The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-07
WHO IS TO BLAMEY
What Miss Jennings Has to Say
About the Needless Suffering on
the TRANSPORTS.

the Transports.
Miss Janet Jennings who has been to Wa h
ington to interview the president with refer
ence to the condition of the transport ships
bringing the sick and wounded soldiers from
Cuba, passes some severe criticism upon the
officers of the army medical corps. She said:
Il have no criticism to make on the sur
geon general OF the army, but IL I failed to
state the facts l should fail in my duty to
our soldiers In Cuba There are no Drawer
men living, no Drawer men dying The hard,
cruel part of 1t is that great suffering and
hardship are caused by incompetence or in
difference. or both. Those of us who have
been at the front know the necessities Of
war must cause great suffering, even when
the best Is done to modify existing conditions
But there was no excuse for sending the
wounded on the Seneca-no excuse for using
the Seneca without first making the ship
decent and fairly comfortable--and absolutely
no excuse for sendig her off without proper
supplies. 1t was great wrong and the wrong
and the LeOna. which have since arrived in
New York from Cuba in even a worse condi-
ton than the Seneca"
men In dire need OF surgical treatment were
transferred from the hospital ship Relief.
which was, well equipped for. such service
which were not only without surgical instru-
ments, but were absolutely unfit for well
soldier, let alone sick and wounded man.
Continuing she says:
I know this Is a serious statement, even
accusation. But I state the fact that these
wounded men were on the Relief two days,
treatment. but We're sent off the Relief with
out 1t and to the Seneca, where there was
not surgical instrument on board Forty
two wounded men were sent from the Relief
most OF them with no clothing but the
nightshirts they had on-no food except one
case OF beef tea, not plate, cup. knife. fork
count except quinine. There was no Their
mometer to take the temperature of the pa
tents until we arrived at Fort Monroe, when
Or. Hicks sent ashore and got one. Now all
this was bad enough. but sending off wound
ed men SO badly in need of surgical treat
ment as I have stated was criminal negli-
gence.
1.-THE surgeon in charge of the Relief calls
1t an incident. and he speaks Of me as
an hysterical woman who is likely to say
least consequence, ana not worthy n.y. of i res
ply. do not want to be understood as MAX
ing reply to any personal reference to my
that there were mo sayWg 31st a
front in Cuba. If the little band of women
nurses In the hospitals down there had been
'hysterical women the Red Gross could not
have met the great emergency in the awful
stress OF the hour, which the hospital service
Of the army 80 lamentaby failed to meet.
| did not see 'hystericar men In Cuba. either.
The Relief had not yet arrived, and 1 never
met any Of the surgeons on board and never
saw them on shore"
THE INTRODUCTION OF YELLOW JACK.
Surgeon General Sternberg resents deeply
Gen. Breckinridge's official statement on the
shortcomings Of the medical department ct
Santiago, and other officers Of the corps in.
sist that the Red Cross is to blame for much
OF the trouble there. especially for the ap-
charge made by Dr.. Gray, assistant surgeon
on the Relief, Miss Jennings said recently:
This is preposterous. 1t seems incredible
that a man holding the commission Of an as
slstant surgeon IN the army should make such
statement. Surely DR.. Gray must be in
absolute ignorance Of the situation at siboney.
He says the Red Cross established hospitals
there and the yellow fever broke out In the
hospitals He also says the town ought to
have been burned when the troops landed. In
lean, were at Siboney some days before the
Red Cross ship arrived there. The Cuban
hospital building had been used for the same
hospital, a filthy old building, have already
mentioned. contained nearly 100 siok Ameri-
floors some days before one Of the Red Cross
party set foot on the shore. OF course. the
filth Of ages, was about the place and all
not take single step looking to better sani-
tary conditions, or pay the least attention
to o.S cleaning anywhere. The whole place
old buildings burned, the few better ones
saved: The army was in complete control
and did absolutely nothing.
n0SDfta q
1t took charge Of the hospitals by request and
authority of the surgeon in charge, Mai.
Lagorde. but the first cleaning done in ST.
pitfalls. The Red Cross sists. rs cleaned CLEANED tie tie
interior Of each building. But they did no,h-
Of these two buildings, except the grounds
about the American. but as 1t was called,
Red Cross hospital. I hired two Cuban men
down, to clean tbe yard back Of the building
and carry off the, refuse and filth, then clean
ell the outbuildings. I paid these men, not
food. Probably they never had In one dsy
SO much to eat before in all their lives. And
they, proved that well-fed Cuban .:ulf and
man. After the cleaning, disinfectants were
used freely about the grounds and buildings
And this hospital, the only real clean place
believe the yellow fever was started by the
Red Cross.
''After the yellow fever was well under way
house by house Now there are only tents
and they are not waterproof"
The White Cross Follows the Red.
Mrs. Creighton and Mrs. Snyder, Of Port
land, Or, who are among the organizers Of
the White Gross society, recently visited the
president in order to obtain full recognition
for the White Gross society in army work,
and have already arranged to send a corps
Of trained nurses to Manila, together with a
large quantity Of supplies They have tend
cred assistance in such work in any direction
the government may designate. They had a
short talk with the president, who expressed
his appreciation Of the constant evidence Of
the patriotism Of American women.
THE PRESS AND THE CLUB.