OUR LITERARY CORNER.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15536, 11 March 1916, Page 7

OUR LITERARY CORNER.

CAR EFGR CRIPPLED * SOLDIERS.

.AUSTRIA ANT) GERMANY • : ' ARE DOING.

pnaiu.* ™ ITTEN * 0B " THE rRES3 -" i

(Bt Mbs Juuan Grande.)

BERNE, January 7. - t„ a former article I dealt with the »' Jwislon made in Germany for soldiers * Wts I now wish to say some- ' SlSt what is being done in AusHa and also in Germany, to enable • i~i soldiers to earn a living, and, poSe. Prevent the pitiful •i of those who have become maimed ?»thrir country's service ever being IvS to beg their bread. It is, of °„° impossible for any outsider, and, t£t matter, impossible for any, Lp very few Austrians and Germans, !!Certain exactly how many Austrian • „fGerman soldiers have been permaSt" maimed and mutilated b f this * At present German casualty lie* "/unobtainable m neutral countries "d if they were available they would "Lrf no indication as to whether a 2nd is such as to result in crippling or D ot.; while in Austria, if such a thing . list exists, which is a.oubt--1 it can certainly lay no claim to eren approximate exactness or com'A few days agb I was talking to a medical man, the subject of a neutral SUto, whom I have known for many lar« and who has been attached as .urgeon to the Austrian Army He did lot work in a hospital in any Austrian town but was actually marching with, his battalion at the front, the hospitals in which he worked having been field hospitals. He witnessed many a battle in the Carpathians, and he assured me that thousands of bodies had to be sumnariiy buried where they lay, without there being any time for identification Consequently the relatives can often not know whether any particular man is ahVor dead; and if eventually they leamtahe » dead, it may frequently happen that they can never know where he fell or even whether on Austrian or foreign-soil. The losses in the Austrian !irmv, according to this doctor, have feen enormous, and, besides those actually killed, many must have perished for want of prompt or proper medical attention, the number of doctors and surgeons having been altogether msufi fcient. 'Both in Austria and in Germany the ' alftnorities do their utmost to prevent maimed and mutilated public streets., at «ry fate in the capital cities. Everyone -who his visited Berlin or Vienna • rince the war remarks how few seriously ' wounded are to' lie «een, although the comparatively small number of persons wio have penetrated into the provinces and country plaeoa in Gcomany always say that a good many war cripples are "'to be found .there. _ ( } On the outskirts of Vienna there has . now arisen what is known as the Town," where at the;end of vNoyember last there were already 3600 .;.,' f ß4nned soldiers. How many there are •J bow Ido not know. The origin of this jy&ipples' Town was a school for war in--*tnlids, founded and managed "by one doctor, who, however, had r j&jjloon so, many maimed to deal with — '.jjTmen dismissed from the hospitals as but so much injured as to be at '%* loss how to set about earning any;§Nning—that he was forced to invoke the ijplbsf the Austrian War Office, which: 4&jUsnow taken over the work. The 'Jpneu are housed in a large military hos-%Jtal,-and Jthe forty-two outbuildings Connected with it are largely used as for enabling them ultimately back, if possible, "to their' Sfihner occupations, and should .this J\ 'Wove impracticable, for training ? them Vroiarn a living at some other ©ccupadjpfa, as nearly allied thereto as may be. "an unfortunate-'man ( to $#rive in Cripples' Town both of whose -ffligßnave been amputated t it is found. "fyfFexperience that, by the fact of his \Jgßnjgjrith. sonnany of whom y&Mi afflicted with the loss of one or more j,S|lp»£he is encouraged to try to make L€|jfefctet of his infirmities. In some r jlw iiiiiiimjil men are actually employs^B^*' teach others, maimed like themtad to encourage them by show|§|w.tlieJn what it is possible for a cripple determination, courage, and *||Suihg> pains. A man amputated of for instance, is given at first >$&S>Nni\cial legs, which .he attaches to \f|s«£ftomps, and then, with the help of '?||yp»oving rone fastened to a roller, he >'"|||mttauy learns to walk again along the When he has learned £p%9* walk-quite quickly on the low artie ßs. he is given higher ones, and and higher, until he reaches height once more. The next m training is to learn to use legs with movable knee-joints, ho can sit and kneel down. £|ffi|.lP*VJ\he receives artificial legs, with "*l|§Sß* inlv movable knee-joints, but also ml|»' e "i o > n te, provided with, strong jffi*R£B a i so that his gait acquires elasSfflfsSiV. Thus equipped, he practises \SB§g«ng about in the hospital garden, IwjP!*'"* other help than that of a. light *"' na H v ' be practises on the •fit •Pwtacle track," even having to leap *i!"ss* tbings placed in his way. So agile, do some.of these poor fellows I$5TLi 0> in ccrtaincases'they ac4mJeara to jump off a high springinstances have been known of |||M , »»T*raputated high up the . thigh waltz. 'iJsiJ&i* enough, however, for the to learn to walk again, '■vtJLS? 1 to dance. They must learn to *£ *s£2?" once more use f u l members of \« nsea , uen tly they enter one e thirty-two workshops in Cripples' #v2P v *bere they are nut to do the £j<r £r' c ' f ? r wl »ich they are best fitted. A '"o was a carpenter, for examole, ° stiff olbow - is set to'do : % <'S»*? K ' ?* tne speediest wav of recover-"- \< elasticity of the elbow. A lock- *° use a file; a man with a &v>sSlr^i& ln,lst tr y to use'a saw, V'ieU "nt-nngercd man to weave has-

