USA > Iowa > Scott County > History of the war activities of Scott County Iowa, 1917-1918 > Part 13
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The speakers were Emmett Tinley, of Council Bluffs; James B. Weaver, of Des Moines; Charles Pickett, of Waterloo; Dr. D. J. Mc- Carthy, of Davenport, and Federal Judge M. J. Wade. Without doubt no finer set of speeches were ever delivered in Scott county on one pro- gram, and there was no one who attended but left with a clearer con- ception of the causes of the war and the necessity for prosecuting it with vigor. Mr. Tinley, who was in charge of the Liberty Loan Court at Council Bluffs, explained in detail the methods used for educating the ignorant and forcing the unwilling to contribute to war activities, etc. His speech furnished further inspiration to a similar court by the Scott County Council of Defense, which operated with great success in the fourth Liberty Loan campaign.
The Physicians and Surgeons
BY DR. E. M. KINGSBURY
Scott county may well be proud of her record of sacrifices, of her position on the roll of honor in Liberty Bond sales and War Com- munity service, but in no instance, save where life was fearlessly and freely given that the world might remain free, has she greater reason for a deep sense of pride and satisfaction than in that which was done by her doctors. Her physicians responded in a way unsurpassed by any other class of citizens and comparable only with the work and courage of the boys in the fighting line.
Every physician received a personal call to volunteer his services. Everyone was needed. The percentage of the total number of registered physicians required for actual service was so great it was feared the Surgeon-General would have to resort to a draft to supply the need. That this was not necessary is an honor to the fraternity of which we may be proud, and the record of Scott county, as always, is particularly gratifying since upwards of 80 per cent of her medical men were en- gaged in some branch of war service.
The doctors who entered active service for their country are due especial praise. They gave up much which will never be repaid in time or money, and expected nothing on their return to civil life other than that they be given credit for the sacrifice by their fellow citizens. A brief resume of them and their status in April, 1919, follows:
Larned V. P. Allen, 32, single; entered service as First Lieutenant July 3, 1917. Spent three months at Des Moines, Iowa, eleven months at Camp Cody with Field Hospital No. 134. He went to France as Captain in September, 1918; was graduated from the Army Sanitary School at Langres, France. Acted as Bn. Surgeon for the 26th Infantry, 1st Division, in Meuse-Argonne drive. Honorably discharged at New York City, December 21, 1918.
Hugh P. Barton, 33, single; entered service as First Lieutenant Sep- tember 29, 1917. Served with the 42d Infantry, 12th Division at Camp Dodge, Camp Devens, and Camp Upton. Recommended for promotion November 14, 1918. In base hospital work at Camp Devens. Was an assistant examiner for Exemption Board No. 1, Davenport, Iowa, before enlistment.
George Bawden, 38, married; entered the service as First Lieutenant June 28, 1917. Stationed at Medical Officers Training Camp and Base Hospital at Fort Riley, Kansas, August 17th to April, 1918; at out patient clinic, Camp Lee July to December, 1918; at School of Urology, Fort Oglethorpe April to July, 1918.
William S. Binford, Dixon, Iowa, 43, married; entered service as Captain July 6, 1917. Stationed at Base Hospital Fort Riley, C. O. pneumonia section, general medical consultant for medical and surgical sections from December 22, 1918, to time of discharge. Recommended for promotion.
Charles E. Block, 29, single; entered service as First Lieutenant January 3, 1918. Stationed at Rochester, Minn., for special work; then
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at Fort Riley; then at Allentown, Penn. Went to France in September, 1918, with Base Hospital No. 82 at Toul. After armistice to Tours, Medical Headquarters, then to Coblenz, Prussia, Holland, and Germany with surgical unit.
W. Blything, Bettendorf, Iowa, 38; entered service March, 1918, as Captain. Stationed with Base Hospital 88th Division. Served as mem- ber of Scott County Exemption Board before enlistment.
George Braunlich, 28, single; entered service June, 1918, as First Lieutenant. Was stationed in Base Hospital at Fort McArthur and later sent to Manila, P. I. Still overseas.
