The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-21
THEY GO TO FRESHER FIELDS.
.p COMMISSIONERS CONCLUDE
TuEIR WORK AT JACKSONVILLE.

sound by Their work There-TeS-
many Mt Yesterdays Session of
,be same Nature as That Hereto
gore Given-SOme Complaints, But
Matters Had Been Quickly Rene
Observation-Disclosures to De in At
Janta To-day
1ootsonvllle. Fla, Oct 2O.-The war in
..ostieating commission concluded its la
&c at Jacksonville tonight and shortly
oftor 10 o'clock left for Atlanta, expect
mo 70 take up business there Tomorrow.
The committee has spent four days in
Jacksonville. This being the first of the
.,amns to be visited, it has naturally been
awarded somewhat more time than will
he given TO other points with the possible
exception of Chlckamauga.
The commissioners are generally pleas
cd with the result of their labors here.
They have naturally met with complaints,
hDt they have generally dealt with com
paratiyely unimportant points, and in
very few. if any, cases have they indi-
Gated willfu neglect or culpable misman-
agement. Generally one private or non
commissioned officer from each regiment
has been called and in many cases more
than one. In the case of the enlisted
men they were selected at random, the
commissioners merely asking that men be
sent TO them without any specification of
the purpose for which they We're called.
They have without exception said that
they were receiving enough to eat and
wear. There were occasional complaints
greater variety of food, but in no in
stance has a spirit of fault-finding been
developed among this class of witnesses.
In some cases a deficiency of supplies at
the beginning of the camps history was
shown. and there has been more or less
of tainted meat received by the men, but
# was agreed by all the witnesses that
The first condition was due to the conges-
ton at Tampa and the later to the eli
mate
Gen. McCook and Col. Sexton returned
today from their investigation of condi-
tons at Tampa. They found that the
congestion which occurred at that point
at the beginning of the war, was due to
the fact that cars were shipped from all
over the country without being labeled
and without forwarding bills of lading.
Gen. Wilson and Capt Howell, constitut-
ing the sub-commissiOn appointed to visit
and report upon the conditions Of the
camp at Fernandina made their report
to the full commission to-day.
The following is the import of the docu-
ment: your committee has the honor to
report that in its opinion the camp was
well selected, that probably the site was
equal IN all respects to any that could
have been found on the Florida coast;
mat from the information il obtained and
what il saw it was far from being trop-
-. Ct 49,
county clerk indicates that no government
official was interested in the land; that
the amount of work done in clearing the
underbrush was no greater than might
have been expected at almost any locality
in the South selected for camping pur-
poses: that the site was well drained, the
water for drinking and cooking purposes
good. and the bathing facilities at the sea
beach excellent.
The commission heard several of the
professional female nurses at the fore
noon session to-day including Miss Cope
land chief nurse at the Third Division
hospital; Miss Robins, head nurse at the
First Division hospitals Miss Hubbard,
head nurse at the Second Division nos
pital and Misses Walker and Waters,
ward nurses.
Miss Copeland spoke in commentator OF
the conduct of the hospitals and she said
that the nurses were well treated and
apparently much respected. She said the
nurses had their own tent quarters where
there was the privacy demanded by their
sex.
Miss Copeland said that when the nurses
first came to the camp there was only one
nurse to each forty or fifty patients, but
this condition had steadily improved. There
was also in the beginning some scarcity
of appliances for the sick, such as hot
water bottles. which, while not a necess-
smoke
some nurses who had made complaints
but they were of the kind of persons who
are never satisfied with any situation. One
Philadelphia nurse had made severe criti-
cisms, but she was of the kind who would
leave patient to whom she had just giver
bath TO attend to some other errand be-
fore drying him
Maj. James z. Pitcher of the regular
army, depot surgeon for the Seventh
Army Corps said that since the early
days of the camp there had been no diff
feulty in securing an abundance of medi-
cal supplies, and that they were much
more plentiful and of greater variety than
was usual in the regular army. In the
nrst history of the camp, supplies were
ordered from Tampa and it was difficult
sometimes impossible, to secure them. He
thought the medical staff here was eff
cent as physicians, but they were with
out administrative ability. Many of them
and were not disposed to learn.
lie thought that if the physicians hao
understood this line of their business they
neei not have called upon the relief asso'
cations to such an extent.
DR.. Conner pressed DR.. Pitcher closely
on this point, saying TO him that the
country was full of the report that the
medical department of the government
was not capable of meeting the demand;
made upon it, and that but for the aic
OF such relief societies as the Red Cross
there would have been actual suffering
To this DIR. Pitcher REPLIED
mat such was not the case
and he maintained the efficiency o.
me government to take care of it's owr
sack He said that it would have beer
ungrdcious not to accept the aid Offered
bg the relief societies
tapt John w. Swatek, Company j.
Sfcoud Illinois. complained that on two
q three occasions the fresh meat furnish
y mis- men had been poor, but said tha
" all other occasions the food had beer
700 ana ample. Gen. Dodge told th'
captain that there had been complain