Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 115, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 June 1917 — MOST DESTRUCTIVE AGENT OF WAR NOW ENLISTED TO AID BRITAIN IN GREAT FIGHT. [ARTICLE]

MOST DESTRUCTIVE AGENT OF WAR NOW ENLISTED TO AID BRITAIN IN GREAT FIGHT.

Invisible Enemy That Formerly Ravaged Armies Is Rendered Harmless to British Cause, But Is Plaving Havoc In Ranks of Her Enemies, Says Colonel Nasmith. The most tremendous Life-destroy-ing element in the grim crucible of war has become an ally assisting the forces of Great Britain in the present Armageddon of the Nations. More destructive than soaring liquid fire, more deadly than the expanding bullet, more devastating than the high explosive, is this factor that the mother of nations is now utilizing in her own behalf. ~ In every war of every age the armies of the world have been torn and wrecked and decimated by an unseen foe that has sent more human souls into eternity than all the weapons of death fashioned by the hand of man. " On more than one occasion this ally of death has crumpled up an army and has tossed the laurel of victory to the weaker adversary. Great Britain, too, in all her previous wars, has suffered more severely from the ravages of this insidious enemy than by her human foes. Today she has enlisted this invisible agent on her side. In short she has made pestilence her ally. While the strength of the Ottoman empire is crumbling beneath the ravages of typhus in the ranks of that nation’s troops; while Austrian soldiers die in scores through the scourge of epidemics, the army of Great Britain is more free from communeable disease than the- civilian or military popualtion of any other country in the world. This fact was disclosed on Tuesday night by Colonel G. G. Nesmith, G. M. G., of Toronto, 'before an audience in the Industrial bureau which comprised representatives of every province in the dominion of Canada. How Great Britain conquered the germ-laden armies of Pestilence before launching her own armies against the Teuton ranks, is a story of absorbing interest. It was told by Colonel Nasmith in a quiet, matter-of-fact way—in the same careful and methodical spirit that characterizes the scientific thoroughness of the British medical corps. It was a significant sign of the times, also, that the speaker discussed the subject of disease in a frank and unrestrained manner, despite the fact that more than half the audience was composed of women—representatives of the various Civic Improvement leagues of the Dominion and of the National Council of Women. The women, too, commented just as fearlessly on the salient points of the address in a public discussion that followed. INSECT IS WORST = FOE TO AN ARMY The colonel made it clear., that the greatest foe that armies in the field must fight is the obtrusive louse. It was a continuous, hard-fought -battle _against this insect. _ The louse could not, so far, be eradicated, but its power to wreck an army with disease could be minimized. Colonel Nasmith said the method of maintaining the health of an army in the field had its counterpart in the civilian population—in the homes of the people. “The history of every war,” he said, “is the history of epidemics. Frequently the final decision has been caused through this agency. In tl. Franco-Prussian war the- greatest epidemic of smallpox in the previous eight years was fanned into a great flame by the exigencies of war. “In the South African campaign 8,000 men died in the British army from typhoid, While only 7,700 were killed by all other causes. “In all other wars an infinitely larger number have died of typhoid or other diseases than were killed in battle. “The present-war is a marvelous exception, especially among the allies. There have been small, isolated epidemics. France had her battle with typhoid at the beginning. The Russians had to combat typhoid and cholera when they took over the Austrian trenches through the polluation of ground and water. There are rumors that the army of Turkey is being decimated by typhus. “The biggest known epidemic in the present war afflicted the Serbs when they were driven back in winter and lost their whole machinery for maintaining health among the troops. The civilian population went along with the army, the whole country being in retreat. The crowded' conditions, assisted by the inoculation of typhus by lice, resulted in appalling casualties. EXTRAORDINARY FACT ABOUT THE BRITISH “In the British army we see the extraordinary spectacle of no epidemic disease. There are fewer cases of disease among the army in the field than one would find in the same number in civilian life. One reason for tins is that Britain sent into the field at the beginning a perfectly equipped though small army. As she added unit by unit these too were perfectly equipped. France had to mobilize quickly and with less care.” The colonel described the method of wedding out the sick. Each morning there was a “sick parade.” Serious, cases were sent back to the advanced dressing Station which was generally on a roadside and always under shell fire. At nightfall the ambulances took these sick to the field hospital four or five miles behind the lines, this hospital generally being a tent or a farmhouse. “Again at night they were motored to the casualty clearing stations tiwo or three miles farther back, these usually being situated in a town or on a railway from where they were carried by train to the base, and then to England, with the exception of certain classes oof sickness which would be treated in isolation hospitals.” The colonel described the ways in which disease was contracted, and said the whole object of the medical X ■

service was “to break the chain” at seme point to prevent the disease from spreading through the army as it would spread through a school Bouse if unchecked. He told of the divisional baths —the greatest luxury of the soldier. Every three weeks the soldier got a bath, while his clothes would be washed, ironed and disinfected. At one bath 160 Belgian women were employed. at ..washing clothes. , j The soldier would thus emerge thoroughly clean, but in three weeks would be as dirty again, for it was difficult to keep insects out of the billets. However, the chain was broken every three weeks, the insects being generally killed before they could inoculate the soldiers with disease. SOLDIER STILL HAS A LAST DEFENCE The colonel explained the methods of filtering and chlorinating the drinking water, rendering it immune from the typhoid germ. “But,” he said, “if all other schemes fail the soldier has one last defence — inoculation. Ninety-seven per cent of the British army is inoculated, so that he still has this special immunity against disease. That is why typhoid is practically a negligible quantity in the army today.” The speaker said it was somewhat remarkable that such communcible diseases, as measles, diphtheria and mumps were as difficult to eradicate as the more. serious types. He told of a Highland division that went down with diphtheria, these soldiers not having been immunized by haying the disease when they were children. The Maoris, too, snowed little resistance to measles which ran riot among them for a short time. The colonel described the wonderful methods of the field laboratories. He was well qualified to speak on this subject, having Been in efiafge of the mobile laboratories in the Biirtish army. These laboratories had been able to pounce on incipient epidemics. At a recent “sanitary conference” of the allies it was admitted that the health of the British army and the control of health conditions were infinitely better than Britain’s allies could hope to obtain in their own armies. In England there was less epidemic disease in 1915 than in previous years. Out of the war, however, had arisen a greater desire for the conservation of child life, and England was now concentrating on the acquiring of pure milk, better attention to child welfare generally, better housing, and more thorough medical inspection of schools. __ Thecotouei,inthesamequiet,confidential tone, concluded his address by declaring that Canada's obligations were just as great, if not greater, because of the fact that she had not been invaded. “There is talk,” he said, “of riving so many more men and so much more money. Instead, we should give all we can afford to give, both in. men and money. That is the thing that posterity will judge us by—by bttr resources, and whether we lived up to our capacity and give to our utmost.” A very interesting address on the housing problem and other home conditions was given Iby Dr. Helen MaaMurchy, of Toronto. Dr. A. J. Douglas presided at the meeting.