho one end. The flro should never go out during the day. Small scraps, remnants, rem-nants, garbage and the like mny be Incinerated there and tho cooks may get rid of dirty wnter by pouring It slowly over tho hot stones, whero It will bo evaporated; but If In their haste they slop It around or pour It on so quickly that It nins over the side, soaking Into the ground so that tho heat doe not quickly dry up the moisture, they bnvo created n nuisance spot, n breeding place for files. "Ono of tho most dangerous diseases, especially In tho tropics, Is typhus This too Is cnrrled by Insects llco this time Just ns yellow fever Is transferred trans-ferred by mosquitoes. Cleanliness of person, keeping tho clothes and bodj free from dirt nnd vermin, Is the preventive pre-ventive of this contagion, and If the troops do their part there will bo no danger from this source. "It Is unnecessary hero to speak of tho Importance of nn abundant supply of pure water. When In permanent camp this Is not so difficult of attainment, attain-ment, but when' on tlio inarch tho utmost ut-most pains must Imj taken to avoid the uso of water for any purpose, cspe-chilly cspe-chilly for drinking, until its sources bnvo been examined and It Is determined deter-mined to be safe. Formerly only water wa-ter which had been boiled wns considered con-sidered safe; but now the men on march get their drinking water with slight delay nnd without heating It. They hnve n cauvns bag which will hold about 320 pounds of water with five spring faucets wtth necks which will enter canteens. Sterilized Water. "Into a bag filled from well, spring or pool Is thrown n chemical (hypo-chlorldo (hypo-chlorldo of calcium) which sterilizes tho wutcr In from flvo minutes to half nn hour. This Is n protection ngnlust typhoid, dysenteries nnd other troubles trou-bles nnd Is ono of tho best preventives of sickness nnd contagions that enn bo employed. Discipline, which limits tho soldier to tho uso of only wuter that has been sterilized, Is Indispen sable to the protection of tho men. "Tho general direction of sanitary mensurcs for tho nrmy nt tho South will bo under medical officers of experience, ex-perience, not only in military sanitation sanita-tion In general, but especially familiar with conditions on the border. "Tho secret of succeas In making u cmnp healthy Is 'follow up.' No perfunctory per-functory Inspection will bo permitted, and every officer will bo held responsible respon-sible for tho enforcement of these orders, which mean health for the camp. "No amount of sanitation, supervision supervi-sion or dlsclpllno can ward off sickness, sick-ness, collupsu or breakdown and consequent conse-quent cxposuro to contagion from men who nre physically unfit for military mili-tary duty. Intelligence nnd temperament tempera-ment help, hut theso qualities ulono nro not enough. A man must bo constitutionally con-stitutionally sound to stand tho strain of military life, nnd that Is why physical physi-cal requirements uro set so high for the good of tho Individual and the good of tho service. Rejections do not Indicate that a man Is a physical failure. "Thoso men ns citizens havo a right to tho best protection tho military authorities au-thorities can give; their families havo a personal Interest In them; nnd tho whole nation has u selfish Interest In maintaining this, Its last organized land military force, In such condition that thoso who stny nt homo mny havo the best servlco from tho few who havo gono to tho front or to tho concentration con-centration camps." |