John D. Cantwell, 41, married; entered service June 30, 1918, as First Lieutenant. Stationed at Base Hospital No. 154, Camp Greenleaf, Ga. Served as member of Scott County Exemption Board before en- listment.
H. M. Decker, 41, married; entered service July, 1918, as Captain. Was sent to France where he was Chief of Radiology Service, Base Hospital No. 113, Savernay, France. Still overseas. Served as an assistant examiner on Exemption Board No. 2, Davenport, Iowa.
E. O. Ficke, 39, married; entered service March, 1918, as Captain. Acted as Bn. Surgeon for 357th Infantry, 90th Division, overseas at St. Michiel and Verdun fronts. Was severely gassed and invalided home, where he has since recovered.
W. E. Foley, 27, married; entered service February, 1918, as First Lieutenant. Was sent overseas and was stationed with Base Hospital No. 53, Langres, France.
C. E. Glynn, 46, married; entered service October 24, 1918. Stationed at Camp Dodge as surgeon on reconstruction work of overseas casual- ties. Still in service.
Gordon F. Harkness, 38, married; entered service as Captain July 17, 1916. Stationed at Base Hospital, Camp Jackson and Evacuation Hospital No. 42, Camp Greenleaf, Ga., in surgery of eye, ear, nose, and throat. Previous to entering service was Captain of American Protec- tive League Secret Service for state of Iowa.
Wm. G. Johnson, 38, married; entered service as First Lieutenant July, 1917. Stationed at Medical Officers Training Camp, Fort Riley, Kan. Sent to France May, 1918. Promoted to Captain June, 1918. Served in action with 58th Infantry, 4th Division.
Ray R. Kulp, 39, married; entered service October, 1917, as First Lieutenant. For instruction in orthopedic surgery in Chicago, Feb- ruary and March, 1918. Sent to France September, 1918. Worked in Base Hospitals Nos. 9, 63, 65, and 66. Was orthopedic surgeon in 90th Division during Argonne drive. Still in service.
Frederick H. Lamb, 31, single; entered service July, 1917. To Fort Riley Medical Officers Training Camp; to Camp Cody December, 1917. Promoted to Captain; made Chief of Laboratory and Pathology service, Base Hospital, Camp Cody, to January, 1919. Transferred to Base Hos- pital, Camp Pike, Ark.
Chas. D. Martin, Jr., 26, single; entered service July 10, 1918. Was sent to San Antonio, Texas, for six weeks, then to Manila, P. I., where he is now stationed.
D. J. McCarthy, 45, married; entered service as Captain in American Red Cross in 1917. Sent to Russia and Roumania as head of surgical unit. Returned to United States in 1918, and since promoted to Major and served in Salonika. Decorated by Serbian and Roumanian govern- ments. Ranked as Major in Serbia. Returned to United States in May, 1919.
George M. Middleton, 44, married; entered service as Captain Sep- tember, 1918. C. O. of Student Co. 46, Fort Riley, Kan., to November 11, 1918. Field Hospital Co. E to December 7, 1918, when honorably discharged. Was assistant examiner on Exemption Board No. 2, Dav- enport, Iowa, from July, 1917, until entering the service.
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John A. McIntyre, 28, married; entered service July 6, 1917, as Cap- tain. Stationed at Fort Riley and Camp Dodge. To France August, 1918; 350th Ambulance Co., 88th Division .. Acting Division Urologist. Still in service.
John C. Murphy, 43, single, now located at Aurora, Ill .; entered ser- vice May, 1917, as First Lieutenant. Served with Field Artillery at Camp Logan Roots, Camp Cody, and Fort Sill. Sent to France Sep- tember, 1918, with 126th Field Artillery. Honorably discharged Feb- ruary, 1919. Was recommended for promotion.
L. M. Ochs, 31, single; entered service July, 1918, as First Lieu- tenant. Stationed at Kelley Field Hospital, San Antonio, in psychiatry in September. Was on Examining Board.
Raymond E. Peck, 42, married; entered service as Captain October, 1918. Stationed at General Hospital No. 14, Camp Greenleaf, Ga. Chairman Membership Committee Red Cross. Honorably discharged December, 1918.
