“FRAGMENTS FROM FRANCE.”

Hokitika Guardian, 19 December 1925, Page 4

“FRAGMENTS FROM FRANCE.”

NE\Y ZEALAND'S AH.MY OF-LIMB-LESS MEN. A CHEAT NATIONAL TRUST. In 10IS the nations of Europe fiimily agroed to exchange the swoid loi 4 the priming-hook, anti the greatest war n|' niodeni times came to an end. New Zealand’s small (comparatively) contintront returned home, tmtl to most ot the men engaged the war heeame it memorv. dimming with the passage t:f ■rears. Not iit all. As the title of war reeetled. strewn alone; its track was left the llotsiim and jetsam ot its stormy passage, in the broken men inevitable to such a conflict. What is 1 icing done for these men f REHABILITATION.

Of limbless soldiers alone New Zealand's quota was 1017. and whoever else may forget them they have the most potent of reasons for remembrance.

The rehabilitation of these men. in as far as as possible, the (Government of New Zealand undertook its it sacred duty. Liberal pensions were provided, but this was not suHicicnt. Everything must be done, to enable them to retain their self-respect, and this was only possible by so fitting them up as to enable them to take their place ill the tanks of industry with the minimum of disability. Accordingly the very best that Europe it ml America could supply in artificial limbs was provided to the New Zealand soldiers; at Oatlands Bark Hospital. Surrey. Lite broken men, to the number of several hundreds aL a time, were emigre-gated in an atmosphere which precluded settl'd tv; here practically every man was similarly afflicted, and there was no cuddling; instead, with the courage which had sent them forward to attempt the impossible at Rascheiidaele, the men. wisely directed, gathered up the broken threads of their lives, and moved forward to conquer their di>abilities. MACICAY ARTIFICIAL LIMBS. The most important feature about the loss of a. limb i- it permanency, and the Hovernment which assumed the care of its maimed soldiers, took on a bunion more serious than that of their initial fitting up. Hidden away at the back of Messrs Hope-oibhons’s warehouse. in Herbert street at the present time is a factory known to few in Wellington. hut which deserves more reengnit ion Iron! the laet that its work is of a national character in that it is fulfilling the country’s obligations to its erstwhile defenders. The iaetorv in question is that oi the .Mackey Artificial l.imb Company, where practically tl", whole of the disabled ox-soldiers ill New Zealand are litled out. and their artificial limbs kept in repair. The company requires seme explanation: In 192:1 tlie New Zealand (Government, not satisfied that the limbs being manufactured for I heir charges were the best obtainable - having been superseded during ilie passage ot the years .since the war—sent Sir Donald McLean. l)irector-( leneral <>! Medical Supplies, to England to report on the best, and most up-to-date obtainable. At this lime practically all artificial legs were made of wood, arms being of steel nnd leather. Sir Donald reported in favour ol] the Maekay limbs, made of an aluminium alloy called duralim. which were largely in use in England and America, and their general adoption for New Zealand was agreed to by the Hovernment. NEW ZEALAND INVENTION. Air l>. Murray Maekay, the inventor of the artificial limbs known hv Ids name, is a New Zealander, who started life as a carpenter, hut as the result ol a blasting accident in ltKtfl suffered I lie loss of his forearm. Necessity is the mother of invention. Mr Mack-ay after having tried various artificial arms without success in his business determined to make one to his own design. He recognised that strength combi tied with lightness was essential, and mending had an arm made of aluminium. This, wns so much in advance of anything then in existence

.tlial in 1!) l 7 the New Zealand Government made arrangements to send Mr Maekay to England to submit his patents to the English War Office. Thai department was in turn so impressed that, after tests, having been made. Air Alaekay’s: name was placed c,u the list of approved limb makers to the ]Grili>!i (Government, anil facilities pfot itlei.l lor tlie- ma mi fact lire cl the limbs. Duralim was in time substituted lor aluminium, artificial legs as well aarms were manufactured, and the lactory, whose humble beginning many New Zealand cs-sohlici s will remember. is now one of tlie largest of its kind in Britain. iIM I’.LhSS WORKMEN ONLY EMIT.! >Y ED. Probably i lie mo,I rema rka hie I'm! which sirikes I lie visitor to the Herbert street factory is that the whole of the staff employed there. including the manager. Mr .1. Ryan, the bookkeeper and metal workers aie limbless men. Air Ryan, who is-an expert limb maker, has lost his right forearm, hut nevertheless both he anil another member of the stall' who suffers from a similar handicap proceed with the aid ol their artificial substitutes in their delicate and highly technical work as II Iree from any disabilify. No more remarkable testimonial to the efficiency of the. limbs made could be provided; here are men using them in their daily associations, not with any idea of “stunting," hut simply that lhey have taken the place of those lost. A N.Z. ''Times" reporter who visited the factory viewed with interest those men using hammer, saw. drill, and knife with as niuih confidence and precision as if the limbs were natural. No one going through the factory could lail to lie struck with the value of the appliances in preventing that feeling ot inferiority. which, is the surest breeder of loss of self-respect. THE COST.

Of tli'. l ' 1017 limbless men in the Xew Zealand Forres over 700 lost legs, and the care of these men naturally entails the greater part of the Government's responsibility. The man who finds an artificial arm uncomfortable call throw it off and make shift, to do without it. A groat ntnnfier of arm amputees do not wear (heir artificial limbs at all. but l<> the man with a leg amputation the artificial substitute is essential. The cost of a log is from £2O 10s to C.‘!d, according to the position of the amputation, and the cost to the (internment may he roughly gauged from the fact that the average life of a leg is only from four to live years. Added to this practically the whole of the limbs require during each year repairs and acccsMirie- which bring the cost

"till higher. The old idea, fortunately now abandoned, was to make the limbs so strung that they would last indefinitely. Advanced knowledge showed that the effect of currying these heavy limbs around was detrimental to the health of the wearer to a serious degree, ami it was in the search lor the lighter limb that diiralim came into it> own. Whilst, the legs for above knee amputations, which were used in the early part of the war, were as heavy as 121 b. the duralim limbs of the same class manufactured by the Mackay Company are only 4}lb. a wonderful saving of deadweight. THE MACK A V PKIN'CTPLK.

The great success which lhe Mnckay limbs achieved in llritain came from the fact that each one built was an individual .job. Other firms were using duralim, but employing a system of mass production: parts were made according to standard siV.es and fitted together. with merely minor adjustments according to the needs of the wearer Mr .Hacktty realised that only a limited success could he achieved in this way, and gave each case individual attention. The same principle has bc-en retained in Wellington. Although the rough work is done at the London tactor.v, from figures cabled Home, the whole of the fitting and adjusting is done in Wellington by skilled workmen. A system of exchange of inentlters of the staff between the London and Wel-

lington workshops is already In operation, the idea being that not only will tho men coming out bring with them the latest ideas from Britain, but they will gain a first-hand knowledge of New Zealand requirements which will Iw useful on the other side. Naturally nothing that can he done can make up to the amputees for the loss of their limbs. The footballers who can no longer play, the tennis players, the runners, the swimmers, the workers who have been forced by their disability to seek other and perhaps less lucrative occupations—to none ot those can adequate compensation he given. “Fragments from France thc> called themselves with grim humour at Oatlands Bark, but recognising too inevitable they have the cheering knowledge that all that can be done towards the amelioration of their ml is being done, and that to no country does New Zealand give pride of place m the care she is showing for those who in the nation'll time of travail risked their all in her service.