, 1861-12-14
Dr. W3f1hnyss Hax,Sta- ua,>o-4


troduccd to the assemblage by Judge Skinner
Chairman Of The Board. The following is
brief abstract Of his remarks:
At an early stage Of the present war th
Medlcai Bureau was Organized. It was no
tEnolnennaeo, Eon no however, for SO argc IN army a
$4,000 men. At least four f}mes "a man,
men hare been lost in war, it has been found
trom sickness, Us from the sword. This be
ing the case, and the Bureau being inadcauat,
TO the emergency, the Government organized
the Sanitary Commission. The Chicago SAM
tafy commission is branch Of tile United
states Sanitary Commission. The Committee
oeneVlng that delay In this case would not b.
dangerous, determined to make no appeal tt
the public until a careful examination Of th{
ground had been made. News came that ou
troops In Missouri were in terrible, SUFFERING
condition. Members were detailed to visit tht
hospitals. They did 20 Their statistics art
IN the hands Of the Commission, and viii
"nen arranged, be given to the public,
Il, addition to lis other duties. It became
necessary for the Commission to distribut.
supphes,. furnished by generous people
Previously, medicines and other necessaTie;
had not been received Mt the points whcrt
neeueu, when sent. In many instances, arti
eles that did reach their destination we're mis-
applied: Hence the Commission took the
matter IN hand. Every article forwarded by d:
mas reached Its appointed place, and not been
1sea as delicacles by those who were in health
as formerly. The course taken has been, first
to Keep the people informed Of our wants
and the extent Of our supplies. We had, in
order TO accomplish this, to locate men al
different points to furnish information.
What think you Of 1.000 wounded men to
he attended to either at Paduc4t, Mound City,
or other places in the vicinity within the next
ten days? Hence tile need Of constant sup
ply Of necessaTies to be kept on hand. You
may look at hospital from two very different
staDd-points. The United States Government
views it as a building, furnished with a cot
bcdstcad, and few necessaries for the sick or
wounded soldier. This is as far as the depart
naent extends. But the people, from whose
midst these soldiers have gone forth to fight
our battles, look upon It as the horne Of our
sick sons, husbands, fathers. We take, not
a military but humanitarian view
of the hospital. And in order that tlis idea
may be carried out; in order that these dele
gates from our midst may not suffer more
than they naturally suffer from the visitation
of wounds Or disease, ne must hare money,
GU may send in al the necessaries, and all
to the end that these things may be transport
cd to the proper points, and be thus devoted
to the alienation Of the sufferers the Commits
sion must have money.
Let il be understood By al, that the Chicago
Sanitary Commission is a branch Of the United
i
me the letter Of Gen. HaIleck, recosuizinn it
rs such. We have also the authority Of Presi-
dent Lincoln and Secretary of War. Simon
Cameron, aud with these vouchers tic peo-
PIE may not fear that their contributions win
he 1nisapplicd.
The commission has already done q rood
work, but there is much more to be done.
We have sent to Mound City forty boxes, con
taining among other things 10, 2oSS4 shirts, o25
pairs socks, 1749 pillow cases, 1G9 dressing
gowns, I'll comfoTters, 127 blankets, 125 hand
kerchinfs etc. Twenty boxes, Containing
something Of a similar variety of goods, have
also been sent to Cairo. To show you with
what dispatch it is possible for tic Com
mission to work, when supplied with neces-
recently demand was sent here from Mr. Os-
born. Of the Illinois Central Railroad for a
supply Of hospital stores for Mound CITY. and
the amount needed was not small In twenty
four hours from the date of its receipt the
goods we're at the place.
LII regard to my visit to Rol1a, when near the
place was informed that the hospitals were
would be Light. found it flr different. Per
sons, it appears, Lad previously visited the
post, leaving the impression that they were
connected with the Commission, when in fact
they were not. These men had left bad idea
the soldiers in regard to my mission,
and at first was absolutely refused admission
to the hospitals.
