Great Growth of Army Medical Corps Since We lintered War
Special Correspondence
WASHINGTON, D. C., „ k _. .1918.
THE right hand of the Army is the
ordnance department, which
supplies the arms and ammuni
tion with which to make pos
sible a victory over the enemy. The
left hand of the Army is the Army
Medical Corps, which maintains the
health of the men behind the guns at a
high standard.
When America entered the war
months elapsed before the first contin
gent of United States soldiers actually
stood face to face with the Hun. But
with the first assignment to camp of
drafted men. Surgeon General William
('. Gorgas and the Army Medical Corps
were called upon immediately to fight
disease.
The growth of the fighting arm of the
Army, while, perforce, rapid, could ex
tend. at least, over a few brief months.
Hut the very act of that growth threw
upon the Army Medical Corps the re
sponsibility of assuring an unimpeded
expansion through the control of dis
ease. Consequentlly, the development
of the corps represents one of the most
important phases of America's war pro
gram, and involvss the medical profes
sion of the entire country, with the vast
scientific knowledge that Implies.
*
* *
On April 1, 1917, just six days prior to
our declaration of war against Ger
many, the Medical Corps of the Army
included less than 450 officers in the
regular service, and about 2,600 medical
men, signed up. but inactive, in the
Army Medical Reserve Corps. The Wom
en's Nursing Corps numbered less than
400. Bed capacity in Army hospitals,
not including limited facilities at Army
posts, numbered 3.843. Including post
hospital facilities, the bed capacity
reached, approximately, 5,000.
A year later, when America is enter
ing the second year of the great war.
the total strength of the corps is far
more than 100,000, including the enlist
ed personnel. Nearly 1.000 officers rep
resent the regular service, with reserve
corps' officers numbering more than
18,000, of which total all but about 3,000
are on active duty. The Army Medical
Nurse Corps now includes more than
7,000 graduate nurses.
Completed Army hospitals in this
country today have a bed capacity of
nearly 60,000, while extensions which
will bring that figure up to 88,000 are
under way. An additional increase of
i 2,000 beds is contemplated, which will
make the bed accommodations reach
the 100,000 mark.
The accomplishments of those twelve
months between the two sets of figures
made one of the most important chap
ters in the history of American partici
pation in the world struggle for democ
racy. Men gathered from every walk
of life may, in a relatively brief time,
under competent instructors, be drilled
into efficient soldiers. But to establish
a medical corps of sufficient magnitude
to care for the vast Army building
necessitated erecting an establishment
of the finest medical timber the country
had to offer—not green medicos, but
nien whose word in their respective
fields of medical endeavor would carry
the weight of conviction. It meant
bringing under a single roof In every
camp where American soldiers were
training, specialists in every line of
medical work, and of providing such
equipment and appliances as would per
mit of the highest type of service being
rendered.
The establishment and eauipping of a
base hospital at each of the National
Army and National Guard training
camps, many of them inaccessible from
the standpoint of transportation, is per
haps the greatest single feat under
taken and successfully accomplished by I
the Army Medical Corps. Yet todav a
visitor at a base hospital, none of which '
lias been in operation more than a few
months, and all of which are hundreds !
of beds larger than the average civil i
hospital, finds a thoroughly S3*stem- !
atized organization, running with the
precision and quietness of a city instl- I
tution of long standing. *
Lp to April, 1917. there were but seven I
Army hospitals, aside from post hospi- '
tals. Today there are sixty-three.'
twenty-nine are equipped to care for
more than 1,000 patients each; seven
teen will, when extensions now under
way are completed, be capable of ac
commodating 2.000 patients each. Three
of the hospitals are located at ports
from which troops embark for France
two are permanent base hospitals, three
are at camps where specialized training
is carried on, twenty-three are general
hospitals and thirty-two are base hos
pitals for the National Army and Na
tional Guard camps.
*
a *
This equipment represents only those
hospitals In the United States. In ad
dition. it was necessary to build and
equip In Prance facilities for caring
for our sick and wounded over there.
From the office of the surgeon general
in Washington had to be built up a
machine which would function ef
ficiently on the other side of the ocean
and Insure to American troops abroad
the same skilled medical attention they
would receive at home hospitals. De
tails of this work have not been made
public, but it is known that Accom
modations and equipment " abroad,
building and to be built, will be suf
ficient to care for perhaps 25 per cent
of our total troops abroad.
