Evening star., 1898-10-12
CAMP ALGER CONDITIONS
General Graham Before the War Investigat-
ing Commission.
s-,7It,ttr--L
Not Enough Water for the TroOps-
- Typhoid Was Brought
to Camp.

The war investigating commission was
| occupied from 8 until 4 o'clock yesterday
| afternoon in listening to the testimony of
| Major General VIM, NJ, Graham, command
| ing the I'd Army Corps. Gen. Graham was
stationed at Camp Alger soon after the
| organiza ton of the volunteer army and his
| testimony yesterday afternoon related chief
| ly to conditions there
| Gen. Graham was a brigadier general in
| the regular army when the broke out
| and was then appointed to be major gem
| cral in the volunteer srevice. He entered
| the army originally in 1855
| The witness said he received orders to go
| to Camp Alger May II, when he was at
| Atlanta. Ga, where he was in command Of
the department of the gulf. He reached
Camp Alger the 18th, and found the
| camp established there though there was
no organization. There We're five or six
regiments Cn the ground
Water ut Camp AIger.
| In reply to questions by ex-Gov. Beaver,
| the witness told the commission of the ia
ciities for transportation he found at Camp
Alger. He regarded the conditions for
| drainage there as excellent, the camp being
On elevated and rolling ground sloping to-
ward streams. He said when he reached
! Camp Alger the water supply was sufii-
| to allow the men to wash their faces and
hands. This water, he said. came from
springs and wells in the vicinity, the water
| in the streams undoubtedly being unfit for
use. The maximum number of troops at
Camp Alger at any one time, he said, was
about 21O.D.
Ex-Gov Beaver-"Wh was done to meet
the demands for water of this aggregation
of troops?"
The witness-"As the number of troops
increased after my arrival at the camp the
necessity for more water became pressing,
l applied for machinery for boring arteSian
wells. There was some delay. 1t was diff
cult to obtain the necessary plant. Appar
entity there was only one such plant in
Virginia and that was a dilapdated affair,
L made this representation to the Secretary
of War, and was told to send anywhere in
the country to get a plant l secured three
or four of these plants, and wells We're
driven as rapidly as possible. working night
and day This was continued until l had
some forty-odd wells. That gave q sutfi-
cient supply for each regiment"
The witness said the capacity Of each of
these wells ranged from 1900 gallons up
| to from 5000 to 10.o90 gallons q day. He
| explained that, with one exception, the
wells were driven through rock, from which
| the water was obtained. This supply, he
said. was not sufficient to give the men
bathing facilities. but after the troops had
| been there a while outside people put up
Turkish baths, where the men could be ac-
| cOmmodatsd.
water at Camp Alger Gen. Graham replied
| that at one time, when the troops were
coming in there very rapidly. there,-was q
shortage Of water. There was no distress
resulting from this shortage, the trouble
| being that men had to go a great distance
| for water. This water famine continued
he said, until June %.
| EX-Csov. BeaVer-"Then you regarded il
IS a water famine?"
The witness-"Y-s. I think 1t was so re-
garded. In the engineers report that eX-
preston Is used
Typhoid Brought to Camp.
The witness said that so far as he knew
this lack of water did not seriously affect
the health of the men. He said the water
had nothing to do with any sickness at
that camp. There were streams outside of
the camp from which the men would drink
and which We're known to be used for wash
ing clothing. The men knew this, but, even
when warned that they ran a risk of hav-
ing typhoid fever. they continued to fill
their canteens with such water. The chief
disease in the camp. the witness said. was
nalarlal fever, sometimes going into ty
rhoid Typhoid fever he said did not orig
mate in the camp. The first case of typhoid
known there was brought in by Pennsyl
Nanla regiment, the sick man being sent to
Fort Myer as soon as it was known he had
the disease.
Ex-Gov. Reaver-"Then the first case dis
covered was isolated and sent out of the
camp
ne "ltHtSS- Immediately. 1 1llnk the
man was sent off within all hour"
The witness said the second case of ty-
phold fever was also believed by the sur
geons to have been brought in the camp.
1t came in a New York regiment
When asked concerning the amount of
sickness in Camp Alger he said that less
than per cent of the men were on the sick
report The deaths in his command were:
At Camp Aiger, five officers and &c enlisted
men: at Thoroughfare Gap. four officers and
10 enlisted men: at Camp Meade, one officer
and 63 enlisted men. That included all deaths
from May 20 to the present date. Those
deaths Were out of a comand numbering
as high as p 600 at one time, and now num-
bering %. SOB men,
Gen. Graham said that at first there was
very little attention Iaid to policing Camp
Alger, but he put into effect a number of
orders regarding such matters and person
ally made inspections to see that they were
carried out. He read a large number OF
these orders to the commission.
Location of Kitchens.
A feature of his camp arrangement,he said.
was to have kitchens in front of the tents
of the officers, where they could be watched
| readily, and to have the company sinks so
placed that the tents We're between them and
the kitchens This was done to prevent flies
going from the sinks to the kitchens.
Speaking of the engineering work done
at Camp Alger, Gen. Graham paid high
compliment 20 Lieut.. Col. James L. Lusk,
| now in Providence Hospital, where he has
been quite i'll of disease contracted while
on duty Gen. Graham said THAT Lieut.. Col.
Lusk showed himself to be most able and
efficient, and had worked increasingly to
| promote the work under him. Lieut.. Col.
| Lusk was formerly assistant engineer COM
missioner of the District of Columbia.
The commission adjourned at o'clock,
Gen. Graham's testimony to be resumed
this morning.
Austrian Emperor's Appreciation.