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IN THE INTEREST OF THE WAR CRIPPLE.
1917 the most scientific principles, will fulfil a great need. The chief among its objects being to remove acute cases of facial and jaw injuries from the atmosphere of crowded hospitals into fresh country air and delightful surroundings, and so give these terrible wounds every chance to heal more rapidly after the frequent operations which are necessary ; also to provide cheerful outdoor occupation for the men, who frequently have to remain under treatment for 18 months to two years, and who suffer so acutely from mental depressi’on. Many of the cases are beyond description. Liberal grants have been made by the British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John and the National Relief Fund towards the cost of building, but a large sum is still required to complete and equip the hospital and workshops and to provide for their upkeep. Donations should be sent addressed to Mr. C. H. Kenderdine, honorary secretary and treasurer, St. Stephen’s House, Westminster, S. W. 1, marked "’The Queen’s Hospital." Cheques should be crossed "Lloyds on
Bank."-Yours
of embodied service. But his pay is, as a captain, 15s. 6d. a day-with allowances 20s. 3d. he gets nothing in lieu of the reserve pay of the Regular Army as does the temporary officer. I think the attached table should show the disparity that exists between the three branches of the same service. The pay of captain is taken in all instances. The gratuity of the Territorial Force officer is the average over a period of four years :-
obediently,
FRENCH, F.M., CLARENDON, CORISANDE RODNEY, ROSAMOND CORBET,
HEATH HARRISON, HUGH W. DRUMMOND, WALTER PEACOCK, GEO. J. WARDLE. St. Stephen’s House, Westminster, S.W. 1, July 25th, 1917.
IN THE INTEREST OF THE WAR CRIPPLE. To the Editor of THE LANCET. of July 21st under this title occurs the statement that in this country a pension once Is this awarded can never be taken away or diminished." so ? On the contrary, is it not a fact that pensions when first awarded are "temporary pensions," subject to revision at the end of six months or a year ? Does not your very "The only fact to be deternext sentence imply this ? mined on pension revision is whether physical disability has been reduced by treatment : the question of earning capacity does not arise." What is the revision for, if not to consider the possibilty of lowering the pension ? May I also comment on the second sentence I have quoted ? You say that"the question of earning capacity does not arise." But at the meeting of the board to consider pension revision the disabled man is certain to be asked, "What wages are you getting?" I submit that a consid eration of the man’s answer is one of the most usual methods of arriving at a decision. I am, Sir, yours faithfully, PAUL BERNARD ROTH. Harley-street, W., July 21st, 1917. Our confuses two correspondent *** separate issues, but we admit that neither we, nor our quoted authorities, were very clear. Temporary pensions are granted in respect of disablement which is likely to be of a temporary nature and these are liable to revision as the disability diminishes. A pension once awarded under the scheduled scale in respect of a lost limb or permanent mutilation can never be taken away or diminished, however proficient the cripple becomes. Revision boards are in any case prohibited from asking what wages a man is earning, and the question of his earning capacity therefore cannot arise.-ED. L.
SIR,-In your leading article
-
..._
,
THE PAY OF MEDICAL OFFICERS IN THE TERRITORIAL FORCE. To the Editor of THE LANCET. have read with interest the recent correspondence SIR,-I in your journal on the above subject.. There seems to me to ’i exist, however, a very real grievance that, so far, no one has touched upon. A regular Naval or Army doctor may withdraw, at certain periods, from their service with a gratuity that works out at .E125 (or 7s. per diem reserved pay) for each year of embodied service. The temporary R.A.M.C. officer is paid at the rate of 25s. 9d. per diem, including ration allowance, which might be taken as equivalent to 15s. 6d. a day pay, plus 7s. reserved pay, plus 3s. 3d. allowances ; and in addition to this he draws a gratuity of £60 a year, which would be on a par with the regular officer’s special war bonus, paid on cessation of hostilities. This gratuity or special war bonus, too, does the Territorial Force officer draw (cp. Royal Warrant for Pay, &c., of the Army of 1914, para. 497 (b)), which, taken over a period of four years, works out at an average of Z60 a year for each year
*
This does not include any Special War Bonus. on Captain’s pay plus second year’s bonus.
t Calculated
is in the inverse ratio of merit ? The man who or on outbreak of war, joins at considerable personal sacrifice is paid the least (,y). He who joins for his own convenience comes next (a)-the army is his profession. While the man who waits to make a bargain or comes iu against his will gets paid most (,8). I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
Surely this
in peace
time,
CAPTAIN, R.A.M.C. (T.F.), --
July
-
--
Late Surgeon, R.N.
25th, 1917.