A year ago the Army Medical Corps
was represented at Washington by six
officers, including Surgeon General
Gorgas and twenty clerks, who oc
cupied 'three rooms in a corner of the
State, War and Navy building. On De
cember 1 last 165 officers were detail
ed here. 535 clerks were employed and
300 office rooms required to house the
corps Five whole buildings are now
occupied, and parts of two others, while
an additional two will probably be
needed in the near future. Six thousand
telegrams and 5,000 other communica
tions have been received and acted
upon in a single day.
At every base hospital are specialists
in all fields of medical science which
may be called upon In the proper care
of our soldiers. The personnel. In
fact, of these hospitals Is a smaller
medical corps, such as is under the
surgeon general in Washington in an
executive capacity. At the head of the
hospital is the surgeon In charge and
under him one or more specialists in
orthopedics, neutrology, eye, ear, nose,
throa and brain work. X-ray special
ists, etc.
Nor was the staff of each hospital
chosen without due regard for the abil
ities of each and every man. The sur
gical staff, for example, were appointed
after consultation of William J. and
•'harles H. Mayo, the famous surgeons
of Rochester, Minn.; Arthur D. Bevin of
Chicago, president of the American
Medical Association; John F. Btnnle of
Kansas City, "Albert J. Oschner of Chi
cago. W. B. Haggard of Nashville, Sam
uel Mixter of Boston, and Stuart Mc-
Gulre of Richmond, all surgeons of in
ternational reputation.
Likewise, the medical staffs were
picked by men of foremost rank In the
medical field. This board, originally
: ' pHn flp|| , v n B l| raHfl M| 1 f
SECTION OF AN INFECTIOUS WARD OF BASF HOSPITAL AT CAMP BEAI'REGARD, LA. IX THE PATHOLOGICAL WARD OF A BASE HOSPITAL.
SOLDIERS IN A MEDICAL WARD. THE OPERATING ROOM OF A BASE HOSPITAL.
. i : i T 7- ;
I headed by Maj. Theodore C. Janeway,
late professor of medicine at Johns
Hopkins, is now directed by Lieut. Col.
J W. T. Longcope, professor of medicine
jat Columbia University. Similar boards
of specialists chose for the staff of
each hospital the men who supervise
the special branches of medical work.
The surgeon general's office in its
present state consists of fourteen divi
sions and thirteen special sections, or
twenty-seven units of activity, several
of which are a direct outgrowth of the
war. Through the division of training
camps student medical officers are put
through a rigorous three months' course
of instruction covering every kind of
physical exercise and hardening, every
administrative duty required in the
service and every branch of military
medicine.
Survey parties are sent out to Inspect
the food supply, under the food divi
sion, improve cooking and service con
ditions. maintain food economy and pre
vent wastage, yet keep up a suitable
Army ration. Everything relating to
the hygiene of troops in camps is
supervised by the division of field sani
tation, from mosquito prevention.
J Two and a Half Million Clab W©iren Work t® Help Win War
Special Correspondence
WASHINGTON. D. C.. 1918.
. r- n nHEN the representatives of
• A\ 7A If the 2,500,000 women affiliated
I j Y/y/ with the General Federation
I ** " of Women's Clubs meet at
' their fourteenth biennial convention at
. Hot Springs, Ark., on April 29. it is
I their hope to bring- to tlrat meeting the
' quarter of a million dollars which it
has been the mission of a group of
their members to collect for a definite
I war purpose.
The corps of women selected for this
' work is known as the war victory com
! mission. They represent every section
, of the country, and the fund they are
raising is to be spent for military re
creational houses, dispensaries and
other war relief work for the American
boys in France. This was the federa
tion's project which loomed largest in
the inind of Its president, Mrs. Josiah
I Evans Cowles, at the board meeting
i held recently at Hot Springs, Va.
"Every member of the board present
at that record-making meeting was
deeply impressed with the opportunity
I and necessity of making this supreme
. effr.rt for the men and boys so dear to
. the hearts of American womanhood,"
I said Mrs. Cowles In talking of this big
, united project of all the women of all
the clubs in the general federation.
