THE GROG Vol. 6 Number 1 Winter 2011

2011·2.1 MB·English

by  BUMED Office of Medical History

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Introduction
The year 2011 is a bicentennial of sorts for the Navy Med-
ical Department. On 26 February 1811, a Congressional
Act was signed into law by President Madison establish-
ing permanent Navy hospitals in the United States. We
thought about celebrating this impressive heritage with a
birthday cake, but with space at a premium at the Bureau,
it is unlikely we could find a room big enough for a pas-
try burdened with 200 candles (let alone finding anyone
who would want to spend their afternoon blowing these
candles out!) So, as a means of keeping things “less com-
THE GROG plicated” while adhering to the fire codes, the Office of
A Journal of Navy Medical Medical History has decided to use this anniversary as
History and Culture
an excuse to recommence a little publication called THE
GROG. First started in 2006 as a bimonthly digest of
Senior Historian:
Navy Medical History and originally known as The Grog
Mr. Jan K. Herman
Ration, the 2011 version remains wholly unchanged ex-
cept for an abbreviated name and for the fact it is now a
Editor:
quarterly. THE GROG will continue to serve as a means
Mr. André B. Sobocinski
of documenting and presenting the history of the Navy
Medical Department, both of distant and recent memory.
Oral History Editor:
Mr. Dick Ginn
COL, MSC, USA (Ret.) In this issue we offer you an eclectic mix of Navy medi-
cal history and culture from medical observations of the
Archives: Russo-Japanese War and the story of the first (and unex-
Ms. Debbie Gerlock pected) test faced by a newly commissioned naval hospi-
tal in 1905 to a history of the first women in the Hospital
THE GROG is a free quarterly
Corps. And in this and future editions we will showcase
publication of the Office of Medical
the growing collection of artifacts and oral histories from
History dedicated to the promotion
and preservation of the history and the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Library and Ar-
culture of the Navy Medical De-
chives. In the end, as your humble tour boat on the vast
partment. Articles and information
ocean of Navy medical history, THE GROG will offer you
published in THE GROG are his-
a perfect blend of entertainment and education.
torical and are not meant to reflect
the present-day policy of the Navy
ABS
Medical Department, U.S. Navy, ~
and/or the Department of Defense.
2 WINTER 2011
THE GROG
A JOURNAL OF NAVY MEDICAL HISTORY AND CULTURE
Features
Dr. Rixey and Medical Observations
of the Russo-Japanese War..........................................................page 4
Treating the Czar’s Navy:
page 4...Surgeon General Rixey The Story of Naval Hospital Cañacao’s First Test.....................page 11
Join the Waves:
A History of the First Women in the Hospital Corps..............page 13
Showcase
Hospital Corps Do’s and Don’t’s:
The Posters of Coleman Anderson.............................................page 16
Preserving Portsmouth and Philadelphia:
A Look at the Project to Preserve the Original
Plans of the Navy’s First Permanent Hospitals.........................page 18
BUMED’s Oral History Project...................................................page 20
by Richard Ginn
page 11...NH Cañacao in 1905
From the Book Locker:
The White House Doctor: A Memoir..........................................page 21
by Ludwig Deppisch, MD
The Lucky Bag:
Navy Medical Culture Through Factoid and Photograph........page 22
page 13...Catch the WAVES
THE GROG 3
DR. RIXEY & MEDICAL
OBSERVATIONS OF THE
RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR
Rear Admiral Presley Marion Rixey (1852-1928)
All images from the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Library and Archives
4 WINTER 2011
As the Navy’s Surgeon reinstitution of hospital ships. ships, prevention of camp diseases,
General in the first de- Known as the “first modern war methods of determining potability
