The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-25
MANY SOLDIERS SUFFERED
FOR LACK OF TENTAGE AND ABE
QUATE HOSPITAL SERVICE.
Regimental Officers to Blame for Much
OF the sicLness-CoIonei Bisbce
ON Affairs at Santiago.

Der of officers and men of the regular
troops as we'll as a number of volunteer
officers 1t is now expected that the COM
mission will leave for Huntsville tomorrow
night
Major Otto H. Fak, chief quartermaster
of the First Division of the Third Army
Corps while in Chickamauga Park, and
now occupying the position chief quar-
termaster for this camp. was the first wit
ness to-day. He said the most serious COM
plant in the early history of Camp
Thomas was from the First Mis-
souri,, whose men claimed that their
trousers were nothing more than
rags. and tried to apply to charity at home
to supply their wants. There was also a
shortage in tents, which became more Sc
rious at the time of the beginning of the
rainy season. Previous to that time men
| had slept under trees and under their shell
| ter tents without complaint. Indeed, he
said there never was sufficient supply Of
| tentage, and it was necessary to put six
| men In tent. Continuing, he said the di-
| vision had never been completely equipped
| until the present time, especially in the
matter of transportation facilities. He said.
| however, that there had been no refusal to
honor acquisitions. He thought, however,
that. upon the whole, there was too much
Il do away with it whenever can. ] have
succeeded so far he said. "even though L
sometimes violate regulations" Illustrating,
he said he had to sign his name nine times
in the process of paying a bill of $20
DIR. BRAKES TESTIMONY.
DIR. Charles NJ. Drake. in charge of the
general hospital here, and who was in COM
mand of the hospital of the First Division
of the Third Corps at Chickamauga, was
the next witness. He told of various i'm
provements he had found it necessary to
make in the hospital. at Chickamauga.
There was he said such flood of disease
that it was almost impossible to meet the
demand for tentage and quite out of the
question to anticipate it. AS fast as he
would pitch new tents they would fill them
up. He stated that the medical supplies
had been ample from the beginning. but
the hospital corps had proved insufficient
as nurses. 'sThey were. as class" he said,
the very worst material that could have
been found out of which to make nurses
However, he thought there had been no
more serious. results than discomfort to pa
tients caused by the inefficiency OF nurses.
He was positive there had been no death
from starvation or deprivation. Ten per
cent OF the typhoid cases of the hospital
had died, and compared with hospitals gen.
orally, the percentage was phen0menally
low He was of opinion that patients In
this hospital received better attention than
the average man in this country receives at
home.
corps patient in the Chickaniauga hospitaI,
DR.. Drake said he had seen maggots on
one occasion In a box in the hospital. but
never on patients. Often the men came
there lousy. but they did not remain so.
Replying to charges concerning the fur
Laughing and shipment of members of the
Eighth and Fourteenth New York regi-
ments, he said the men of the two regi-
ments had not wanted to travel together
I1f.x -1.tv@
Fourth had been due to the fact that after
he had secured transportation for them
over the Pennsylvania line major in their
regiment changed the order to
cure transportation over more circuitous
route. Regarding the nsinuation that he
had tried to favor the Southern Railroad
because he had been the chief surgeon OF
that line he said he had not been connect
ed with the road since 1897 -
sary of subsistence, said the quality of the
rations had been excellent. Az for the
quantity a man would have TO be a gor-
mandizer to eat it. Major Heatwole was
POOR CAMP SITES.
Mai. David vickers. who inspector
general for the Second Division of the
Third Corps at Chickamauga. attributed
the troubles in that camp to the shallow
ness of the sinks. He said arso that some
Of the regimental officers insisted on maxi
ing poor selection of camp sites, and in
one instance a Mississippi colonel, who had
put his men in a swamp. had insisted upon
remaining, on the ground that the Mssis-
sippians had a natural affinity for swamps.
Nevertheless his men were taken sick.
Major Vickers also complained that the
the camp site was unfit for so large an
army, but so far as food went the privates
were far better of than the officers. He said
that at one time the beds of all the pa
tientS were on the floor and there were
some cases i'm which some of them were
ASko H ~ tn he ~
of the surgeons at the hospital he said there
was one man in the hospital whose prone
ice. This man Major Hubbard, sur
geon of the Ninth New York. His pro-
said M wS " Vc sEe that IL pretty nearly
made me sick, and ! know II could not
have had pleasant effect upon patients,
Lieutenant Colonel Bisbee, in command OF
the First Infantry, told the story of the
transportation of his regiment 10 Santiago
briefly, describing the fighting about San
tiago. spoke of his experience in Cuba OF
the return to Montauk Point and of the
stay at that place and the transfer South.
| Asked If the landing at Santiago could have
! been accomplished If opposed he replied;
| THE facilities were so poor that | think
| not at least I should say IL had been on
| shore no enemy would have been permitted
| to land. i cannot say how II was with the
| difficulty in getting food while in front of
| Santiago "but we had enough he said.
| IF there had been more to eat. the men
| would probably have been sicker." lie ex-
pressed the opinion that the only deoriva
| ton had been in not having proper food for
| the sick They could not take the food IN
| their condition, he said. He thought the
| rations contained too much fat meat for the
| climate.
HOW HE ESCAPED SICKNESS.
Colonel Bisbee stated that himself and
sixteen men were the only members Of his
| regiment who had not been III at some
| time during the Santiago campaign. 1T
had been impossible to secure medical sup
| plies" said the witness, land IL we had had
them we could not have carried them He
| added that the army was badly broken up
in that respect, and 1t did not get into
| shape promptly for some reason. He said
the men were just beginning 10 break In
| health when Santiago surrendered. and the
| captulation came at just the right time.
| After the surrender of the city there was
| plenty for all TO eat
| In speaking of the Spanish troops Colonel
| Bisbee said: II think about three-fourths
| OF them would have been enlisted with US
| but for their home ties. They found that
| we were giving them better treatment than
| their own government did. am satisfied
their own officers were swindling them.
J The officers were fat and sleek looking. but
/ the men were i'll and pale and apparently
unfed." He did not believe there was suf-
| ficient number Of doctors in the Cuban CAM
| nafQn. He. Thought the contract surgeons