Peter H. Schroeder, 40, married; entered service as First Lieutenant 1916. Served during Mexican border campaign. Sent to Fort Riley June, 1917; to Camp Cody September, 1917; with 126th Field Artillery, Regimental Surgeon 109th Ammunition Train, and promoted to Captain February, 1918. Sent to France in September, 1918. Recommended for promotion to Major. Still overseas.
Lee E. Schafer, 30, married; entered service at First Lieutenant July, 1917. Went to France in 1917 with the Rainbow Division. Served in Evacuation Hospital No. 1. Promoted to Captain.
W. F. Speers, 39, married; entered service August 1, 1917, as First Lieutenant. Stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., as instructor to Medical Reserve Officers and Division Ambulance Companies. Promoted to Captain. Discharged January 2, 1919.
John V. Littig, 41, married; entered service as Captain August, 1917. Sent to Fort Riley, then to Camp Taylor as Chief of eye, ear, nose, and throat service. Promoted to Major. Still in service. Served as as- sistant examiner on Exemption Board No. 2, Davenport, Iowa, from July, 1917, until entering the service.
Geo. W. Frank, Buffalo, Iowa, 43; entered service. No data fur- nished.
Thos. W. Byrnes; entered service. No data furnished.
Frederick Lambach, 53, married. Applied for commission February, 1918; rejected for physical disability May 25, 1918; disability removed by operation July 1st; re-examined August 15th, and commissioned Captain October 1, 1918. Stationed at Camp Greenleaf October 24 to December 3, 1918. Sent to Rockefeller Institute December 9th; re- mained there until December 21st. At Camp Mead from December 22, 1918, to January 3, 1919. Honorably discharged at Camp Dodge Janu- ary 15, 1919.
T. Wilbert Kemmerer, 41; entered service early in 1917. Took special courses at Rockefeller Institute and was later transferred to Base Hospital at Camp Cody. Sent overseas in summer of 1918.
Those who by reason of age, physical disability, essential public need, essential institutional need, or on account of dependents were classed as ineligible for commissions, and yet were anxious to do their duty, were made members of the Volunteer Medical Service Corps of the Council of National Defense:
Allen, Wm. L. Bailey, W. W. Baker, J. F. Braunlich, Henry Burkhart, J. R. Carney, R. P.
Chinn, David J. Decker, George E. Dunn, James Donahoe, A. P. Dahms, O. A. Elmer, Albert W.
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Gillette, A. E.
Matthey, Walter
Hands, S. G.
Portsmann, L. J.
Hunt, W. F.
Rendleman, Wm. H.
Hoefle, H. C. Hageboeck, A. L.
Rogers, O. C.
Strohbehn, E. F.
Haller, J. T.
Starbuck, T. D.
Johnson, C. C. Kuhl, A. B.
Schumacher, Henry
Kingsbury, E. M.
Skelley, W. F.
Kruel, D. G.
Sala, O. P.
Lando, D. H.
Sullivan, -
Lindley, C. T.
Tucker, Genevieve
McCullough, G. F.
Teufel, J. C.
Marble, J. A.
Weber, Lee
Matthey, Henry
Watzek, J. W.
Those appointed by the Governor of the state to serve on the various Selective Service Boards are as follows:
Local Board Division No. 1-Dr. Kuno Struck, Dr. George Bawden, Dr. C. E. Glynn, Dr. F. Neufeldt, Dr. B. Schmidt, Dr. T. D. Starbuck, Dr. E. F. Strohbehn, Dr. K. Vollmer, and Dr. J. S. Weber.
Local Board Division No. 2-Dr. Wm. L. Allen, Dr. H. M. Decker, Dr. E. M. Kingsbury, Dr. George Middleton, Dr. George Decker, and Dr. John V. Littig.
Scott County Board-Dr. J. D. Blything, Dr. J. D. Cantwell, Dr. G. B. Maxwell and Dr. J. C. Teufel.
Medical Advisory Board-Dr. Wm. Rendleman, Dr. G. F. Harkness, Dr. P. A. Bendixen, Dr. J. Dunn, Dr. Lee Weber, Dr. R. P. Carney, Dr. S. G. Hands, and Dr. L. W. Struble.
