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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1919)
PAG li 4 T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N TH E EXTINCT GREAT A U K E ggs of any kind are expensive en o u g h now adays but those of th e g reat auk are so h ig h — and not on account of th e w ar, e ith e r— th a t only a m illionaire could afford to buy a dozen, says th e B altim ore A m er ican. Indeed, it is doubtful if th e re are m ore th an th a t m any in the w orld. T h e great auk was a sea fowl th at in form er days had its most im p o rtan t breeding place on a rock called F u n k island, 32 m iles off N ew fo u n d lan d coast. W halers provisioned th eir sh ip s w ith th e birds (w h ich w ere so fat th a t they are said to have been utilized as fu el), and fisherm en stole th e ir eggs by wholesale. In consequence of such d ep red atio n s th e species be come ex tin ct about 70 years ago, and today to re p resent it th ere are only a few stuffed specim ens and skeletons in m useum s. Also a few eggs, one of w hich in 1859 fetched $90 at auction. Since th en , how ever, they have gone up . In 1882 one w as sold for $500; a n o th er egg, in 1895, was knocked dow n at $825. F o u r years later one b ro u g h t $1,500, and in 1900 the price quoted f o r a specim en was $1,678. T h e Sm ithsonian In stitu tio n possesses an egg and a barrelfu l of m iscellaneous auk bones— th e la tte r col lected bv a scientific expedition w hich it sent to F u n k island for the purpose. O ne day a few years ago a scientist connected with the S m ithsonian happened to be in L ondon and, pass ing a ta x id e rm is t’s shop, he saw a stuffed g reat auk in th e w indow . H e nearly dropped w ith asto n ish m en t. But ju st as arran g em en ts for its p u rchase at a g reat price w ere on the po in t of b eing com pleted th e d is covery was m ade th a t th e bird was a “ cam o u flag e,” m ade o u t of odds and ends of d u ck s, geese and o th er b irds and fowls. F or exam ple a m an w as b ro u g h t in w ith his chin shot en tirely aw ay. T h e surgeons w ere obliged to perform five different operations for him but they succeeded in b u ild in g a new chin and jaw . I t was a com m on th in g to save arm s and legs w hich th e old-tim e surgeon could not possibly have saved but w ould have am p u tated p ro m p tly , believing th a t the only way to save th e life of the p a tie n t—and th e chances, at th a t, were u sually unfavorable. D elicate operations on punctu red lu n g s and th e in testin es are perform ed daily and the lives of m any m en are th u s saved. A side from th e m erciful, h u m an itarian considera tions of saving lives and lim bs and preventing suffering, th e efficient, u p -to -d ate hospital treatm en t available for A m erican soldiers— they could not get b etter or m ore com petent surgical atten tio n in th e best hospitals in th e ir hom e la n d —pays well from a financial point of view; it is figured th a t one of th e big evacuation hospitals w hich has been operated u nder A m erican control but a sh o rt tim e by carin g for U . S. soldiers has saved no less th a n $3,000,000 to U ncle Sam in in surance; th a t is, th is am ount in insurance would have com e o u t of th e g o v ern m e n t’s funds had th e men H eated in th is hospital died. LONGEVITY OF OUR P R E SID E N T S An article in a B ritish m edical jo u rn al some tim e ago called atten tio n to th e rem arkable longevity of the p resid en ts of th e U nited S tates. T h eir ages, it was recalled, w ere as follows: 67, 90, 83, 85, 73, 80, 78, 79, 68, 71, 53, 65, 74, 64, 77, 56, 66, 63, 70, 49, 56, 7 1 ,6 7 .5 8 . T hose w ho died at 56, 49 and 58 w’ere, respectively, L incoln, G arfield and M cK inley who w ere assassinated. T h e ages of the 24 men total 1,663 and th e average is 69 years each, indicatin g th a t the d u ties and responsibilities of th e presidency a p SUCCESSFUL W A R SU R G E R Y p aren tly do not shorten th e lives of incum bents. A m ercan w ar h ospitals are recognized as being w ith T h e follow ing are generally given as th e causes of out an equal anyw here and the su rg eo n s and nurses in d ea th of the presidents: W ash in g to n , pneum onia them are w orking w onders in th e trea tm en t of sick (m o re correct acco u n ts sta te edem atous affection of and w ounded m en. T h e largest A m erican evacuation th e w indpipe or m em branous c ro u p ); J. A dam s, hospital, not far from th e b attle line was equipped d eb ility ; Jefferson, chronic d iarrhea; M adison, debil w ith 1800 beds and its surgeons, am ong th e forem ost ity; M onroe, debility; J. Q. A dam s, paralysis; Jack- in th eir profession in the w orld can tak e care of 2500 son, consum ption and dropsy; V an B uren, asthm atic surgical cases in 15 to 16 hours. c a ta rrh ; H arriso n , bilious pleurisy; T y ler, bilious a t T h e w ounded men reached th e hospital w ithin the tack (w ith b ro n ch itis); Polk, chronic diarrhea; T a y sh o rtest possible tim e, the m ethods of tre a tin g them lor. cholera m orbus and typhoid fever, F illm ore, d e w ere th e best know n to science and the eq u ip m en t of bility; Pierce, dropsy and inflam m ation of stom ach; th e hospital was unsurpassed; as a resu lt 90 per cent B uchanan, rh eu m atic gou t; L incoln, assassination; of th e w ounds w ere treated w ith o u t any pus being a l Jo h n so n , paralysis; G ra n t, cancer of the tongue and low ed to form in them . th ro a t; H ayes, paralysis of the heart; G arfield, assas Soldiers often entered the hospital w ith w ounds th at sin atio n ; A rth u r, B rig h t’s disease, paralysis and apo o rd in arily w ould be expected to b rin g d eath w ith in a plexy; Cleveland, debility; B. H arriso n , pneum onia; short tim e and left it practically w hole and sound. M cK inlev, assassination.