cade of the 20th century, of the 20th century,” the Russo-Jap- of water supply, sanitation, trans-
RADM Presley Rixey anese War (6 February 1904-15 Oc- portation of wounded, disposal of
was undeniably linked to the age tober 1905) offered global powers the dead after battle, use of trained
of progress and internationalism in standing on the sidelines a learning female nurses and other female as-
which he lived. It is more than con- opportunity in tactical and medico- sistance in naval hospitals, and
jecture to presume that Rixey fell military matters. And for Admiral the organization, equipping, and
under the influence of his friend Rixey, this was a chance to answer function of field, stationary, and
and commander-in-chief patient that simple question that has loomed base hospitals and supply depots.3
Theodore Roosevelt on this front. large in the minds of every leader Nine months after the war’s cessa-
Like Roosevelt, Rixey was a reform- who has ever been at the helm of the tion, the Bureau of Medicine and
ist interested in global affairs. And if Navy Medical Department: “What Surgery published and distributed
it could be said that Roosevelt had can be can be adopted or improved 1,000 copies of reports through-
his hand on the pulse of the global upon in this organization?” out the military and to members of
community, then as White House Since the Sino-Japanese War Congress. Due to their popularity,
physician Dr. Presley Rixey could (1893), the Japanese army and navy Senator Boise Penrose of Pennsylva-
literally boast of having the pulse of medical departments had earned nia introduced a Senate resolution
the man who had the pulse. reputations for being among the authorizing the printing of another
Rixey’s expanded outlook can be best organized in the world.2 Be- 1,000 copies later that year.4
seen in a report to the Secretary of fore its war with Japan, the Imperial
the Navy in which he declared that Russian military forces were widely Observations on the
the Navy Medical Department was considered among the most power- Japanese Navy Medical
committed to providing medical as- ful, but less was known about the Department
sistance in “national emergencies” Russian military medical depart- Surgeon Braisted’s Report on the
with reference to Nicaragua, Sicily, ments. In December 1904, Dr. Rix- Japanese Naval Medical and Sanitary
and Turkey.1 In addition to what we ey nominated his protégé, Surgeon Features of the Russo-Japanese War
may now term “humanitarian as- William Braisted, as medical ob- to the Surgeon-General, U.S. Navy
sistance” operations, Admiral Rixey server to the Japanese navy. Months was first published in July 1906. It
took interest in medical observa- later in May 1905, Rixey nominated is a descriptive 82-page document
tions of foreign wars and reaping Surgeon Raymond Spear as medical peppered with personal commen-
lessons learned from them. observer to the Russian forces. tary and analysis that details visits
With the imperial war between Ostensibly their missions were to Japanese navy medical facilities,
Russia and Japan raging in Asia, identical. In a letter to Secretary of including the country’s fleet of hos-
Rixey sent two of his medical of- the Navy Paul Morton, Rixey out- pital ships. In his introduction, Dr.
ficers to these nations with the ex- lined that the medical observers Braisted emphasized his objectivity
plicit instructions to “observe and would focus on “facts of personal in findings and declared that one
report” on their findings. And as interest or medico-military impor- must “avoid with care the too preva-
curious as it may seem, the final re- tance which come under the eye of lent tendency to idealize everything
ports may have inspired some of the observation.” Special reference was Japanese.”5
advances in the U.S. Navy Medical given to securing asepsis in wounds,
Department at the beginning of the discovering better methods and Discipline and Patriotism
20th century including the estab- agencies of handling of wounded in Surgeon Braisted postulated that