, "We do not blind our eyes to the calls
upon calls, and yet more calls, that
, have been made and will be made upon
our time, our talents and our pocket
books, but we will not be excused for
failing to meet this great need which
has developed from the mobilization of
our Army and Its work across the eea."
Mrs. Cowles explained that the plan*
for the recreation houses in France will
i be left to the judgment of Raymond D.
' Fosdlck, chairman of the committee on
, drainage, ventilation and the control
i of epidemic diseases to the collection
and co-ordination of statistical records
■ of the sick and wounded. Working in
• co-operation with this division is the dl
' vision of Infectious diseases, which se
t lects . bacteriologists, pathologists and
other laboratory men and fits out
> laboratories with standard equipment.
*
* *
The division of internal medicine is
; one of the most important in the corps.
• in this are controlled the tuberculosis
■ examinations, over 800,000 having been
■ made, and for diseases of the heart.
> This division also provides hospitals
for the treatment of lung and heart
ailments, and specialists in that work,
■ as well as the medical staffs for base
hospitals.
, The examination of all enlisted men
> and company officers for the Isolation
i and rejection of the mentally unfit Is
carried on by the division of psychol
. ogy. The mentally superior, through
1 training camp activities. It is Presl-|
] dent Wilson's opinion that comfortable
. [ rest and recreation houses can be pro- |
vided in the south of France for the j
i men on furlough, and if Mr. Fosdick's
investigations on the ground prove that |
this is feasible, it is in that romantic |
and beautiful section of France that the j
main portion of the clubwomen's j
"blighty" will be established "over j
there." .
Another question bearing to a large 1
degree upon war's necessity is the in
teresting movement for a standardized
form of dress for women, which will be
presented more urgently than it has
ever been presented before to the wom
en of this country at the coming bi
ennial. Tills advocates no uniform or
anything.likened to a uniform, but the
idea presented recommends a basic
dress pattern which will serve every
woman * or every costume in her ward
robe, her originality and preference to
be given full scope In adapting the
standardized pattern to the various
modes in which it may be employed.
Clubwomen who have taken up the
standardized dress idea as a measure of
conservation of time, thought and
money are among the best gowned
i women In the country, according to the
I federation idea. The scheme Is present
| ed as a measure of war and after war
economy, which the clubwomen advo-
I eating it are introducing to their sisters I
; at this time.
Referring to the measure, Mrs.
Cowles said: "Has the time not come
for us to definitely proclaim and take
our stand in favor of standarlzation of
dress for women? This need not Imply
a uniform, nor that we shall all look
exactly alike; rather that certain rules
must be obeyed, certain principles
known and followed, while individual
adaptation is made. It ought to mean
more beauty as well as more freedom
for actual expression of ourselves In
the solution of this problem It will be 1
necessary to have the mutual under-
this system, by proper assignment and
promotion, are encouraged, while data
are supplied for equalizing organiza
tions in respect to the mental qualifica
tions necessary in recent warfare. Some
superior enlisted men have been sent
to the officers' training camps.
Because the allied armies encounter
ed a large number of neurotic, mental
and other defectives, who soon became
useless for field service, the division of
neurology and psychiatry was estab
lished. This division eliminates from
the Army those who, while physically,
sound, are incapable of becoming sol
diers by reason of insanity, mental de- i
feet, drug habit and other nervous dis
orders. It also cares for and treats
Insane and tifrvous patients in military
hospitals.
Under the Army Nurse Corps are re
cruited nurses for the service. Con
trary to popular belief the Red Cross
has no contact with the Army Medical
Corps in the matter of actual nursing.
They have supplied many nurses for
thJs corps, but once assigned to the
Army Nurse Corps, the nurse is no
longer a so-callerl Red Cross nurse.
Only nurses belonging to the Army
standing and co-operation of those who i
design, make, sell and wear garments." [
The question of food production and i
conservation among women allied with
the General Federation of Women's Clubs
i is a matter of pride with Mrs. Cowles.
| "When war was proclaimed a year ago
Iwe were holdirflg a council meeting in
| New Orleans," she says. "By April 12
we had a war emergency food pledge
made and distributed and in many cases
I signed." This pledge reads: •
' "In view of the military necessity of
conserving the food supply of the nation,
I hereby pledge myself to do my bit
as follows: I will use only those amounts
of food required for adequate nourishment.
