Evening star., 1898-10-18
Army Surgeon Describes Conditions
at Jacksonville Hospitals.
MEN GENERALLY WELL CARED FOR
Fever Brought to Camps by Troops
From Outside.
FALSE STATEMENTS DENIED

war investigating commission began the ex-
animation of witnesses al Jacksonville to-
day, using the office room of Gen. Dodge's
private car for this purpose. Col. Louis NJ.
Maus, chief surgeon of the 1th Army Corps,
was the first witness sworn. He is a regu-
lar army surgeon and has occupied his
present position practically throughout the
history of the camp. He said there was
only small field hospital when he arrived
IN May. and there were very few sick men.
Sickness developed very slowly and there
was very little of it until July
He said that when the order came for
the establishment of division hospitals
there was some delay in getting supplies,
such as tents He made his acquisitions
Tampa. but finding that all efforts there
were directed to getting the expedition off
he made his acquisitions upon Washington
direct.
After this they were promptly filled.
There was no suffering among the sick.
Still, they Odd not have the -luxuries at the
beginning of the war that there were in the
latter days of it, Nor" added the DOCTOR
do 1 think that the history of the world
has ever seen parallel to our present care
OF the sick" Taking up the present condi-
ton of the hospitals he said there were 800
trained females nurses now at work here.
He said the employment of these nurses
had proved entirely satisfactory.
No Expense Spared.
Replying to a question, Dr. Maus said
tt at after the first few days there had
teen exceptional promptitude. He had
never seen such utter disregard Of expense
In caring for sick soldiers. AS matter of
fact, the troops had a greater allowance of
lations than they could use or dispose of
in any way. He also said the Red Cross
Society had given so much that It was
often unnecessary to ask the government
for supplies. There had been no restric-
In tnn nf
camps.
He thought typhoid had been introduced
t" the camp by Mississippi and Virginia
II oops. Shallow wells and surface drainage
mad done much to increase the scourge. but
he was confident that the regular water
supply of the city had not been in any
sense responsible for 1t.
He also thought the flies had done much
to disseminate fever. From the beginning
very strict attention had been given to san
itauon IN camp, but despite this care ty-
phoid fever did break out and had become
the principal sickness there.
Dr. Maus said he had found II difficult
TO prevail upon surgeons in the volunteer
service to learn the administrative duties
OF their positions.
AS matter of fact these duties were ex-
tremely onerous, and for this reason the
volunteer physicians were not SO efficient
as they should have been. Often, also, in
the early history of the war, some Of the
volunteer regimental surgeons had been
found negligent in the matter of inspection.
but later on sanitation became the princi-
pal duty of everybody about the camp.
Visitors n Source of Trouble
Much trouble had been experienced in
keeping the public from the hospitals In
many cases they had surreptitiously car
ried food to the sick. DR.. Maus also dweit
upon the newspaper reports of the suffer
ing in the camp, saying they had generally
grown out of exaggerated statements from
the men themselves.
DR.. Maus said that in the history of the
camp there had been 2S4 deaths out of
31000 men. end that about so per cent of
the deaths had been from fever. He
thought the fever was now decreasing.
He mentioned one instance in which
rious sickness had followed the use of
tainted meat, and said he had heard of
a few other instances in which poor meat
had been issued.
Still, these cases were rare. and no more
frequent than should be expected.
DIR. Conner questioned Dr. Maus about
the acceptance of outside aid. and quoted
a report from Col. Guild, inspector general
saying that but for the action of the Red
Cross Society the sick would have been
without essential supplies for two months.
Statement Is False.
THAT statement" said Dr. Maus, 'fs ut
terly false. The government would have
supplied them If the Red Cross had not"
DIR. Maus also denied the truth of a state
ment made by the governor of Iowa tn 1t
there was only one nurse in charge of six
teen typhoid patients. He said, however.
that the nurses sent by the governor of
Iowa had been accepted not because the
government was negligent, but because they
could be utilized.
He assented to proposition by Or. Con-
ner that the government should take care
of its sick and not depend upon OUTSIDE cor
tributions. He said also. in reply to DR..
Conner, that flies disseminated disease was
still theory, but he thought it 4 very prob
able one.