• -nfe e l lln ? 8 rt « necessary to construct **?*l foldier, for it mar be that he -K: close h,s nand » so that if he is tes£' a °7l ain tool, another kind of « irift I £ made f° r !t - Apparently "- ten*. * "¥ » n PPlenesß of the muscles • tott«+ ? l, , Pn to a wonderful extent, - *&« n.» ra ha " d les and other artificial - W n c ene - al,y be dispensed with in 'iHM!».i. f ur e ' this irking with ■■' cEL and ? lth hands wh 'ch will not ' * f -t£E £ USes pai ?' but 5n th e recovery of fmLnTr 6k,U thc war cripnles \''*sKS& l ak6 x S^ h delieht as to be able or£et their sufferings. i^-^— uer» formerly employed as oostmen, 3S *- .

ORIGINAL AND SELECTED MATTER.

NOTES ON BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

messengers, or mountain guides, are if they possess the necessary aptitude, to make artificial feet for tnemselves and their comrades in distress. Such a case as that of a watchmaker whose legs were frostbitten in tfio Carpathians did not present much difficulty, for he could resume his former work; likewise a turner who has ♦ jL- , arm is ablc t° ao.back to his turning-bench, -with an artificial hand tne lingers of which he can ooen by a movement of tho shoulder on us uninjured side. Tailors can cam to sew with, the left hand, and bookkeepers to enter accounts also with tne ] c fy hand: hairdressers' learn to +u aVe i>eople with one hand onk and the help of an artificial hand, while a woodcarver, whose leg was carried away oy a shell in Serbia, has been taught to make .vtificial hands. ''Natural!v, not cveryoiv learns with equal facility to use artificial hands or legs, and the slower and more impatient have to be encouraged oy those who have already mastered the difficulties. It often happens that a one-armed man on arriving is exceedingly despondent, and despairs of ever being able to do anything useful again, but when shown other one-armed men working, skilfully and well ho plucks up heart, and is encouraged to see what he can do himself. The best argument to convince a maimed man that he need not also be a useless man is to show him similarly maimed but useful men.