URBAN VITAL STATISTICS. i (Week ended July 28th, 1917.) English and Welsh Towns.-In the 96 English and Welsh towns, with an aggregate civil population estimated at nearly 17,000.000 persons, the annual rate of mortality was 11’2 per 1000, and coincided with that recorded in the previous week. In London, with a population exceed-
ing 4,000,000 persons, the death-rate was 10’4, or 0’2 per 1000 below that in the previous week; among the remaining towns the in Merthyr Tydfil, and death-rates ranged from 5 5 in 5’9 in Ilford and in Gillingham, to 19’8 in Rotherham, 32’8 in Stocktonand in 23’0 on-Tees, Middlesbrough. The principal epidemic diseases caused 257 deaths, which corresponded to an annual rate of 0’8 per 1000, and included 95 from infantile diarrhcea, 76 from measles, 42 from whooping-cough, 33 from diphtheria, 7 from scarlet fever, and 4 from enteric fever. The deaths from diarrhoea were 42 in excess of the number in the previous week, and included 23 in London, 11 in Birmingham, 9 in Liverpool, and 6 in Sheffield. Measles caused the highest rates of 1’9 in South Shields, 2’4 in Northampton,
Reading, 5’6
and 2’7 in
Middlesbrough. The
diphtheria
651
cases
of scarlet fever and 108 of
under treatment in the
Metropolitan Asylums Hospitals Hospital were respectively 13 and 14 above
and the London Fever the numbers remaining at the end of the previous week. Of the 3645 deaths from all causes in the 96 towns 153 resulted from violence. The causes of 23 deaths were uncertified, of which 6 were registered in Birmingham and 3 each in Liverpool, South Shields, and Gateshead, but not one in London. Scotch Towns.-In the 16 largest Scotch towns, with an aggregate population estimated at nearly 2,500,000 persons, the annual deathrate was 12’9. against 16’7 and 12’5 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks. The 273 deaths in Glasgow corresponded to an annual rate of 12’8 per 1000, and included 15 from whooping-cough, 8 from measles, 7 from infantile diarrhoea, and 1 from diphtheria. The 63 deaths in Edinburgh were equal to a rate of 10’7 per 1000, and included 2 each from whooping-cough and infantile diarrhoea and 1 from scarlet fever. Irish Towns.-The 113 deaths in Dublin corresponded to an annual rate of 14’8, or 0’9 per 1000 in excess of that recorded in the previous week, and included 4 from infantile diarrhoea. 3 from whoopingcough, and 2 from measles. The 87 deaths in Belfast were equal to a rate of 11’5 per 1000, and included 2 each from whooping-cough and infantile diarrhoea.
CENTENARIAN.-Mrs. Elizabeth Wood celebrated the 100th
anniversary of her birthday at Chatham July 28th, having been born on that day in 1817.
on
-
THE LATE
DR. JAMES
NICHOLLS.-James Nicholls,
M.D. St. And., M.R.C.P. Edin., F.R.C.S. Eng., who died at St. Columb, Cornwall, on July 28th, in his eighty-seventh year, belonged to an old West of England family and received his medical education at St. George’s Hospital and the University of St. Andrews. He was for many years in practice at Wiveliscombe, contributed to THE LANCET, and wrote an article on Excision of the Ankle-joint in Holmes’s " System of Surgery." He had a sound knowledge of his professional work, and was an authority on the folk-lore of Cornwall. By his death a highly educated practitioner of the older stamp has been removed from among us.
Bank."-Yours
of embodied service. But his pay is, as a captain, 15s. 6d. a day-with allowances 20s. 3d. he gets nothing in lieu of the reserve pay of the Regular Army as does the temporary officer. I think the attached table should show the disparity that exists between the three branches of the same service. The pay of captain is taken in all instances. The gratuity of the Territorial Force officer is the average over a period of four years :-
obediently,
FRENCH, F.M., CLARENDON, CORISANDE RODNEY, ROSAMOND CORBET,
HEATH HARRISON, HUGH W. DRUMMOND, WALTER PEACOCK, GEO. J. WARDLE. St. Stephen’s House, Westminster, S.W. 1, July 25th, 1917.
IN THE INTEREST OF THE WAR CRIPPLE. To the Editor of THE LANCET. of July 21st under this title occurs the statement that in this country a pension once Is this awarded can never be taken away or diminished." so ? On the contrary, is it not a fact that pensions when first awarded are "temporary pensions," subject to revision at the end of six months or a year ? Does not your very "The only fact to be deternext sentence imply this ? mined on pension revision is whether physical disability has been reduced by treatment : the question of earning capacity does not arise." What is the revision for, if not to consider the possibilty of lowering the pension ? May I also comment on the second sentence I have quoted ? You say that"the question of earning capacity does not arise." But at the meeting of the board to consider pension revision the disabled man is certain to be asked, "What wages are you getting?" I submit that a consid eration of the man’s answer is one of the most usual methods of arriving at a decision. I am, Sir, yours faithfully, PAUL BERNARD ROTH. Harley-street, W., July 21st, 1917. Our confuses two correspondent *** separate issues, but we admit that neither we, nor our quoted authorities, were very clear. Temporary pensions are granted in respect of disablement which is likely to be of a temporary nature and these are liable to revision as the disability diminishes. A pension once awarded under the scheduled scale in respect of a lost limb or permanent mutilation can never be taken away or diminished, however proficient the cripple becomes. Revision boards are in any case prohibited from asking what wages a man is earning, and the question of his earning capacity therefore cannot arise.-ED. L.
