The record-union., 1898-11-17
Or. La GaFde's Testimony Before
Investigation Commission.
The Yellow Fever Hospital at Sihoney Was
Well Conducted.
Never Before Had Been a War
When the Mortality Record
Was So Small-The Bad Condi-
ton Of the Army Before Sam
tiago Due Largely to the Fact
That the Men Were Without
Tents.

tiago Due Largely to the Fact
That the Men Were Without
Tents.
/ WASHINGTON, Nov. 16.-Major
la Garde continued his testimony be-
fore the War Investigation Commission
to-day concerning the conduct of the
war from a medical point of view. He
spoke first of the yellow fever hospital
at Siboney, which was under his
| charge, in a general way. He said,
however, that his time had been SO
fully occupied with other duties that
he had not visited the institution daily.
He 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 ex-
ceed s per cent. There might, how
ever, have been some suffering in in
dividual cases, on account of INSULT
cheney of supplies and for want of ex-
| pert nursing.
| DR.. Connor asked whether the contin-
gency of yellow fever could not have
been provided against, asking whether
| if in his judgment it should not have
been known by the Surgeon General
that under the circumstances there
would be an outbreak of fever.
He should have known that such
were the probabilities, and everybody
should have known that such were the
chances in sending an army into an
affected district in the summer. Evil
IDENTIFY the Surgeon 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 under
taken, read like prophecy
The witness added that under these
circumstances he could not understand
why a complete provision should not
have been made for supplying immune
nurses, and he did not know but that
the corps surgeon had asked for this
assistance in advance: he knew only
that they had not been adequately pro-
vided. Apparently, however, the army
depended upon the yellow fever expert
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 a 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 i 400
wounded men had been treated by the
surgeons at this institution. 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
a dozen deaths, or less than l per. cent.
There had never before been a war
when the mortality record was so
small. This was due largely to the use
Of modern rifles and the prompt meth
DDS of rendering aid on the battle
field to prevent blood poisoning. He
thought that under the old conditions
the mortality would have been 20 per
cent. greater.
Dr. la Garde expressed the opinion
that if the soldiers had been fully
equipped there would have been less
sickness among them, and he thought
that much of the trouble was due to
the fact that the soldiers were COM
PEELED to lie on the ground without
cover
Colonel J. w. Jacobs, who was Chief
Quartermaster of the Fifth Corps at
Tampa and in Cuba, testified that Gen
era1 Humphrey had been in charge of
the embarkation of troops at Tampa,
and that no order specifying what ves-
sells they were to occupy were issued.
In reply to a question from Governor
Beaver, he said the, embarkation had
been "a haphazard affair-decidedly
so.'' He also thought that there was
great deficiency in the provisions
for Decentralization, as only two light
ers were provided, and one of them
was lost on the way over
Colonel Jacobs had charge of the
transportation facilities at Santiago,
and he expressed the opinion that there
was not a 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 General Miles went to Tampa
he doubled the number, but even this
order did not secure a sufficient num-
Der. He knew of no reason for not
sending more, except that there was
no means of getting them from Tampa
to Santiago.
General McCook developed quite an
animated episode by asking if there
was any reason why the cooking uten-
sils and camp equippage of the troops
should not have been forwarded from
Baiauiri to the troops in the field.
"There was no reason Colonel ia
cobs replied. except that General
Skaters orders forbade
Continuing. he said that the order
was not positive. 1t did not specify
what should be forwarded. but was
most specific in providing that only
forage and rations should be forward
ed General Skaters orders to this
effect were written. and the General
had given him strict verbal instruc-
tions to see that the orders were OBJ
served 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 Baiduiri.
DIR. Connor then asked whether or
ders had been given to leave all the
hospital equipments behind at Tampa.
and Colonel Jacobs responded that it
was his impression that such was the
case He had personal knowledge that