The herald., 1898-11-17
The Testimony Taken

WASHINGTON, Nov. lG-Major Lf
Garde continued his testimony before the
War Investigation Committee today con
cerning the conduct of the war from med
ical point of view. He spoke first of the
yellow fever hospital at Siboney, which was
under his charge in general way. lie
said, however, that his time had been SO
fully occupied with other duties that he had
not visited the institution daily. lie was
satisfied, however, that the hospital was we'll
conducted and that the supplies ON the
whole were ample. He did not have the
complete records before him, but he was
sure that the mortality in this hospital did
not exceed eight per cent There might,
however, have been some suffering in indi-
yidnal cases ON account of nsufficiency OF
supplies and for want OF expert nursing.
DIR. Connor asked whether the contingency
OF yellow fever could not have been pro.
vided against, asking whether if in his iudg.
ment 1t should not have been known by the
Surgeon-General that under the circum-
stances there would be an outbreak of fever.
lie should have known that such were the
chances in sending an army into an affected
district in the summer Evidently the Sur
geon-General did foresee what happened.
and his words on this subject written before
the expedition set out and giving warning
against the invasion at the time it was un-
dertaken read like prophecy"
The witness added that under these cir.
cumstances he could not understand wby
more complete provision should not have
oeen made for supplying immune nurses,
ana he dld not know but that the corps
surgeon had asked for this assistance in ad-
vance; he knew only that they had not been
adequately provided. Apparently, however,
the army depended upon the yellow fever
experts to say when yellow fever would
break out
However, it must be said that the yellow
fever was very mild and it was to be dreaded
less than typhoid. As consequence, the
mortality among the sick in Cuba was less
than among those left in the United States.
Returning to the care of the hospital for
wounded soldiers, DR.. La Garde said that
between 1900 and 400 wounded men had
been treated by the surgeons at this institu-
tion. There were six operating tables, and
more could have been used to advantage
There were times when forty or fifty men
were waiting outside for attention OF the
wounded men there were about dozen
deaths or less than one per cent There had
never before been war where the mortal
ity record was so small. This was due large
ly to the use of modern rifles, and the
prompt methods of rendering aid on the
battlefield to prevent blood poisoning. He
thought that under the old conditions, the
mortality would have been &c per cent
greater.
DIR. La Garde expressed the opinion that
If the soldiers had been fully equipped there
would have beensless sickness among them,
and he thought that much of the trouble
was due to the fact that the soldiers were
compelled to lie on the ground without
cover.
Colonel j. w. Jacobs, who was chief quar-
ter-master of the Fifth Corps at Tampa
and in Cuba, testified that General Hum
phrey had been in charge of the embarka-
tion of troops at Tampa and that no orders
specifying what vessels they were to oc-
cupy were issued. In reply to question
from Governor Beaver he said the embarka- |
tion had been "a haphazard affair, decided
ly so." He also thought that there was
great deficiency in the provisions for dis
cmbarkation, as only two lighters were pro-
yided, and one Of them was lost on the way
over.
Colonel Jacobs had charge of transporta-
tion facilities at Santiago, and he expressed
the opinion that there was not sufficient
number OF wagons. He thought there should |
have been at least one wagon to each troop |
and company in addition to those at head |
quarters. General Skaters first orders had |
been to take only fifty wagons. When Gen
eral Miles went to Tampa he doubled the |
number, but even this order did not secure |
q sufficient number. He knew no reason |
for not sending more except that there was |
no means of getting them from Tampa to |
Santiago.
General McCook developed quite an ami
mated episode by asking if there was any
reason why the cooking utensils and camp
equipage of the troops should not have been |
forwarded from Baquiri to troops in the |
field.
"There was no reason" Colonel Jacobs
replied, except that General Skaters or
der forbade"
Continuing, he said the order was most
positive. 1t did not specify what should be
forwarded, but was most specific in provid-
ing that only forage and rations should be
forwarded. General Skaters orders to this
effect were written, and the general had
given him strict verbal instructions to see
that the orders were observed. Food had
been sent to the front cooked, but he thought
the men should have had some facilities for
cooking. The order had never been changed
during the month he remained at Baouiri.
DR.. Conner then asked whether orders had
been given to leave all the hospital equip