lishment of a Nurse Corps and the and after battle, the value of hospital the respectable status of the Japa-
1. Report of Surgeon-General, United States Navy. Washington, DC: GPO. 1910. p28
2. McCallum, Jack. Military Medicine: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. 2008. p282
3. Presley Rixey Letter to Paul Morton, 19 December 1904. BUMED General Correspondence Files. (Letter # 92857)
4. Presley Rixey Letter, 23 February 1906. BUMED General Correspondence Files. (Letter # 96085)
5. Braisted, William. Report on the Japanese Naval Medical and Sanitary Features of the Russo-Japanese War to the Surgeon-General,
U.S. Navy. Washington, DC: GPO. 1906. p6
THE GROG 5
nese military medical organizations Navy Hospitals
owe to a “high level of patriotism” In 1905, Japan had four distinct
and a long entrenched, rigid feudal naval hospitals located in Sasebo,
system where strict obedience had Kure, Tokosuka, and Maizuru, each
long been inculcated. As a result, the planned by Baron Takaki Kanehiro
discipline of the Japanese army and (1849-1920), former medical direc-
navy, according to Braisted, had no tor of the Japanese Imperial Navy,
parallels. He explained that “Mem- and all located in prime park-like
bers of these organizations are abso- settings oft en boasting majestic
lutely to be depended on, and their views of bays. Japanese naval hos-
patriotism keeps them constantly pitals were pavilion style with cen-
at the highest point of effi cient ac- tral administration buildings and
tivity. If men are told not to drink, brick pavilion wards. Th e hospitals
they obey; if they are told by their contained separate convelescent fa-
offi cers how to take care of their cilities, bacteriological and patho-
bodies, their clothes, their selec- logical laboratories, and special de-
tion of food, they follow implicitly tachments for contagious diseases
their instructions; hence we see an and the insane. Braisted applauded
immense organized body moving the uniformity and completeness of
as by magic; hence comes freedom detail of each naval hospital and the
from disease caused by careless liv- abundance of supplies and medi-
ing.”6 In fact, Braisted asserted that cal instruments and dressings. Th e
the U.S. Navy could learn discipline Japanese access to well-equipped re-
and unwavering obedience from search laboratories was certainly to
the Japanese navy.7 Th e American be striven for in the U.S. Navy.
recruit, by comparison, is bright, However, as a whole, Dr. Braisted
intelligent and loyal, but diffi cult believed that U.S. Navy hospitals
to control. Braisted added that the were much more effi cient to the
American serviceman “delights in Navy’s own needs than the Japanese
doing all sorts of dare-devil tricks models. As an example, the Japanese
TOP. Convelescing patients at Na-
that only too oft en end disastrous- hospitals did not compare to U.S.
val Hospital Sasebo. Dr. Braisted
ly…only long training and much ex- Naval Hospital Brooklyn, NY, then
noted that all Japanese naval hospi-
perience tend to change the aspect the fl agship Navy hospital and even
tals were situated in prime park-like
of his character.”8 asserted that many Navy medical
settings that were ideal for patients.
facilities in our U.S. cities were aes-
Leadership and Education thetically more pleasing than their
Middle. Surgical ward at Naval
Dr. Braisted looked at the Japanese Japanese counterparts.10
Hospital Sasebo.
medical offi cer as a model leader.
He was “dignifi ed but approachable, Hospital ships
Bottom. Hospital Ward at Naval
and his demeanor toward his inferi- In 1905, the Japanese had two
Hospital Matzura.
ors is kind, interested, and tolerant.” Navy hospital ships in commis-
Braisted also noted that many of the sion—Saikio Maru and Kobe Maru.
Japanese medical offi cers were edu- Th ey were originally merchant
cated at German universities.9 ships with spacious medical and
6. Ibid., p7
7. Ibid., p8
8. Ibid., p7
9. Ibid., pp7-8
10. Ibid., p28
6 WINTER 2011
Photograph and plans of Japanese Hospital
Ship Kobe Maru.
