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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 1918)
0 THE . OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: DECEMBER 15, 1918. Government Will Furnish Wounded Boys all Comforts Country Will Get First Real Appreciation of Sacrifices of the Hero Sons on Foreign Soil with Arrival of Thousands of Disabled Men Now on Way Home. , New York, Dec. 14 November's wing of the pendulum of history from war to peace, which reversed the eastward flow of America's lighting millions the greatest trans-oceanic troop movement ever known brought the American peo ple face to face with the tragedy of the casualty lists. General Pershing's announcement that more than 58,000 of the expedi tionary forces had given their lives in the nation's cause and that 14, 000 others, exclusive of prisoners, were missing, created a profound impression, but the human touch of 'almost 190,000 wounded, 16,000 of whom already have been returned in various stages of helplessness to their native shores, promises to give the country its first real apprecia tion of the sacrifices of its sons who followed the flag on foreign soil. The method of their debarkation denies to the homecoming wounded the popular honors paid their com rades in full health. But the War department, operating along lines intended to give the lie to the proverbial "ingratitude of govern ment," has arranged for medical, recreational and educational atten tion whose aim is to restore these maimed heroes, as fully as possible, to physical comfort and financial independence. Will Get Very Best. From the day of their arrival at New York or Newport News, the .ports of debarkation, to their re entrance into civilian life, a host of good Samaritans army doctors, nurses and orderlies and workers of the American Red Cross will min ister to these sufferers from a ruth less enemy's engines of war. Har bor hospital boats, debarkation hos pitals, hospital trains and general hospitals for reconstruction or con .'escence form a chain of service linking the westward bound fleets of transports with the homes of the wounded. And in this service the medical debarkation corps, suddenly thrust into the foreground of pub licity by the collapse of the central powers, plays an important and pic turesque part. The end of the war found the port medical authorities prepared to shoulder the heavy burden laid upon them. During 19 months of Amer ican participation in the conflict they had maintained an embarkation hospital service, treating the com paratively rare cases of illness among troops ready to go overseas. When American forces entered the trenches small groups of wounded, evacuated from hospitals in France, began to filter through the service on this side of the Atlantic. With this experience accentuated by the lessons of the allied governments in repatriating their wounded, the de barkation system was put in readi ness for the reception of injured men at the rate of 10,000 to 15,000 a month. Many Wounded Returned. During the war and a five weeks' period following the signing of the armistice, approximately 11.500 wounded had been received at New York and 4,500 at Newport News. And the authorities were prepared, on official advices from Washing ton, to handle 50,000 cases in the next four months. The army embarkation service at NewYork, which sent three-fourths of the nation's 2,000,000 men over seas, is expected td debark a ma jority of the returning forces, and the westward flow of wounded also will be directed here, with some di version to Newport News and pos sibly, later on, to Boston. To carry on the work at this port the Medical department has a personnel of 7,306 greater than the entire army med ical corps when the United States entered the war. On this staff, headed by Col. J. M. Kennedy, vet eran of 25 years' service as an army surgeon, 950 are medical officers, 983 nurses, men and women, 5,184 enlisted men and 189 civilian em ployes. The operating facilities include eight debarkation hospitals with an aggregate of capacity of 10,900 beds, two base hospitals with 4.250 beds, a reconstruction hospital at Colum bia university for cases too serious to be moved to interior institutions, five harbor hospital boats with 300 beds each, 75 ambulances, with 50 additional held in reserve by the Red Cross, and four hospital trains each accommodating upwards of 200 patients. The base hospitals are at camps Merritt and Mills, former embarka tion, now debarkation cantonments for the overseas army. The debarka tion hospitals are strategically lo cated on or near the harbor front. Remove Wounded in Week. The port medical authorities, re sponsible for soldier patients from the time of their arrival from Eu rope to their delivery at general hospitals nearest their home com munities, aim to clear their charges from the debarkation hospitals within a week. The work begins at the port quarantine station. Here medical officers board incoming transports and assist the doctors aboard in preparing the men for landing. In practically all cases the wounded are taken directly from the ship to the harbor hospital boat, which conveys them to a pier near one of the debarkation hospitals, where ambulances are in waiting. While the men get their "shore bearings" their cases are studied and assignments made to recon struction or convalescent hospitals. ..The next process is the attach ment of a medical liaison officer