I will endeavor to control waste in all
kinds of material In the household, and to
live simply. I will begin now."
"Through the state federation chairmen
we had these pledges scattered all over
the country, and they served as a most
valuable conservation purpose In many
thousands of households beforei the food
I administration was formed," continued
Mrs. Cowles. v When that office was es
tablished by the government and Issued
its cards the federation relinquished Its
Individual pledge to co-opOTate in the
national movement.
*
* *
"It is an interesting fact, however, that
supplementary to our federation food
I pledge our home economy department Is
sued a masterly little bulletin, entitled
'What Is Adequate Nourishment?' In this
useful brochure our dally food supply is
treated bHefly, intelligently and In under
standable form.* '
"In my opinion the General Federation
Of Women's Clubs Is a more Intensely ac
tive organization than any other in the
world, and It stands as one of the strong
est moral forces our country possesses. As
another instance of this activity, as well
is Its desire for the national welfare, was
nt to the- White !;.><.•• •
/ST!
I Nurse Corps are allowed within the
i zone of the Army.
Both the French and British mis
■ sions to this country have members at
> tached to the surgeon general's office.
In addition, at every camp, are repre
sentatives of these missions, who are
■ giving instruction to the soldiers train
l ing along different lines. After having
! served in the trenches these instructors
are able to lend to their work a realism
■ which could be obtained in any other
i way, and can bring home to our boys
. in khaki the real work of the war.
Practically all hospitals connected
with the National Army and National
• Guard are similar in the matter of con
> struction. equipment and appliances,
except where special work may de
mand a larger scale of equipment.
Ruilt on the "pavilion" plan, every
• ward has ample means of getting sun
i light and fresh air, as only on one
I side is It connected with the long halls
which keep the hospital as a whole
' under what might be termed a single
! roof. Each ward also has its own
< porch, screened, for convalescents.
To give a description of the many
rooms in which special work Is car
| days after war was proclaimed by Presi
] dent Wilson." The copy of the message
produced by Mrs. Cowles read:
"Whereas the war Is upon us; our
sons and husbands are to be called to
the defense of our country: our women
must work and suffer: Be It resolved,
That the women of the General Federa
tion of Women's Clubs unite in an ap
peal to our government to take the
Initiative In the passage of national
prohibition, thereby eliminating ma
terial and moral waste.
"We urge this in behalf of the man
hood and womanhood of our country as
the fundamental step in the conserva
tion of the physical strength and moral
force of our nation. The enormous
amount of grain used In the manufac
ture of liquors must now be utilized for
bread for men and food for armies.
"The women of the country are loyal
and true; they will follow their men to
the last ditch. As the first move in effi
ciency they ask the government to take
steps at once to secure this fortification
against a colossal evil."
The General Federation of Women's
Clubs has been allied with the govern
ment in many relations, both before and
since the war started. As one instance
of this connection Mrs. Cowles spoke of
the clubwomen's work in forestry. "We
feel It greatly to our advantage to have
this government connection," she said.
"As an evidence of this co-operation the
Department of Agriculture placed at
our disposal one of the lecturers of the
forest service for the period of two
years. The chairman of our forest con
servation work, who made a study of
the states' and the national needs which
the clubwomen might nil, arranged the
dates of those lectures as they would
best serve the national purpose. Great
benefit has been the result of this
united work."
Mrs. Cowles explained that the aim
and object of the eleven departments
Into which the work of the General
Federation of Women's clubs Is divided
. n '')* d< vejoomert and conservation of '
1 Cf ±iat
ried on would mean giving a picture
of a modern, thoroughly equipped hos
pital. which treated all possible ail
ments of man. Despite the fact that
the buildings are only frame struc
tures, many of them as yet unpainted,
there is no atmosphere of a "make
shift" once the hospital has been
entered.
*
* *
In addition to the kitchen, In which
is prepared the food for the general
patients, there is a smaller kitchen in
tvhlch special dishes are prepared for
those on a diet. These two kitchens,
moreover, are In addition to that In
which the officers' meals are prepared,
while the nursing corps is housed In
a separate building, with its own culi
nary facilities.