Struble, L. W.
The Nurses
Just as insistent as the call for physicians and surgeons was the call for nurses, and during the war period the nurses of Scott county answered the many calls made upon them with a patriotic fervor which held nothing back.
The call carried many of them beyond the seas. Cablegrams from Athens, June 6th, through the Associated Press, announced to the world that among the Red Cross nurses decorated by the King of Greece with the Order of Military Merit, for their work in fighting the typhus epidemic in Macedonia, was Miss Alma Hartz, of Davenport.
Miss Wilhelmina Hohnsbeen not only saw service under fire on the Alsacian front, but accompanied the army of occupation to Coblenz. Many others saw foreign service, served in the camps here in the United States, or helped fight the influenza epidemic at home.
The following record is furnished for this volume by Miss Clara L. Craine, Chairman of the Red Cross Enrollment Committee:
RED CROSS NURSES
Wilhelmina Hohnsbeen, Camp Grant, Ill., France, and with Army of Occupation at Coblenz, Germany; in service eighteen months.
Bernadine Wirtz, Camp Lewis, Wash., France; in service fourteen months.
Olive Whitlock, Camp McArthur, Waco, Texas, France; in service fourteen months.
Hildegaard Anderson, Camp Travis, Texas, France; in service fifteen months.
Agnes Puck, Fort Logan Roots, France; still in service.
Alma Hartz, stationed at Athens, Greece; entered service October, 1918.
Grace Van Evera, France.
Elizabeth Weiman, France (deceased); in service eight months.
Bessie Whitaker, Camp McArthur, Waco, Texas, France; in service fourteenth months.
Martha Stokley, Camp Custer, France.
Cora Bieber, service in France; Bessie Baldwin, service in France; Lynn Freeland, service in France; Beatrice Corridon, service in France; Stella Mallette, service in France; Ella Horst, service in France.
Mrs. Elizabeth Flynn, Porto Rico.
Edna Athinson, Camp Dodge, Iowa; United States Hospital, Denver, Colo .; in service twelve months.
E. Julia Beale, Fort Des Moines, Iowa. Still in service October, 1918. Blanche Schuttler, Fort Des Moines, Iowa; United States Hospital, Denver, Colo .; United States Hospital, New Jersey. Still in service. Mildred Laemer, Fort Riley, Texas. In service in 1917.
Anna Marie Goetsch, Camp Dodge, Iowa; in service four months. Lenore Schroeder, Camp Travis, Texas; in service three months.
Margaret Matheson, Fort Des Moines, Iowa; United States Hospital, New Jersey; still in service; entered June, 1918.
Martha Oakes, organized Red Cross classes; Chief Nurse Camp Gor- don, Ga .; still in service; entered August, 1918.
Daisy Marsden, United States Hospital, New York.
Cora Hicks, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas.
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Edith Muhs, Superintendent Emergency Hospital during influenza epidemic; theoretical instructor of Red Cross classes in Tri-Cities.
Mary E. Flynn, prepared for service for overseas.
Jane Garrod, Fort Sheridan and Camp Dodge, Iowa. Still in service. Marie Edwards, Camp Dodge.
Elizabeth Sieler, Camp Dodge.
Clara Fecker, Walter Reed Base Hospital, Van Couver, Wash., six months.
Clara Reistroffer, Camp Custer and Camp Grant.
Amanda Bard, preparing to enter service when stricken with typhoid fever; later served at Emergency Hospital.
Catherine Kane, Camp Donaphan, Fort Sill, Okla .; returned from service on account of ill health (deceased).
Clara L. Craine, served in Emergency Hospital during Spanish in- fluenza.
GRADUATE NURSES WHO SERVED DURING SPANISH INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC
Ila White, Camp Dodge, Iowa.
Alba Smith, Great Lakes.
Genevieve Malloy, Camp Dodge, Iowa.
Lucy Howarth, Camp Dodge, Iowa.
Anna Fundell, Camp Dodge, Iowa, and Great Lakes.
Dorothy Lorenzen, Camp Grant.
Marie Dickinson, Ames.
