Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-11-15
J. l. Dimmoak, General Hospital, CAM

Infantry, Camp Cleveland.
USE OF SANITARY STORES.
The following letter from DR.. A. N.
Read, viii no doubt be read with great in
terest by many, who, like ourselves, are
annoyed by constant reports of the missp-
plcatiOn of hospital stores. It is the con-
slant endeavor Of the Inspectors of the
Sanitary Commission to trace such sru-
mOrs to their source, and faithful watch
is kept by them over the interests of the
soldier, both in camp and in hospital;
. U. S. s.sAS1rARr CoHaIssToS,
d LOUISVILLE, XII, NoTs6i 1852.
DEAR MRs. Rouse: DR.. Newberry has
Just called my attention to certain pas
sages in letters from your Society, in which
il is stated that many reports are reaching
you from inmates of hospitals and returned
soldiers, to the effect that the gifts Of the
Soldiers Aid Societies are not received by
those for whom they are intended-are
by surgeons and nurses,
&C., g. Now, after many months devoted
to the examination of camps and hospitals,
in almost all parts Of the Valley of the
Mississippi Constantly engaged in dis
tributing the stores Of the Sanitary Com
mission, and carefully looking after their
application,-I do not hesitate to say, de-
cidedly and definitely, that in ninety-nine
cases out Of hundred, the gifts Of the
people, transmitted through the agencies
and agents of the Sanitary Commission,
are faithfully applied to the relief of real
wants among the sick and wounded of the
army, and that they have accomplished an
amount of good so great that no language
of mine can express it. Nowhere but on
the records of Heaven will the true bear
ing and benefit to suffering humanity of
this great work, in which you and theu-
sands beside Of the loyal and warm-hesrted
women Of our country are engaged, be full
ly and justly reported; but there they viii
form one of the brightest pages in the his
tory of our fallen world. 1t has been, as
you know, my special duty to look after
and guard the interests Of the sick soldier,
in all my intercourse with the army. And
I have certainly had every incentive to be
faithful in that duty, jealous of the rights
and careful of the comfort of those of
whom have been elected representative
and guardian. No one has had any better
opportunity say the 1east-than my
self of knowing whether your efforts for
the poor soldier have been misdirected or
your confidence abused --your bounty
wasted. 1 say it without bOasting
- simply as matter of fact
that there is scarcely a hospital in Tennes-
see or Kentucky east of the Tennessee
river, with the management Of which and
the condition Of the patients I am not inti-
mately familiar. 1 take pleasure in assur-
ing you positively and fearless Of contra
diction, that in none of them is there preva-
lent any systematic or considerable misap-
preparation of the stores which your
Society, or the other Auxiliaries of the
Sanitary Commission are furnishing
That all the attendants Of these hos
pitals are honest and faithful l will
not state nor do l believe, for instan-
ces are known to have occurred when our
stores and those Of the government have
been purloined, but these cases are few
and unimportant. And the opportunity for
this kind of dishonesty is very rare-this
is my testimony. But you will ask, if
this is the truth, how do these reports
which are so current so paralyzing to our
efforts originate" This question, to the
best Of my ability, will answer.
1st. A large part Of the bounty Of the
public has been distributed Uy special
agents sent on hasty visits to camps and
hospitals, who have not made use Of our
system nor any system with distribution Of
the stores under their charge, nor have
they remained to see that the If bounty
was properly applied. As natural con-
sequence a considerable per centage of
stores distributedin this way have gone
where not realey needed, and in many
cases have been enfraudulently diverted from
their proper destination. All these cases
are wrongly charged to US and you.
ID. With all our efforts during the year
past not half the patients in hospital,
though realey needingiOur help have re-
eei7ed it, simply because our supplies were
inadequate in quantity. Many a poor fel-
low therefore has failed to receive Of our
stores only because we had not them to
give him. Remember that half the num-
Der who have been sick in hospital in this
come into this category-and
their testimony ifproperly understood is
the strongest possible argument in favor
of increased activity in furnishing sup
plies. -cea
Sd. Not half nor one fourth of. those who
receive the bounty Of the people in the
form of hospital clothing and diet are
aware of the source from which such sup
plies come. The want is supplied-the
good is done-but the government gets the
credit for it., The surgeons and nurses who
your gifts TO the patients in the
different wards Of hospital cannot be de-
pended upon, nor expected to say to each
one who receives q shirtOr pair of drawers
socks or slippers these are the gifts
of the Sanitary Commission, the work of
the good women who are laboring for, and
thinking of you at home. In the press of
our work we ban. only say this to here and
there one and so the great mass receive the
gifts, but thank only the government.
Many of the articles Of clothing are
new, and all should be plainly marked so
that they may tell tReir own story-but
even when this is the case, you would be
surprised to hear how often the name
stamped on the article is never read by the
weaTer. Let me give you an example of
this. Once when going through a hospital
IN EAQQChH Will TX L. D. AuSL6u1 LAO sur
geon in charge, noticed one man who
was wearing 3 shirt and pair Of drawers
both plainly marked 'tChicago Sanitary
He was then eating his
dinner, and had on his plate a spoonful of
canned peaches, an article never purchased
BY the Government said to the man,
"I am glad to see that the Sanitary Com
mission is doing you some geod." He
looked up with blank expression and said;
the Sanitary Commission had been no
benefit to him; he had never got anything
from it. asked him who supplied him
with the clothes he had on, the clean pill
lows and sheets on his bed-the
fruit on his plate? He "didn't know"
Il the Government he supposed, and
he was not specially thankful to the Gov
ernment for he thought he had fully
earned from Government all he was re-
ceivinU and little more. fiIHH