In this Cripples' Town, near Vienna, there are workshops employing locksmiths, engravers, tinsmiths,"mechanics, blacksmiths, coachbuilders, glaziers, paperhangers, masons, painters and house-decorators, to say nothing of bakers, butchers, and chauffeurs, while a large tract of adjacent land is available for agricultural labourers. Cripples' Town has now even its own band, which plays the very same martial music as that to the sound of which the players themselves not long since marched forth to battle.

Even cases of men so badly injured that, if shoemakers, they cannot use a hammer, and if tailors, they cannot use a needle, do not present insuperablo difficulties, for such men arc all put to work machines. In one workshop 5000 pairs of boots daily are made by machinery for the Austrian army—war cripples being already used to supply the wants of soldiers at the front, while in another workshop rows of tailors are working sewing-machines making uniforms. It is even found by experience that with the help of a suitable apparatus a Morse telegraph operator need not abandon his vocation, nor a typist eease to. use his typewriter. Not having: been once in England since the beginning of the war, I do not know what is being done there to better the lot of our war cripples, either in the matter of training or the making of improved artificial limbs. In Germany and Austria, however, this is becoming a veritable art, and the artificial limbs of before the war are now wholly out of date, to such a pitch of perfection have those of to-day been brought. In Germany, the Institute of Engineers has offered a prize of 50,000 marks (£2500) for the best artificial hand, to serve those who habitually work with their hands. It is stipulated that it must combine in the highest possible degree lightness, "convenience, *durabilitv > and cheapness, and it is essential that tho maimed man wearing it' should himself be able to adjust and detach it. So far I have not heard that this nrize has been awarded, but it was onlv recently offered. To the credit of the* German Institute of Engineers, be it said, the president publicly expressed a hope that an artificial hand, should it be produced would be of benefit to maimed men all over the world, and not in Germany and Austria alone. In Germany, where crinples' homes are no novelty, fifty-four establishments already exist, with 5000 beds, and the experience of the German Cripples' Aid Association has been of great value during the war. Dusseldorf and several otner towns have, since the war, put the workshops and exercise grounds of their schools of art and crafts at the disposal of wounded soldiers. I n Germany, as m Austria, th 0 first law of training maimed men is, if possible, that they shall resume their former occupation, and, if this be impossible! then ono as nearly analogous as may be. v »There are now, for agriculturaNabourcrs who have lost an arm or part of an arm, arrangements with turning hooks or a ring which enables them to use a broom, pitchfork.' or sickle, or oven a scissors of gimlet, or -to carry watering cans or buckets. The modern artificial hand is also so arranged that a spoonholder or knife-holder may be affixed to it, that the wearer may be ablo to feed himself without difficulty. In Germany the artificial arm made of iron, with movable joints, seems so practical that very delicate mechanical work can be done by a man using one of them; and even men amputated of both arms can, with two such arms, manago qu|to easily to do everything for themsolves, and even to write. In Germany, as in Austria, the most skilful of the. war cripples are employed to teach the newcomers.

v Tho "apparatuses," as they really are, to replace arms, feet, and legs,.are brought to such perfection in Germany that miners, with their aid, can resume work in mines, agricultural labourers'? can do farm work, and even carters walk alongside their carts. A man amputated of ono leg only can even quite well ride a bicycle.

As evcryono knows, injuries to ;the head and jaw are very frequent in the present war—injuries so terrible as to -render even experienced doctors and ambulance men, seeing them for the first time, speechless with, horror. Here again, incredible marvels, are now performed in making a new mouth, or a new jaw. a new nose, almost a new face. The. / necessity for a German war cripple acquiring some means of earning a living appears plainly when the amounts of soldiers' pensions are considered. In -Germany these are 540 marks (£27) for an ordinary soldier who has been seriously maimed, and 900 marks (£45) for a sergeant-major, plus 27 marks (say £1 7s) per month for the loss of a hand, a foot, speech and hearing, and 54 marks in case of blindness. In"other words, a maximum of £59 a year for a blind soldier, and of about £77 for a blind sergeant-major.