Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1915 — EAR SUSTAINS GUN THUNDER [ARTICLE]

EAR SUSTAINS GUN THUNDER

German Scientists Claim Normal Hearing Is Not Affected by Heavy Artillery. Berlin. —The normal ear is not affected in any noticeable degree by tbe noises of even the heaviest artillery, according to conclusions based upon a long study of artillerymen by a Berlin ear specialist Of fifty-one artillerists observed for a long period by this specialist none exhibited any objective symptoms, and only four complained of subjective injuries, mainly “ringing in tbe head.” In investigations covering a whole year only one case of burst eardrum was found. Tbe ordinary recruit who serves only two years in peace times in tbe heavy artillery, bat rarely Incurs any lasting injury to his ears. Officers who have served many years not infrequently leave the service with chronic partial deafness or ringing in the ears. Investigation appears to sho*., however, that these sufferers d<d not have normal organs when they enlisted.