The predominating thought carried
away by the visitor to a base hospital
Is the fact that the percentage of sick
ness is not as large as might be im
plied from a casual survey of the
weekly reports issued by the surgeon
general. This is due to the fact that
reporting to the regimental hospital—
i human efficiency. "The two great ob-
I Jects in our departments of work In
' this time of war are; First, to be of the
| utmost service in time of need; second,
and quite as important, to keep alive
In every community the sense of law
I and order, and to preserve the security
\ nt the permanent elements that must
rebuild society when the tumult of war
Is past.
♦
* *
"Whatever we do must be construc
tive In purpose and help In reconstruc
tion processes. The development and
conservation of human efficiency Is
fundamentally concerned with food
conservation. The term 'conservation'
as used in conjunction with the work
must in no way be limited to the de
partment of our work termed 'conser
vation, ' which up to this .time has
dealt solely with the natural resources
of the country.
"Our department of home economics
Is defined as that group which deals
with the development and conservation 1
of human efficiency; 'public health'
preserves It; 'legislation' protects It;
'civil Service reform' provides, the right
machinery for its protectiop; "educa;
tion' presents the means by which we
do things well; 'industrial And social
conditions' seek to provide the right
environment or condition for the de
velopment of human efficiency, and the
department of 'civics' applies and lo
calizes results.
"Our department of 'literature and
library extension' provides the medium
of communication, disseminates the re- •
suits of study and Investigation, and
gives the inspiration; 'art' and 'music' ,
also lend inspiration, seeking to beau- ,
tify the common • deeds. The 'conser
vation' department has to do with the '
preservation and intelligent use of raw
materials, the natural resources of the |
land.
"Food production and conservation,
as we cover the question | n our various
departments. Is not merely a narrow
agricultural project. 'lt goes on to
questions of soil, water supply, pres
ervation of forests. Irrigation and
drainage. Transportation of.food car-i
| ries up into the rea,lm of road making,
irT
each regiment lias Its own, with a
small corps of attending physicians—
is as much a soldier's duty as is an
swering a bugle call.
The man with a cold, a severe head
ache or any one of numberless minor
ailments, when in the Army, reports
to the hospital and Is either given a
treatment there or sent' to the base
hospital for admission. These same
men at home would resort to "home
remedies" rather than go to the ex
pense of paying a doctor's bill and the
cost of prescriptions. In making re
ports the base hospital Includes all
"admissions."
It is estimated that the total number
of physicians in the United States Is
more than 85,000. . Those within mili
tary age are less than 75,000. In
fixing on this figure. It must be remem
bered that the Army Medical Corps
had to guard against taking men away
from districts which would then be
left without adequate medical protec
tion. The men who could be spared
for Army service number about 05,000.
Of that total the 18,000 now on the
Reserve Corps lists represent one
fourth.
_ . .
not only the main highways of the
country, but the byways in every little
rural community as well. Reaching
the point of distribution. It becomes a
civic concern, and here legislation
enters to safeguard against laws that
may be Introduced seeking to control
prices and to Increase profits at the ex
pense of the consumer.
"With eleven such departments ready
made and in good working order, there
was no necessity for the creation of
new machinery for our war work. We
simply enlarged and intensified our ef
forts along every line. We had been
preparing for war for some time before
it came to us. Six months before
war's proclamation we asked all
churches to display the American flag
as a measure of patriotism. On Christ
mas, 1918, we telegraphed President
Wilson,, extending sympathy and good
wishes and assuring him support In
case of war. In February, when war
became imminent, we again tele
graphed him that the Qeneral Federa
tion of Women's Clubs stood behind
him and would do everything In ltß
power to subtaln the government.
Early In April came the chance to
make our promises good, and we have
been engaged in that fulfillment ever
since. >
"The coming biennial at Hot Springs
promises to be the most Intensely in
teresting-In the history of. our organ
ization, and we look for-great results
as Its fruit.
' In Paris.
TUT UMORIST RING fcAfc'DNER said on
his return from Paris:
"Restaurant pi-Ices in Paris are ter
rible. In the best restaurants a meal
will cost you quite $5. And at that you
won'f get enough to eat. . !
"Everybody is always hungry. I met a
pretty girl in the Rue de la Paix the
other morning, she was wearing one of
those new' capes, and I
coropiimentedhsir on her appearance
"'Really,' I said, sweet
enough to eat.'
"I do eat,' she said eagerly. "Where
shall we. go—halliard's or Larue's—or,
still, both" places?' "