SIR,-In your leading article
-
..._
,
THE PAY OF MEDICAL OFFICERS IN THE TERRITORIAL FORCE. To the Editor of THE LANCET. have read with interest the recent correspondence SIR,-I in your journal on the above subject.. There seems to me to ’i exist, however, a very real grievance that, so far, no one has touched upon. A regular Naval or Army doctor may withdraw, at certain periods, from their service with a gratuity that works out at .E125 (or 7s. per diem reserved pay) for each year of embodied service. The temporary R.A.M.C. officer is paid at the rate of 25s. 9d. per diem, including ration allowance, which might be taken as equivalent to 15s. 6d. a day pay, plus 7s. reserved pay, plus 3s. 3d. allowances ; and in addition to this he draws a gratuity of £60 a year, which would be on a par with the regular officer’s special war bonus, paid on cessation of hostilities. This gratuity or special war bonus, too, does the Territorial Force officer draw (cp. Royal Warrant for Pay, &c., of the Army of 1914, para. 497 (b)), which, taken over a period of four years, works out at an average of Z60 a year for each year
*
This does not include any Special War Bonus. on Captain’s pay plus second year’s bonus.
t Calculated
is in the inverse ratio of merit ? The man who or on outbreak of war, joins at considerable personal sacrifice is paid the least (,y). He who joins for his own convenience comes next (a)-the army is his profession. While the man who waits to make a bargain or comes iu against his will gets paid most (,8). I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
Surely this
in peace
time,
CAPTAIN, R.A.M.C. (T.F.), --
July
-
--
Late Surgeon, R.N.
25th, 1917.
URBAN VITAL STATISTICS. i (Week ended July 28th, 1917.) English and Welsh Towns.-In the 96 English and Welsh towns, with an aggregate civil population estimated at nearly 17,000.000 persons, the annual rate of mortality was 11’2 per 1000, and coincided with that recorded in the previous week. In London, with a population exceed-
ing 4,000,000 persons, the death-rate was 10’4, or 0’2 per 1000 below that in the previous week; among the remaining towns the in Merthyr Tydfil, and death-rates ranged from 5 5 in 5’9 in Ilford and in Gillingham, to 19’8 in Rotherham, 32’8 in Stocktonand in 23’0 on-Tees, Middlesbrough. The principal epidemic diseases caused 257 deaths, which corresponded to an annual rate of 0’8 per 1000, and included 95 from infantile diarrhcea, 76 from measles, 42 from whooping-cough, 33 from diphtheria, 7 from scarlet fever, and 4 from enteric fever. The deaths from diarrhoea were 42 in excess of the number in the previous week, and included 23 in London, 11 in Birmingham, 9 in Liverpool, and 6 in Sheffield. Measles caused the highest rates of 1’9 in South Shields, 2’4 in Northampton,
Reading, 5’6
and 2’7 in
Middlesbrough. The
diphtheria
651
cases
of scarlet fever and 108 of
under treatment in the
Metropolitan Asylums Hospitals Hospital were respectively 13 and 14 above
and the London Fever the numbers remaining at the end of the previous week. Of the 3645 deaths from all causes in the 96 towns 153 resulted from violence. The causes of 23 deaths were uncertified, of which 6 were registered in Birmingham and 3 each in Liverpool, South Shields, and Gateshead, but not one in London. Scotch Towns.-In the 16 largest Scotch towns, with an aggregate population estimated at nearly 2,500,000 persons, the annual deathrate was 12’9. against 16’7 and 12’5 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks. The 273 deaths in Glasgow corresponded to an annual rate of 12’8 per 1000, and included 15 from whooping-cough, 8 from measles, 7 from infantile diarrhoea, and 1 from diphtheria. The 63 deaths in Edinburgh were equal to a rate of 10’7 per 1000, and included 2 each from whooping-cough and infantile diarrhoea and 1 from scarlet fever. Irish Towns.-The 113 deaths in Dublin corresponded to an annual rate of 14’8, or 0’9 per 1000 in excess of that recorded in the previous week, and included 4 from infantile diarrhoea. 3 from whoopingcough, and 2 from measles. The 87 deaths in Belfast were equal to a rate of 11’5 per 1000, and included 2 each from whooping-cough and infantile diarrhoea.
CENTENARIAN.-Mrs. Elizabeth Wood celebrated the 100th
anniversary of her birthday at Chatham July 28th, having been born on that day in 1817.
on
-
THE LATE
DR. JAMES
NICHOLLS.-James Nicholls,
M.D. St. And., M.R.C.P. Edin., F.R.C.S. Eng., who died at St. Columb, Cornwall, on July 28th, in his eighty-seventh year, belonged to an old West of England family and received his medical education at St. George’s Hospital and the University of St. Andrews. He was for many years in practice at Wiveliscombe, contributed to THE LANCET, and wrote an article on Excision of the Ankle-joint in Holmes’s " System of Surgery." He had a sound knowledge of his professional work, and was an authority on the folk-lore of Cornwall. By his death a highly educated practitioner of the older stamp has been removed from among us.