Gertrude Shanley, Camp Grant.
Agnes Joynt, Ames.
Susan Smith, Camp Dodge; Emergency Hospital, Davenport.
Bessie Tuey, Camp Dodge; Emergency Hospital, Davenport.
Saidee Murphy, took care of soldiers at Detention Hospital, Rock Island.
Mrs. Ethel Westbay Alden, relief work during influenza epidemic, Wyoming, Iowa.
HOME DEFENSE NURSES EMERGENCY HOSPITAL DURING INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC
Penelope Brown, Kate Jepsen, Agnes Conway, Mary F. Seccombe, Mrs. Louise Harding Gansworth, Mrs. Alice Huston Berg, Mrs. Kate Martin Lowery, Martha Baker, Mrs. Elfrida Litcher, Mrs. Dan Sayles, Mrs. Roma Wallaser Henry (died in service), Mrs. Ira Gleason Foley, Mrs. Monta Kelley Buckingham, Henrietta Gablestein, Helen Nagel, Adelaid Phelan, Genevieve Gough, and Mary Lawler,
Mary Winkler, in charge of influenza patients at St. Ambrose Col- lege (died in service).
Mrs. Amanda Machirus, Emergency Hospital during influenza epidemic.
PUPIL NURSES OF DAVENPORT HOSPITAL GIVING SERVICE DURING INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC
Martha Cornel and Mary Freund, Camp Dodge, Iowa.
Winnie Motter, Irene Duggleby, Mae Campbell, Sena Christensen, Evelyn Robinson, and Naomi Sandstedt, Emergency Hospital, Daven- port.
PUPIL NURSES OF MERCY HOSPITAL GIVING SERVICE DURING INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC
Winifred Scanlin, Gloria Cranor, Margaret Severs, Julia Hecklinger, Nellie Watterson, Ruth Wolfe, Hattie Menzenberg, Lydia Bauman, Josephine Moylan, Carman Flannery, and Frances Cant, Emergency Hospital, Davenport.
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PUPIL NURSES OF ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL GIVING SERVICE DURING INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC
Leone Van Mechelen, and Esther Amidon, Camp Dodge, Iowa. Mabel Walker, Maud Snyder, Lola Spaid, Lucile Fox, Esther Thulin, Aves Garetson, Esther Hansen, Alice Petri, Hazel Carlson, Amanda Schluns, Edith Hill, and Blanche Wainwright, Emergency Hospital, Davenport.
The Dentists
Among the professions which placed their time and skill at the dis- posal of the government, the dentists of the country performed a not- able service; and the record shows that Iowa was near the top in this contribution to the national morale, and Scott county at the top in Iowa.
They rendered a great service, first for the volunteers and then for men sent forward under the draft. Of the large amount of work done for members of the Batteries before they left, no record was kept. At that time efforts were largely directed to make men fit who had been rejected for dental defects. Later it was to make all accepted draft men dentally fit to take their place in the fighting ranks.
In March, 1916, the Preparedness League of American Dentists was formed, with Iowa in the Chicago district. State and county supervisors were appointed. Some of the eastern states got to work earlier than Iowa did, but after Iowa was once organized no state equalled her for the amount of work done for the drafted men. Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania were able to report more operations, but the 44,080 operations in Iowa were surpassed in proportion to population only by Massachusetts.
Figures furnished by Dr. H. E. Latcham, state director for Iowa, show that Scott county led the state with twenty-two operators and 2,024 operations, performed free for soldiers.
Dr. C. R. Baker was appointed county supervisor for Scott county, and Dr. E. M. Kingsbury was of great help to him in organizing the work and in the making of the thousands of examinations. A later de- velopment was the appointment of a dentist for each draft board-Dr. L. M. Desmond for Board No. 1, Dr. C. R. Baker for No. 2, and Dr. W. E. Haller for Scott County Board. Dr. F. B. Ebersole succeeded Dr. Desmond when the latter entered the service.
The Greater Davenport Committee and Davenport Commercial Club
BY J. C. MCCARTHY, Secretary
In outlining the war activities of the Greater Davenport Committee and Davenport Commercial Club it is difficult to consider them separately, inasmuch as they were conducted under the guidance of a single executive head and from a headquarters maintained jointly by the two organizations.
