328 ASHFORD— APPLICATION OF SANITARY SCIENCE TO 



supervises the simple sanitary arrangements of his sector and catches 

 the first signs of a communicable disease in his command. The 

 trench is no place to keep a sick man, but it takes a real doctor to 

 determine whether he is sick, worn out or ailing. All communicable 

 diseases are immediately evacuated if possible, bvit many an incipient 

 " shell shock " or case of homesickness has been exorcised by a keen 

 young medical officer in the trenches. One of his great duties is to 

 " keep men on the line " and the man who aids in doing this has a 

 friend in the battalion commander. There is no one for whom the 

 men have greater respect, in whom they have greater faith, for 

 whom they entertain a more loyal affection than " their doctor " 

 unless it be their own personal commander, and this is as it should 

 be. This picture has been attempted to show how strong a represen- 

 tation sanitary science has at the elbow of the fighting men and that 

 it is this human touch, humanely administered, that makes the 

 practice of hygiene possible among our troops. The most that we 

 ask, that we require, of our men under fire is to be as clean as pos- 

 sible and decent always. 



The Sanitation of Open Warfare. 



Here sanitation is reduced to a mere shred, but the little that can 

 be done often makes the difference between ultimate victory or 

 defeat. 



The essentials are : 



1. Hot food, 



2. Disposal of feces and urine, 



3. Safe water, 



4. Burial of bodies and carcasses, 



5. A reasonable amount of rest. 



Food is supplied by wheeled kitchens, a great boon to soldiers. 

 Hot liquids are a tremendous stimulus to exhausted soldiers and the 

 measure of good done by our Red Cross, Salvation Army, Knights 

 of Columbus, Y. M. C. A. and other patriotic societies to soldiers 

 going up to and returning from the battlefield has left a grateful 

 memory in the soldier. 



Pioneer battalions are absolutely necessary in these modem wars. 

 They should follow the troops, bury animals, bodies, etc., burn refuse 