operating rooms, electrical lights in were to be employed then the medi- importance of their duty and a high
abundance, plenty of light and air, cal offi cer should be in command of sense of their calling is impressed
and bacteriological and chemistry offi cial orders and business. Braisted on them from the beginning of their
laboratories. As sister ships, each added that the “command is dis- career. Th ey are usually between the
accommodated about 200 patients. tinctly a noncombatant one, and so ages of 18 and 30, and before under-
Overall, Braisted believed there was oft en distasteful to line offi cers who taking their instruction as nurses
nothing “of special importance” that are desirous of following more dis- are examined in reading, writing,
could be adopted other than the fact tinctly professional routine.”11 Th is composition, and arithmetic. Th eir
that the Japanese relied on hospital issue would soon become a fi re- training as nurses covers a period
ships. As a physician with experi- storm in the Rixey administration.12 of three years, divided into periods
ence on hospitals ships and even of eighteen months each. During
once tasked with fi tting out USS Re- Female Nurses the fi rst they devote themselves to
lief, Dr. Brasted attested that the U.S. Dr. Braisted outlined that Japanese technical and theoretical subjects;
hospital ships in the Spanish-Amer- female nurses usually had charge of during the second period they de-
ican War were superior to their Jap- the surgical wards and special cases vote themselves to practical work
anese counterparts. at all Navy hospitals. Th ese “Navy” and the application of the principles
In reviewing the chain of com- nurses, as well as their “Army” taught in the fi rst period…Th ey are
mand aboard hospital ships, Dr. counterparts, actually came from scrupulously neat, dignifi ed, alert,
Braisted pointed to the fact that the the Red Cross Society. Each were intelligent, and absolutely to be de-
Japanese employed a civilian cap- well trained and always detailed to pended upon.” According to Braist-
tain and senior medical offi cer to hospitals in couples—so they would ed, Japanese nurses were worthy of
command the respective parts of the have the moral and physical sup- imitation.13
ship. Braisted recommended that port of the other and live in separate
the organization aboard U.S. hospi- quarters off the hospital campuses. Observations on Russian
tal ships be divided into the medical If there was one aspect of the Japa- Military Medicine
and navigating departments with nese Navy that Braisted champi- Surgeon Raymond Spear’s Report
the senior medical offi cer in com- oned more than anything else it on the Russian Medical and Sani-
mand of the hospital parts of the was the use of these skilled nurses. tary Features of the Russo-Japanese
ship. If a civilian captain and crew Braisted wrote that the “idea of the War to the Surgeon-General, U.S.
11. Ibid., p17
12. In 1907, President Roosevelt sided with Dr. Rixey on the proposal that medical offi cers command hospital ships. When it became
clear that Roosevelt was not going to budge on his decision, Admiral Willard Brownson, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, re-
signed in protest.
13. Braisted, p59
THE GROG 7
Navy, diff ers in outlook from Braist- apothecaries. In addition to physi-
ed’s in the sole fact that he focused cians and hospital corpsmen, the
his observations almost wholly on Russia Army and Navy employed
the army versus the navy. Surgeon “feldshers” (equivalent to physi-
Spear’s arrival in Russia followed cian assistants), medical students,
the Japanese surprise attack on Port female nurses, and male attendants
Arthur (marking the beginning of (called “sanitats”—untrained en-
the war), and the devastating Battle listed servicemen serving in medi-
of Tsushima (May 1905); in essence, cal capacity).16
by the time of Dr. Spear’s arrival, the
Czar’s navy had been almost com- Female Nurses
pletely destroyed and there were Dr. Spear, like Dr. Braisted, high-
fewer activities and stations to ob- lighted the excellent work of female
serve. nurses abroad. Like the Japanese
nurses, Russian nurses (called “sis-
Russian Medical Personnel ters”) came from the Russian Red
Dr. Spear pointed to the fact that Cross Society. At the time, the Rus- RRuussssiiaann ““ssiisstteerr”” iinn tthhee fifi eelldd.. UUnn--
in 1905 all Russian doctors were sian Red Cross was the largest and like Japanese nurses, or the fi rst
“reservists” since all are subject to most powerful of its kind in the American Navy Nurses, Russian
orders from the government. As a world and headed by the Czarina Red Cross nurses served in the
result, in times of war it was easy for Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova. fi eld and even shipboard.
the army and navy to achieve a ready Unlike their Japanese counterparts,
supply of medical practitioners these sisters took care of almost all
from the civilian world.14 Th ese Rus- nursing in fi eld, aboard transports,
sian doctors were all very well edu- sanitary trains, and base hospitals in edly due to the outdoor life they
cated and almost all of them spoke addition to the fi xed hospital facili- led.”18
German and French fl uently, more ties. Dr. Spear off ered that as nurs-
than a few spoke English. Medical es, “Russian women are generally Transportation of Wounded
courses were modeled on German blessed with strong physiques, and One of the ineffi ciencies Spear
universities and they had access to the amount of work and untiring highlighted was the transporta-
large modern medical schools. manner in which they performed tion of the wounded in the fi eld.
