Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-09-06
IN A BAD WAY.
JACKSONVILLE REFUGEES LIVING
LIKE HOGS, IN CAMP.
An Eye witness Tells what Delicate
Ladies' Must Submit to at the Camp
Near jacksonville, Fiorids-Asad State
of Anairs.

of Anairs.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA, September6.-There
Is a refugee camp not lar from the city
where those who fear the contagion and
can not go elsewhere, can 60.
The camp is on a hill, fine and airy
spot, surrounded with pines. There are
lS2 old army tents, six feet by five, with
two s,retcher cots in each. A band of
canvas raised on two elevated wires serves
for a pillow, and horse rug for cover.
To the men are given a single, and to the
women double-blanket each. This is all
the furniture in the tents, and as there arc
two cots in each, there is no room for
more.
Ninety per cent. of these tents are leaky.
and as il has been raining heavily for three
DAYS, last night every one was about ss
miserable as possible. The food is fair, but
the cooking wretched. and the dining
accommodations are not half sufficient.
Certain regulations as to allowing ladies TO
be served first have at last been made. but
am informed that at FIRST there was q
regular rush and scramble. as between .
pack of wolves There Is . very large
crowd of low negroes in camp and loud
complaints are made Of their being allowed
to sit at the same table as the whites. Ger
tainly il is not pleasant experience to
have such negroes as your next door neigh
bors. DIR. Guiteras. however. is an equal
rights man, and though petition has been
presented, he has not acted upon IL.
There is a sanitary guard. but guard room
there is none, and all disorderly characters.
instead Of being kept in guard room until
their quarantine is over, are sent back to
Jacksonville with the yellow fever. IL the
camp is to be kept from turning into Q
camp for negro loafers q commissioned
officer should at once be sent down to take
charge, proper wall tents supplied and
strict military discipline at once enforced.
Rather than delicate women and children
should go there, 1t were better they remained
in Jacksonville and risked the fever. II
they go. they may expect 10 spend the first
night in their clothes, sleeping in leaky
little tent, into which they must crawl over
the foot of their cot. as the two cots take
up all the room of their tent undress as
best they can, have for tent mate heaven
knows who, and as one gentlemen in forci-
BILE language put it. make up their minds
for ten days to put on their Oldest clothes
and live like hogs"
There are at least 16s persons there,
about ninety of whom are colored, and
there was not q contented man or woman
IN the crowd. Surely" they say, 'some
q
could get her night clothes. brushes and
towels, and have nights rest. That is all
VIC ask for; but when ii comes to sitting up
all night with your clothes on and your UNI
brella up in dripping tent as we have
done, we think il little too much"
The farce of the whole affair is that while
their night clothes are kept fumigating,
people keep on unfumigated clcthesP
About 300 yards from the main camp is
the hospital, in which there is at present
only one case, . Mrs. Mckee, who is doing
well. A large wall tent which holds four
beds very comfortably, has been erected,
and Mrs. Mrs. Mckee will be moved from
the little tent, where she has been lying.
into the new tent DR.. Wise arrived while
was there to take charge Of the hospital
camp. and he certainly seemed TO be the
right man in the right place. He intends
to have what is necessary and will stand
no nonsense. He is, at the same time,
worker, and As the negroes up there who
are living free, refused TO work for fifty
cents q day, he with his own hands and
the assistance of his three nurses, is build
ing wooden cottage on the grounds. An
other example of government n 'manage-
ment is that the three profession Il nurses
from Pensacola are males, thougi a female
was also requisitioned for, and the only pa
tient there is female.
One good effect of the establishment of
this part of the camp will be Il II, in the
event of any being taken i'll, the, will fare
better than did poor Pollard. From in
quiries made it papears that Pollard was
taken slightly i'll with yellow fever and
was ordered to Jacksonville. H walked
down to the train and was quite cheerful
and jolly, but the railroad refused to take
him without Government orders. He
AL... %.h hnA 30 H..
placed in an isolated tent-one of the mis-
cradle. condemned, army ones, such as are
at present being used. The next day he
was again taken to the train. He was then
much worse. He was again refused transit
and was taken back TO the camp. The fol-
towing day he was seriously ill, but was
carried to the train and brought down in
baggage car, only to die at once. Many
people who were present told me the facts
and said that if he had been treated on the
ground or taken to Jacksonville that day.
in all probability he would have been
saved.
Surgeon General Hamilton has been
seen and conferred with and has gone
away. but the people of Jacksonville are
just where they were before, except tha.
they have secured some promises. No
trains out, except To the health camp, will
he run He did promise, however, that If
the deputation would telegraph the Cover
nor and the President Of the Board of
Health Of North Carolina, and find out
what places were open to refugees. and
with him, he would then
consider whether, in his opinion, the places
named were safe. When the camp ques
tion. on which the deputation had full in
from me was broached. Surgeon
General Hamilton warmed up and said he
had not come there TO be bulldozed. He
promised, however, to provide better tents,
and that barracks should be built for the
white women. better kitchen arrange
ments and car accommodations and &C.
knowledged that the camp was very bad.
This is the sum total of what has been
done for the comfort of the refugees
What should be done is to max the low
blacks leave the camp, rs it is for the bet
ter class OF blacks. and hxve another on the
opposited side of the railroad track for the
whites.
The yellow fever continues to grow worse
There were many new cases yest' rday, but
no official report of them was made. The
only way to stop the career of th scourge
is to depopulate the city. So far the dis
ease is Of mild type, but ther are grave
fears that it will become malignant
Some Foolish People
Allow q cough to run until 1t gets beyond
the reach Of medicine. They often say,
"Oh, 1t will wear away" but In most cases
It wears them away. Could they be in
l.,o<,<l 40 x,ad;~sn, lto1