The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-21
MEDICAL CORPS WORK
Surgeon General Steinberg Sub
mits His Report.
TOO MANY BOYS ENLISTED
Broke Down Quickly Under the War
Strain-IgnorAnt Volunteer Omcers
Neglected Sanitary Precautions.
Typhoid Fever.

Washington, Nov. 20.-Surgeon Gen
eral NJ. Sternberg has made his report
to the secretary of war. 1t relates MAIN
ly to the work OF the medical corps dur
ing the war. The following are the
The number of medical officers, 1872,
allowed by law to the army. is inade-
Quate in time of peace. The insufficiency
I'm time Of war was met by the assign
ment of over $50 contract sur
geons. The very small proportion of
military character impaired the eff
cheney Of the department at the outset,
but many OF the staff surgeons from
civil life showed great aptitude for the
service, and speedily became of value
as administrative officers.
No provision was made for hospital
corps men for the volunteer troops ex-
cept that which empowered the secre-
tary of war to enlist as many privates of
the hospital corps as the service may
require. The number of men enlisted
and transferred during the war was ap-
proximately 5000.
The want OF a sufficient body of
trained corps men necessitated the de-
tail of enlisted men from the regiments
for hospital duty in several OF the
camps, and the employment of trained
nurses at the general hospital. over
LOO female nurses have been employ
ed. at first at the general hospitals and
later at the field division hospitals,
when it became evident that the field
service purposes for which the latter
had been organized. would have to give
place to the imperative need of caring
Tor the many sick men coming from the
regimental camps.
Immediately upon the declaration of
war, April 81. steps were taken to OBJ
tain medical supplies for the new volun-
teer army. On May 3. foreseeing tnat
IL would be impossible to have ready
for issue to the volunteer regiments
as soon as they were mustered in, the
necessary articles of field equipment,
the department telegraphed the govern
ors of the several states for authority
TO use hemedtcai iequipmentof the rat
fonal guard IN the serviceof the state
until army medical supplies were ready
for issue. Most of the governors who
had field equipment responded prompt
ly and satisfactorily, but unfortunately,
many Of the state medical departments
had no such equipments. Meanwhile.
the officers in charge of the medical
supply depots were directed to make
arrangements so that supplies could be
for six months.
Wherever the notice was received
from the adjutant generals Office that
commands were to be moved or camps
formed. / endeavored to anticipate the
wants of the troops by telegraphing to
the officer in charge of the nearest
supply depot to forward supplies for
the stated number of men.
In my opinion. the reduction of the
age limit from 21 to is years, and the
haste with which the volunteer regi-
ments were organized and mustered in
to service. were responsible for much of
the sickness which was reported in the
early days of the camp life. All military
experience shows that young men under
21 years break down rapidly under the
strain or war service, and every regi-
ment had many youths in their ranks.
Medical examiners were appointed to
testify to the physical condition of each
man before acceptance. but notwith-
standing, so many men were after
wards found on the sick list on the
camps unfit for service. from causes
existing prior to enlistment, that special
arrangements had to be made for their
discharge.
Soon after the newly raised levies
were aggregated in large camps, sick
ness began TO increase progressively
from causes that were so general in
their operation that scarcely a regiment
escaped from their harmful influence.
These causes may largely be referred to
ignorance on the part of officers of the
principles of camp sanitation and their
duties and abilities as regards the well
fare of the enlisted men in their COM
mands.
Unsanitary Camps.
The sites Of certain of the camps
have been instanced in the newspapers
as the cause Of the sickness which was
developed in them. but a review of the
whole situation shows that IL was not
the site. but the manner of Its occupa-
tion which must be held responsible for
the manner and spread of disease
among the troops. April 25. 1898, FORE
seeing the likelihood of unsanitary con-
ditions In the camps, issued circular No.
i, impressing upon medical officers their
responsibility in sanitary matters and
the necessity for a strict sanitary pol
Icy, particularly in the case of sick and
in the preservation of the camp
from contamination. But the den
sity OF the military population on the
area of these contracted camps pre-
vented the possibility Of good sanitary
conditions. Camps of this character
may be occupied for a week or two at
a time without serious results, as in the
case of national guardsmen out for 10
days practice during the summer, but
their continued occupation viii newt
ably result In the breaking down of the
command by diarrhoea. dysentery and
typhoid fever.
Practically nothing was done to make
the men comfortable or to remedy the
unsanitary conditions until these
were brought to the attention of the
secretary of war by inspectors sent out
from the war department Then the
camps held for so long were abandoned.
but not before the Manifestations of ty-
phoic infection were rife in them. New
sites were carefully selected. regiment
al camps were expanded. company tent
age increased and board flooring pro-
vided. Then for the first time the troops
went into camps suitable for continued
occupation.
One prominent cause OF the increase
Of sickness in the early camps has been
commented upon by only a few OF our
medical officers. These cite the preva-
lence of drunkenness and venereal
diseases due TO the facilities and temp