By reason of its strategic location it was appreciated at the very outset of the war that Rock Island Arsenal should become the nation's greatest munitions plant and the Greater Davenport Committee set to work to bring this to the realization of members of Congress with the view of getting their support in obtaining increased appropriations which would permit the Arsenal to expand. Their attention was called to the fact that Rock Island Arsenal is more than 1,000 miles from either coast line, is approximately equi-distant between the Can- adian frontier and the Gulf, and is located in the middle of the Missis- sippi river, the country's greatest inland waterway.
Fear was expressed, however, by certain of the legislators that by reason of its location far from the great industrial centers of the East a sufficient supply of labor would not be obtainable for the Arsenal, and they accordingly declined to give their support to measures looking to the establishment of any shops for Arsenal expansion. The Greater Davenport Committee, however, felt sure that plenty of labor could be obtained to meet this expansion, and as an evidence of its faith in this respect, pledged its word to Congress and to the War Department to bring to this community all the labor that would be needed.
This promise resulted in the inauguration of an advertising cam- paign extending over six states, where, through the medium of daily and weekly newspapers the Greater Davenport Committee told of the ideal working conditions provided by the Arsenal and of the high rates of pay there. It impressed upon the readers of these advertisements the patriotic duty of labor to rally to the support of industries that had a bearing on the winning of the war.
With the completion of two of the larger national army canton- ments representatives of the committee, through the medium of special newspaper advertising and personal solicitation brought to the atten- tion of men who were being discharged the great need for workmen at the Arsenal.
When the committee started its activities less than 2,000 men were employed in the Arsenal shops, and when it concluded its campaign this number had been increased to 15,000. Col. G. W. Burr, Ordnance De- partment, United States Army, Commandant of the Arsenal, in a public
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statement gave the Greater Davenport Committee credit for having obtained about 60 per cent of this total increase. More than 150 news- papers were utilized by the committee in this campaign.
The next war activity in which the organization engaged was the mobilization of Davenport's industries for war service. It was through the medium of the committee that a plan was worked out for bringing to the attention of the authorities at Washington a comprehensive sur- vey of the Davenport industries that were prepared to handle war orders. The manufacturers formed an organization known as the As- sociated Manufacturers of Davenport, and its representative at the national capital secured for the Davenport industries war contracts amounting to $29,000,000.
The great influx of labor to the community to engage in war work at the Arsenal and in the private industries soon brought about an acute housing situation, and to meet this the Greater Davenport Com- mittee, through a "rent-a-room" campaign appealed to the householders of the community to provide accommondations for the newcomers. An office was established at the Davenport Commercial Club for the regis- tration of rooms for rent and for several months the services of one clerk was devoted exclusively to this work and accommodations for several thousand workmen were obtained. This activity was con- tinued until the signing of the armistice. The need for increased home building was manifest to the committee and it undertook to organize private capital into a plan for building a large number of homes. This was abandoned, however, when the government housing project was inaugurated.
When the National Guard of the country was called into active service the enrollment in Davenport's two Batteries of Artillery and Supply Company was beneath war strength. The Greater Davenport Committee undertook to obtain the desired number of additional enlist- ments and by means of a campaign of publicity, public meetings, and advertising in Davenport and surrounding points soon accomplished this undertaking and the units went into service with full war strength.
All of the clerical work in connection with the movement which brought about the building of the model group of armory buildings for the Batteries was handled by the forces of the Greater Davenport Com- mittee and Davenport Commercial Club. In the same manner the clerical work in connection with the Liberty Loan campaigns was handled, and the Davenport Commercial Club served as headquarters for four of the five campaigns. The clerical work and distribution of posters and literature in connection with the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Y. M. C. A. and War Savings Stamps drives also were handled from the Commercial Club.
The appeal of the national government for increased production of food stuffs brought about the creation of a War Gardens Committee affiliated with the Commercial Club. An extensive survey of all the vacant lots in the city was made, and through the Club scores of plats cf ground were allotted to the amateur gardeners.
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