WAR'S GRIM PENALTY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 97, 30 May 1914, Page 4

WAR'S GRIM PENALTY.

The "Koeluisehe Zeitung," which recently printed an advertisement setting forth that a Balkan State desired to get into communication-with a firm able to supply several thousand artificial limbs immediately, now publishes an article from a Bulgarian Army surgeon describing the pitiful condition of the mained soldiery in the streets of Sofia six months after the conclusion of peace. "Our industry is totally unable to deliver the quantity of artificial limbs required to turn the young armless and legless men at least outwardly into whole men," writes this officer. "Frequently one meets in the streets groups of such war cripples painfully dragging themselves along with the aid of sticks and supports shaped by their own hands."

The surgeon denounces modern Avar offices which expend money lavishly on other branches of the service, but reduce expenditure on medical service to the barest necessities. As the result of his experiences in the field, lie declares that a great proportion of the losses could have been avoided.