Th e Russian medical organiza- their duties elicited the highest “When a wounded man is placed on
tion was divided into the military praise from all who observed their a stretcher at the front, the stretcher
districts of Finland, Moscow, work.”17 Th eir work in the fi eld was becomes his permanent bed, so then
Odessa, Karsan, Turkestan, Valdi- exemplary. Although Spear noted it is important to not look upon a
vostok, St. Petersberg, Kiev, War- that the question of whether it was stretcher as a contrivance for tem-
saw, Caucasia, Omsk, Siberia, and advisable to have women nurses in porary resting place of a disabled
Harbin with each district in charge the fi eld was still an open one, the soldier during transportation, but
of its own distinct Army organiza- sisters “adapted themselves to life also bear in mind it becomes his
tion.15 in the fi eld as well as men. Many of permanent bed for probably sev-
Th e Russian Hospital Corps them, in fact, were in better health eral days.”19 Spear did not witness
was a distinct order separate from at the end of the war than they were any stretcher drills and noted that
the corps of medical offi cers, and at the beginning. Th is was undoubt- the Russians carried the stretch-
14. Spear, Raymond. Report on the Russian Medical and Sanitary Features of the Russo-Japanese War to the Surgeon-General, U.S.
Navy. Washington, DC: GPO. 1906. pp5-10
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid., p11
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid., p29.
8 WINTER 2011
ers as they pleased. In Port Arthur, at St. Peterburg, Kronstadt, Sevasto- Russian Horse Litter. Dr.
a volunteer bicycle stretcher corps pol, Vladivostok, Libau, and Nicho- Spear saw great ineffi ciencies in
with two bicycles were used for each las. Like the army, the Russian navy the way the Imperial Russian Army
stretcher, one on each side. Also employed feldschers who took spe- transported their casualties. Due to
due to the number of casualties and cial courses at Kronstadt before they shortage of supplies many Russians
owing to the shortage of supplies, were detailed to duty; sisters, who used improvised means of trans-
Spear saw many improvised stretch- also served aboard hospital ships; portating the wounded.
ers made from limbs of trees and and sanitats who were usually de-
through the use of “four guns and tailed from ship’s crew in proportion
an overcoat.” Dr. Spear commended of one to one-hundred men.21
the Russian Army’s use of hospital Changes Take Place in U.S.
trains and barges for transportation Hospital Ships Navy Medical Department
and use of movable fi eld hospitals Dr. Spear noted that at beginning When Dr. Rixey became the Na-
along railroad lines.20 of the war the Russians had no way vy’s Surgeon General in February
to transport the sick and wounded 1902, the Medical Department was
Russian Navy Medical Department by sea. Th is defect was remedied by arguably a static organization that
Th e Russian navy medical organiza- buying six large passenger ships and had changed little from the preced-
tion was similar to the army with the (5,000 to 12,000 tons) and convert- ing decades. Th ere were still no ac-
exception that the navy medical of- ing them to hospital ships. By war’s tive duty dentists or nurses. In 1902,
fi cers were given command at their end the Red Cross Society had oper- no hospital ships were in active
hospitals and were better paid than ated three hospital ships—Mongolia, commission. As a whole, the Navy
their army counterparts. In 1906, Nostrome, and Orel. Orel was fi tted Medical Department had 163 physi-
the Russian navy had a total of 340 out and supplied through donations cians, about 800 hospital corpsmen,
medical offi cers, all were appointed of women in France and Russia. As 11 CONUS hospitals (nine clinging
aft er completing a special medical with Japan, civilian merchant offi - to the eastern seaboard),23 4 OCO-
course at the government medical cers ran the navigation aboard these NUS facilities (3 in U.S. territories
school in St. Petersburg. Russia op- ships while medical offi cers were in and 1 in Japan), and a host of medi-
erated six “modern” navy hospitals charge of ship command.22 cal facilities shipboard.)
20. Ibid. pp36-57
21. Ibid. pp72-77
22. Ibid. pp82-87
23. One of these had not yet admitted a patient since it was opened in 1887! In 1903, U.S. Naval Hospital Widow’s Island was ceded to
the State of Maine where it was used briefl y as a convescent facility for psychiatric patients.