During all this time of waiting heard bad
reports Of the Commissioner of that which
they supposed was the Commission, After q
tine, through the aid Of a Christian gentle
man by the name Of Lyon 1 was recognized
and welcomed to the camps. I spent tlyee
days at Rolla, the most Of my time being de-
voted to undoing what the benevolent gentle
men mel. ahead Of me had been doing. The diff
p:
eAce believe me were l to say TINT there arc
men who are wicked enough to desire to
make money out of the sick and wounded Of our
army? Yet this is so. And this is one ercat
obstacle to be surmounted. There are also
those who really think TINT the Commission
can do no good. They say, "We are sufi-
S!sn sef % noi f4 7oo 5uPPfd e Cd. Tor the
surgeons in the hospitals Of the army who
know not the first principles Of the surgeons
profession. My companion in Missouri visit
ed one camp where the hospital was in such
filthy condition that it must have bred disease,
pest1encc and death. In another, a soldier,
sent out from lis home to fight the enemies
Of his country, had been attacked with sim
pie malady. The surgeon Lad been called,
That surgeon actually and truly killed that
so1dIer-killcd him as surely as though lie had
pierced his heart with his scalpel. The man
dled OF the lncapacity Of his medical adviser
It Is a matter OF congratuation for us to be
able to state that that surgeon will kill no
succeeded III removing him.
AT Rolla we found some 5000 troops en-
camped. They were in comparatively COM
Portable condition. Here there were SOL in
the general hospital, and in the general hospi-
tal, IT,. There have been sixteen deaths, and
776 under treatment. HIcould not go among
the wards Of those hospitals and speak to
each sufferer it was pleasure, and at the same
time melancholy pleasure, to be able to say
that Illinois was thinking OF her sick and
wounded sons away in the State Of Missouri.
How thin, pale, wan faces lighted up as 1
spoke Of home. Ono man-an Indianian-w:s
quite indignant that I spoke Of the good peo-
Tor them, and he raised himself upon lis cl-
DOW and said, "That's just What they do in
Indiana, tooE'
Incidents are every day transpiring in those
hospitals surprising in interest anything ever
related IN fiction. It would make you weep,
as 1t made me weep, to listen to the recital OF
ford.
No one thing impressed me more than did
the extreme youth Of the soldiers comprising
the great American army. Then their yieof.
they are Indeed the bone and sinew Of the
country: They arc the men, who, after long
and hard day's march, at tue tap Of the drum,
as seouts-to pay bonus, even, for the priyi-
lege OF gong out where they can brave dan
ger and death
They are such men as was that man, spoken
OF by friend, who, in one Of the battles in
Missouri, had his right arm carried AWAY by a
cannon ball as he was marching up to face the
foe. That man paused, looked behind him tn
sec Lis mangled limb flying through tile air, to
behold the blood flowing from the shoulder,
but he tainted not. He cooked his muskef
with the toe Of his boot, raised the weapon
with the remaining hrm, took aim and fired
right in the face Of the enemy, thanking God
,hat he still "a strength to fire a shot and
kill "sescsh"
I have seen the sword, which, in the
hands Of strong man hcwcd down tAir-
teen rebels at the battle Of Lcxinrton,
It is forsuch noble men tllatwc ask your
aid and your sympathies. will not take Won
10 the trenches, where to-day our dead Lie un-
buried. will not take you to the thickcts.
Where our wounded have dragged themselves
dying need only to mention these to you'
III you will sec sadder sights than all Of these.
The difficulty is daily increasing, There are
to-day D, D,o00sick in our army. Yet there are
some to say our Commission is no use, Eyery
knows better.
There is a day coming when MI will want q
right to participate in the glories of this war
the day wien from al the staffs shall float
out the stars and stripes, with all the stars
fixed in our armament; when every voice from
Maine to California shall shout 4 God bless
the Stars and Stripcsr' Ne may not ali 90
TO fight the battle. But VIC can Ill work 1t
home. Yon can supply; we, the Commits
sion, can disburse. Part Of the glory shall be
yonrs and ours. The heart is hard, indeed,
that will not say, "Giye to our soldiers.'' Is
there hearrr who las not already giyens Let
him bear in mind the opportunity thst viii be
presented during the ensuing week, and let
him give something, do something for his
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