Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1898-09-03

| was before the government had collected
Its medical stores in great quantities.
AS in the other hospitals, the entire
force OF attendants, both officers and
men, worked with great persistence till
over 20 percent of the hospitals corps
fell sick. For the last six weeks there
has been no difficulty whatever in OBJ
tanning medical supplies of every char
| acter. The Red Cross has made liberal
donations to this hospital. and friends
in Mime sofa have sent great quantities
OF delicacies.
Taking up the last Of the field hos
pitfalls, that of the Third corps, second
division, under Major Smith, the re-
port states that SO tents are at present
not all occupied, though during the cpl
q. mic Of measles they We're crowded.
There We're no Red Cross nurses, and a
detail of two ladies from the Chatta-
nooga association has visited the hos
pital daily to cook the lighter food for
the sick. When the hospital was crowd
ed the rumber of attendants was insult
hcient. There were also strong COM
plants of the failure to get medical and
surgical supplies in the earlier days be-
fore the government had been able to
furnish itself, and when it was impossi-
bl, to avoid delays incident to rushing
supplies to great army camps. The
rtqulsition papers on file, however, show
that the hospital officers made every
effort to obtain full supplies.
Leaving the details about the hos
pitfalls, the report proceeds to treat the
hal y,,Ii ~ f.1l
In two Of the hospitals opportunities
occurred for discovery of what undoubt-
eddy originated many of the sensational
stories which have been printed over
the country to the effect that patients
in the hospitals lacked sufficient food,
and in many cases had been on the verge
Of starvation. In the wards where the
cunva!escent typhoid fever patients were
found many of the men were constantly
asking for food, and as a matter Of
course were as constantly denied every
thirg except the lighter forms of food,
which alone can safely be administered
to recovering typhoid patients. This re-
fusal of food throughout the hospitals.
by which care alone, as is perfectly un-
derstood, can the lives of typhoid con-
Valescents be saved, has been distorted
into the cry. which has spread through
but the country, that patients We're be-
ii starved in the goVernme mt hospitals.
Ths re has been no lack of proper food
in thes- hospitals. and competent cooks
fot p!e parl 4 ii have been present; and
tn. only reason for depriving the pa
lnts III what so many of them have
81 ,murSd for has been the necessity of
such diptirg as the disease demands.
at will b. observed that the condi-
tons St forth in this report are mainly
present conditions. II has not hereto
fore fallen within the range of my duties
at tbs park to make critical obserVa-
rions of hospital conditions. AS a mat
ter Of course, many features of this diVi
sion Of camp administration have fallen
'Nnder my notice. | am constrained to
believe that there has been no neglect
on tn part of either the me deal o. the
quartermaster departments to furnish
such supplies as have reached the camp.
1t will BE- observed that the report in
each case has been made with reference
to the maximum number of patients in
each hospital. and so far as it was posi-
Bile to obtain the conditions then exist
I.
Thss. are conditions which in times Of
rapid increase of dis ase, a condition
which was REACHED at this camp solely
in my judgment from the filth which
too many of the regimental officers al
lowed to dominate their camps, in spite
of the orders, which would have pre-
vented all this trouble, from the surgeon
general and from the commanding Off
GERS OF this camp.
$50 far from believing, as a result of
my observations, that medical officers
have been heartless or negligent / be-
lieve that these officers and the hospital
attendants as whole have eXerted
themselves to discharge their duties
faithfully. 1t would seem as if this
We're sufficiently shown by the fact that
they have worked INCREASINGLY until
quarter of the whole force has itself been
stricken by disease resulting from their
eXhausting labors.
My attention was especially directed
in the order which | received to some re-
marks credited to General Terry as he
was leaving Camp Thomas: General
Terry found the camp in a bad sanitary
condition. 1t is situated in an open field
in the hot sun. with no water to b.
found within five miles The water the
men drink is hauled in barrels and of Il
kird that i'm New York would be refused
as bathing water. This stuff is what the
men drink daily, and is declared to he
the chief cause of the sickness. He said
he would insist on the Eighth regiment
being returned to New York and had
wired Governor Black and the secretary
of war of the situation. This camp was
removed to the open field at the specia!
II quest of the officers concerned, as they
were inclined to think that their camp
i'm the open woods had something TO do
with the sickness of their men. HIRE
it may be pertinent to remark in passing
That this regiment had at the time of it's
moving and had maintained one of the
hlthiest and most disgusting canteens
t. be found in the entire army. From
personal observations of tins canteen
me two weeks since. I am prepared 10
assert that it was little better than
serving be err to the soldiers of the Eighth
NV York in Il hoypen. 1t Is also true
that the reports show that since this
re giment moved. it's health conditions
have improved.
"In closing, l beg leave to express my
opinion that most of the interviews with
chaplains, regmental surgeons and
others, both officers and men, now APP
pearing at the north in many of the
II wspapers in regard to this camp, are
reckless and false except as to the filthy
conditions which their own criminal
neglect has caused. In my judgment
the recent increase In the Outcries
against water and the persistent asser-
ton that the park is unhealthy have
been largely and deliberately used to
stir up sentiment and influence which
would be exerted TO insure their relief
from service"
Boston. Sept. 1.-COlonel Woodward,
ever since his resignation from the Sixth
regiment. has been saying that he would