THE GROG 9
ment was not prepared for the mod- Japanese and Russians, had the op-
ern war it would face in the follow- portunity to study abroad (especial-
ing decade. ly topics like tropical medicine) and
Dr. Rixey’s did much to improve take specialized medical courses at
these conditions and his mark on civilian institutions. By the end of
the Medical Department can be his administration, Rixey’s Medi-
seen at the end of his second term cal Department also saw a signifi -
in offi ce. In 1910, the Navy Medi- cant growth. In 1910, the number of
cal Department had a hospital ship, medical offi cers and hospital corps-
which like its Japanese and Russian men had expanded to 303 and 1,111,
counterparts had medical offi cers in respectively.25
command. And this newly commis- It may be true that even without
sioned USS Relief went far to bol- medical observers in Japan and Rus-
ster the image of the Navy Medical sia, the U.S. Navy Medical Depart-
Department during its circumnavi- ment under Dr. Rixey may have
gation of the globe with the “Great looked the same in 1910. With the
White Fleet” (1907-1908). support of a powerful president like
By the end of 1908, Dr. Rixey had Roosevelt, many of the calls for re-
established the Navy’s own corps of form may very well have been ad-
PPrriioorr ttoo hhiiss ttrraavveellss iinn JJaappaann,, SSuurr-- trained female nurses. Like their opted. It should be noted, however,
geon William Braisted (1864-1941) Japanese counterparts, these “Sa- that showing a global-conscious
served as an operating surgeon cred Twenty” lived in special hos- president with a strong Navy bias
at Naval Hospital Brooklyn, NY, pital quarters. However, unlike the that hospital ships and nurses were
and instructor at the Naval Medi- Russian “sisters,” U.S. Navy nurses used indispensably in wartime by
cal School in Washington, DC. In were not immediately able to serve two rival naval powers through of-
1914, Dr. Braisted was appointed in the fi eld or shipboard. fi cial fi rst-hand accounts undoubt-
as the Surgeon General in the U.S. In 1906, the Navy had a teach- edly sent a powerful message. Th ere
Navy. ing hospital (in Washington, DC), is no denying Mr. Roosevelt was a
which like Japanese naval hospitals, boon to the Navy Medical Depart-
boasted excellent, well-fi tted bac- ment. As Dr. Rixey remarked in an
Medical personnel shortage teriological, chemistry, and patho- address to the Sixth International
proved to be a serious problem for logical laboratories. In addition to Dermatological Conference, “All
the Navy even in 1902. With a pa- what was called the “Naval Medi- this has been accomplished, gentle-
tient population of 30,356 sailors cal School Hospital,” Rixey estab- men, because we have had in the
and Marines, this equated to one lished the fi rst Navy convalescent White House one who only needs
physician for every 186 patients or facility for tuberculosis patients at to know of defects and injustice to
one hospital corpsman for every 37 Fort Lyon, CO. Other new medical overcome them . . . He takes a deep
patients. In the previous fours years facilities included a hospital in the interest in all that concerns the med-
the collective strength of doctors Philippines, a hospital at the Naval ical profession, and, realizing our
and hospital corpsmen grew by 15 Academy (1908), and the fi rst per- need for help and assistance, never
percent while personnel strength manent Navy hospital in Washing- loses an opportunity to strengthen
of the Navy and Marine Corps in- ton State (Puget Sound). and support us in the many progres-
creased by 70 percent!24 Owing to Th anks to Rixey, U.S. Navy medi- sive steps we have taken.”26 byABS
this shortfall alone it could said that cal offi cers now had greater educa-
this “peacetime” Medical Depart- tional opportunities, and like the
24. Crawley, Martha. Th e Navy Medical Department, 1890-1916. Th e George Washington University, 1989. pp69-70
25 Report of Surgeon-General, United States Navy. Washington, DC: GPO. 1910.
26 Fordyce, John (ed.). Sixth International Dermatological Congress, New York, September, 1907. New York: Knickerbocker Press.
1908. p21
10 WINTER 2011