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-
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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
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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
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