The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-21
COL. BRYAN
Board Excuses
Him
FROM TESTIFYING.
Several Witnesses Exam
ined at Jacksonville.

Jacksonville, oct. 2O.-General ].
Wilson and Captain Howell con-
shutting the Subcommittee to visit
and report upon the conditions at Fer
nandina, made their report to the full
commission today. The following is
the important part of the document:
1--WE carefully examined the site Of
the camp of the Pennsylvania volun-
teers, which it had been reported was
a tropical jungle on worthless land I'M
til cleared and upon clearing which
the troops are said to have worked like
slaves until it was fit for camp site
while your committee cannot state
the condition of this land when the
troops arrived, it found no appearance
of a tropical jungle here or in the vi
entity. There were no evidences of
there having been serious work in
preparing the camp, although as is
usual, there were small bushes, vines,
low palms scattered here and there
over the camp sites and adjacent lands
Altogether, the committee was most
favorably impressed with the charac-
ter of the site selected. We visited and
obtained from the county clerk of Mas
sau county, Florida, George f.. Wolfe,
map showing the lands occupied by
the troops, and his official certificate
as to the ownership Of the land This
certificate states that the greater part
of the lands occupied reverted to the
state of Florida in June, 1897, by rea-
son of unpaid taxes, and that no one
by the name of Alger ever controlled
any lands in the county of Nassau, as
shown by the records, and that the
land occupied by the Both Pennsylvania
volunteers at Fernandina as camp
was at the time, property eff the state
of Florida. The water was piped with
out expenditure to the camp from Fer
nandina from an artesian we'll about
500 feet deep. The water had a slight
sulphur taste which it is said some
Of the troops disliked, and they occas-
ionally used surface water. The loca-
lions of the hospitals as pointed out to
us were on high ground, well drained
and apparently well selected.
"ThG>mayor of Fernandina informed
us that Maj. Hendley, the surgeon in
charge of the camp, had stated to him
just before the troops left, that the
number of sick was $40.
Your committee therefore has the
honor to report that in its opinion. the
camp was we'll selected, that probably
tut SllG was 6QQdl III All I6SDGClS " dIly
other that could have been found on
the Florida coast. That from the in
formation they obtained and what they
saw, it was far from being a tropical
Jungle, and that the certificate of the
county clerk indicated that no govern
ment official was interested in the land,
that the amount of work in clearing the
underbrush was no greater than might
have been believed at almost any To-
cality in the south selected. The wa
ter for drinking and cooking purposes
was good. and the bathing facilities at
the sea beach excellent"
The war investigating committee
heard several professional women
nurses at the forenoon session today,
including Miss Copeland, chief nurse at
the Sd division hospital Miss Robbins,
head nurse at the LIST division hospital;
Miss Hubbard, head nurse at the I'd
division hospital; and Misses Walker
and Waters, ward nurses.
Miss Copeland spoke in commenda-
ton of the conduct of the hospitals and
said that the nurses were we'll treat
ed and apparently much respected. She
said the nurses had their own tent
quarters and own mess. Miss Cope
land said that when the nurses first
came TO camp, there was only one
nurse to four or six patients, but this
condition had been steadily improved.
There was also in the beginning some
scarcity of appliances for the sick, such
as hot water bottles which, while not a
necessity, were often comfort. She
spoke of some nurses who had made
complaints but they were of the kind
of persons who are never satisfied with
any situation.
Mai. James E. Pitcher of the regular
ar1ny depot surgeon for the It'll army
corps said that since the early days OF
the camp there had been no difficulty
in securing an abundance of medical
supplies and that they were much more
plentiful and of greater variety than
was usual in the regular army.
In the first history of the camp sup
plies were ordered from Tampa and II
was difficult, sometimes impossible, to
secure supplies. He thought the medi-
cal staff here was efficient as physi-
clans, but they were without admins
trative ability Many of them knew
nothing of formulating acquisitions and
were not disposed to learn. To this
DR. Pitcher attributed the fact that so
much of relief society supplies were
asked in preference to those furnished
by the government. He thought that if
the physicians had understood this line
Of their business, they need not have
called upon the relief associations to
such an extent Still, the relief asso-
Citations were supplied with ready money
and could supply all articles required
Immediately. Furthermore, there was
no responsibility on the part of sur
geons for the articles secured from out
side sources as there was for govern
ment supplies.
DR.. Conner pressed DR.. Pitcher close
ly 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 de-
mands made upon it. that but for the
aid of such relief societies as the Red
Cross, there would have been actual
suffering.
DR.. Pitcher replied that such was not
the case, and he maintained the ability
of the government to take good care
of it's own sick. He said 1t would have
been ungracious not to accept the aid
offered by the relief societies.
Capt John Swatlke of Company l.
LIST Illinois, complained that on two
or three occasions the fresh meat fur
nished his men had been poor, but SAID
that on all other occasions the fooo
had been good and ample
Gen. Dodge told the captain that
there had been some complaint from
almost every man in the company in
regard to their breakfast and supper
Capt. Swatke replied that he had eater
the same food given the men, and that
| it was satisfactory to him. He said
however that he did not ordinarily in.
spect the meats Of the men.
Sergt. A. F. Larenzon of the same
company admitted that there was some
complaint among the men, but he
thought the complaints were due t
the fact that the men We're homesick.
-
Col. Taylor, of the 4th Virginia regi-
ment, was the first witness at the af-
ternoon session. He said that he hat
no complaint to make concerning any
department of the government, anc
that he knew of no case of wilful ne.