MILITARY REJECTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2878, 16 September 1916, Page 15

MILITARY REJECTS

i A SERIOUS POSITION. Recruiting in Canterbury, particularly Ohristchurch, has, on the whole, been very satisfactory of late (states a correspondent), but the number of registrations is jio true criterion of the enlistments, for in the city the number of rejections of men as physically unfit has been at least 40 per cent.-of the. whole. Some authorities-.say .it is 50 per. vent. , Though something like one-third of the number of applications for registration for some time past have been by married men, tho number of . single men rejected by the doctors constitute quito a formidable army.. On the subject, of medical rejections a report has been sent in to the Canterbury District. Headquarters Office by Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. Anderson, 'Assistant Director of Medical Services, and it provides some interesting reading. Colonel Anderson does not mince his words. 'Die'report says it is impossible to generalise as to tho cause of so many rejections of keen re-cruits-in this district. The concensus of opinion of tho medical officers is that, the regulations issued for medical examination of recruits are fairly reasonable, and not unduly severe. Tho poor physique and various deformities and defbets noticed at the examinations have been a revelation to the examiner's. Hundreds of youths have been rejected whose maximum chest expansion was under 33£ in.' and whose muscular development was no more than one would lind in a girl of 12 or 14 ■ years of age. Tho medical officers consider 'it incomprehensible that in a country with such facilities ; for gymuastic training' so many absolute woods could be found. On questioning many of these recruits, it was found they had never participated in any of tho ordinary outdoor games, had. never dono any military training, fired a shot, ridden a horse, or, in fact,'done anything a youth is generally supposed to do. With such material it was; exceedingly difficult to select men fit for active service. Largo, .numbers of recruits otherwise 1 fit hadto be rejected for deformities of the feet- and toes, due to wearing very pointed boots. The leakage owing to the overlapping of tho toes and hallux varus, duo to pointed boots, has been so serious /that the medical officers have expressed tho opinion that the Health Department should bo urged to introduce legislation prohibiting the manufacture of boots so constructed as to' cause deformities of the feet rendering men unfit for military serviced tfiffler thp old regulations a largo number of men had to ; be rejected for defective vision, but sjinco the standardfias b'feen lowered the. number of rejects has much diminished. The principal causes of rejection at present are hernia, varicocele, and varicose .veins,' all of wliiclr ; are very common. Notwithstanding. the care taken at the examinations of recruits and the large numbers rejected for defects, copies of memoranda from Egypt through headquarters show that many men have to be thrown out there as quite unfit for active service/ and. Captain Scott,N.Z.M.C., who has just returned from Egypt! states.lie wak, surprised at the number of recruits ho saw land there quite unfit for military duty. ' Returns of the medical examinations at King Edward Barracks for 12 montns show tlie following results:— Fit 916, unfit 748, temporarily unfit 998; total, 2657. , .