to the group he is to conduct to an V.terior station. When he has be- ime familiar with his charges he applies for a hospital car or train, tccording to the size of his party, aid for an escort of doctors: nurses and orderlies the journey, even across the con tinent, is simple, but if the wounded fill only one car, which must be at tached to regular trains, the feeding problem becomes acute. Here the Red Cross lends its aid, arranging by telegraph with its auxiliaries along the way for meals for the travelers at points where neither dining car service nor station res taurants are available. The hospital trains, equipped with specially constructed Pullman sleeping and kitchen cars, have ac commodations both for "walking cases" and for men so severely in jured that they must remain abed both day and night. In anticipation of their use on an extensive scale, 50 officers and 200 men are in train ing here, and a smaller company at Newport News, as escort detachments. View of Main Dining Room and Glimpse Of Tea Room on the Mezzanine Floor Kitchen of .Omaha Athletic Club Most Handy and Modern of Any in West First Army Balloon Chief Praises Omaha Officers Col. Paegelow, Overseas, Has Recommended Men from This City for Decorations. Ch esting account of Col. Paegelow's activities at the front, where he personally directed the operations o the army balloons in the offensives on the St. Mihiel, Chateau Thierry and eruun The promotion of Lieut. Colonel John A. Pagelow, who is well known in Omaha and his great service in the war as commander of all the balloons in the First army, is one subject of an article in the Boston Herald of recent date. The story is written by one of the Herald's correspondents in France, and is of particular interest to the people here, because so many Oma ha young men are in the balloon service, and under Col. Paegelow's command. It has been learned that several of the officers who trained at Fort Omaha for the balloon ser-1 vice in France, have been recom-1 mended by Col. Paegelow for the Distinguished Service Cross "for acts of extraordinary heroism and courage." Praise for Connell. In a recent letter Col. Paegelow speaks in terms of highest praise of Lieut. "Bob" Connell of this city, who recently died in a Paris hos pital of pneumonia. "He was an officer," he says, "whose devotion to duty was an inspiration to all of us. His first ambition upon arrival in France was to have active service at the front, and when that ambi tion was realized his courage and en thusiam made him one of our most valuable officers. His death comes as a great personal loss to all of us." The Herald's story gives an inter- UV .IUUlliK rr- ..... the air service, balloon section, into rarmy r, witii His ii years ex one ot the most dependable and hard working branches of the ser vice. Takes Balloons to Rhine. When the American troops moved forward to occupy German terri tory, after the signing of the armis tice, Colonel Paegelow was the offi cer given the important mission of advancing the big observation bal loons to the Rhine, where they are now operating, the eyes of the American army, under his direction. The Herald article is, in part,vas follows: "One of the most sensational chap ters of the great war has been furn ished by the American observation balloons, and the history of their develc pmcnt as important factors in the great offensives is correlated, in r.o small measure, with the story of the promotion of Lieut. Colonel John A. Paegelow, -who is now in command of all the balloon groups in the First army. This regular perience in the ways and means of creating soldiers out of raw mater ial, has, in less than a year's time, been the prime factor in building the balloon service up to its present standard, and the magnitude of the task can only be appreciated by those who are here in France and who have seen what the results have been. Learns Game Here. "Perhaps his success has depend ed in no small degree upon one of the qualities for which he is noted among officers, a quality which has enabled him to rise from a private to the rank of lieutenant colonel cf always being prepared for any new job he was to tackle. That was probably why, last year in Washington, when he was wanted to take up the balloon "game," and when there were practically no ex perienced officers capable or anx ious for this branch of air work, Col. Paegelow decided that he would go to Omaha and personally go through all the requirements of bal loon pilots. He became a rated free balloon pilot in record time, making many free flights, and help ing in the organization of the first balloon squadron which went to France, and which was under his command. "In France, it has been noted, this American officer accepted every op portunity to visit the French balloon companies at the front, studying their methods, watching them under attack, making mental notes on their operation. When the first American companies went into action, he was there to personally direct them, and the younger and inexperienced offi cers became confident in their work, under his leadership. These same officers, most of whom had never been in a balloon a few months he ir re. have become thoroughly effi cient and dependable, a tribute to the work of Col. Paegelow." Huge Cannon Built Along Lines of Tank, Given Test An eight-inch gun, self-propelling on its caterpillar track, and pro totype of a fleet of similar monsters which were being constructed for the American army when hostilities ceased, has been demonstrated be fore Mr. Crowell, assistant secretary of war; Major General Snow, chief of artillery, and a large group of American officers and engineers. Gun and machine alike had success fully passed the firing tests at the ordnance proving ground before the test, which was under the direction of Pliny E. Holt and Col. II. B. Dil lard, the designers. The tractor-gun drove its. 55,000 pounds of bulk up a 45-degree ra vine wall, developed a speed of four miles an hour on a level surface and demolished large trees with the same ruthlessness that its war brother, the tank, showed in action in France. New York Herald. DAVID B. FRANCIS IS TO UNDERGO OPERATION ni.Mii 1 1 . . . jomu smmjummsm f 7 -" I I A 32.. TRAiTCrS. David R. Francis, American am bassador to Russia, has arrived in London from Scotland, according to a report from the British capital. The physical condition of the am bassador has improved, according to the report, and he will undergo an If a train is assigned, operation within the next few days. Green ABLES The Dr. Benj. F. Sanatorium r LINCOLN, NEBRASKA Bailey City Office: First National Bank BIdg., Telephone B-1618 T HE Medical Profession has come to recognize more and more the necessity f natural and rational living. The broad men of the profession do not ride hobbies, they do not believe in "cure-alls," hence it is but natural that they desiro the opportunity to place their pa tients and friends under conditions where they may receive not any one great thing, but the many properly adapted and important methods, and at the same time rest amid sur roundings that are uplifting and cheery. They wish them to have proper diet, the first step in nutrition, and they are equally anxious for medical, hydropathic, mechanical and electrical encouragement of the various stages of metabolism which occur between the taking of prescribed diets and the elimination of waste. They seek for their clientele regular hours and freedom from care; they wish for them surgical interference only when safe conservatism leads the way. With these measures fully provided, is it still to be de sired that those who have been a long time ill may be led out of themselves and lifted up to higher ideals of living and work, that the psychological a3 well as the physical may be fully considered. To fill this need, and we believe desire, of our friends of the profession, has been and is our aim. Medical Department In our medical department we fully recognize that the sine qua non of medicine is a correct diag nosis, and that upon this must be based both prognosis and treatment. To the friends of every patient is due a perfect frankness as to diagnosis and prognosis. In carrying out this view, the Institution has prepared itself with laboratory, X-Ray, and the modern methods of diagnosis, which are carefully and fully applied as may be necessary. , In the treatment of medical cases the whole field of medi cine is none too broad for our consideration, and the ultimate result rather than any preconceived prejudice is the premise that must determine the prescription. Sanatorium Telephone, College 252 Post Office Address, Drawer 1189, Lincoln, Neb. DEPOSITS IN CANADA BANKS SHOW INCREASE Manager of Canadian Bank of Commerce Says Country Will Have No Trouble in Reconstruction. Winnipeg, Manitoba. C. W.Row ley, manager of the Canadian Bank of Commerce of Winnipeg, one of the big financiers of Canada, has unbounded confidence that Canada will pass through the reconstruction period without difficulty and go on to greater prosperity. "Deposits in Canadian banks at the close of September," said Mr. Rowley, Amounted to over $1,626, 000,000, or $209,000,000 more than a year ago, and the available funds of other financial institutions are somewhat larger than they were at this time last year. These are the largest figures in the financial his tory of the Dominion. They are cold, hard facts in regard to our present condition, and augur well for the future. "The taxes paid in Winnipeg to date are in the neighborhood of $2,000,000 more than at this time last year. This shows Winnipeg's finan cial ease and can be taken as a cri terion for all Canada. "Canada has 200,000,000 acres of agricultural land, unlimited forests, coal and mineral deposits, untold water power, unlimited supplies of fish in the Atlantic, Pacific, Hudson Bay and inland fisheries. The de velopment of any one of these re sources on a large scale would sup port five times our present population. T. F. NAUGHTIN & CO. Bakers9 Supplies and Equipment (Wholesale) SERVICE QUALITY We Furnished the Middelby-Marshall Oven for the Omaha Athletic Club. Phone Douglas 2878 913 South 13th HHHE imported and domestic delicacies on this club's menu came from our store. GLADSTONE BROS. Douglas 258 1316 Farnam m 'M The Omaha Athletic Club in selecting the Alamito Dairy Company as its purveyor of milk and cream, assures its partic ular patrons of unques tionably clean, fresh, palate-pleasing, pasteurized products of "Omaha's Bride" the "last word" in modern dairy equip ment and efficiency The ALAMITO. Greetings to Our Neighbor-the New Athletic Club Guarantee Fund Life Brandeis Theater Building OMAHA PHONE DOUGLAS 7100 Mm em lllllMllllllillllli!IIIIllllUI!!IIW rsafiGD 0G3U I U3G3llRruS SB) OK mm CEE3anD03)CEEEBO IJftaiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiJiiiiiiiiiiiMuiu