The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-10-11

Washington, October 8.-The war in
vestigating commission examined two
witnesses today. They were Doctor
Giffin, who is in charge Of the Stern
berg hospital at Camp Thomas, Chick
amauga park, Ga, and Captain Bald
ridge, a brigade commissary of sub
sistence at Camp Cuba Libre, jack
sonville, Fla. Both contributed much
information in regard to the two
camps. The commissioners have prac-
tically decided to start on the night
of the 18th on a round Of the various
camps. They will go to Camp Meade
or to Jacksonville first, but are not
yet decided which. All the camps will
be visited in succession, but the un-
Gerstanding is that the trip to CampWi
koff will not be made until some time in
November. Next week will be given
largely to the inspection of official re-
have been furnished in reply to letters
from the commission.
Major +. Emmett Giffin was a bri-
gade surgeon at Camp Thomas and
told of his visit to the Second division
hospital in July last, when he said it
vas overcroWded. In each tent and
under it's flies there were eight or nine
men, when there should have been but
from four to six. There was a sutti-
cheney of physicians and Major Giftin
was sure they were competent men.
The majority of patients were suffer
ing from typhoid fever and venerial
diseases, about 20 per cent. being OF
the latter class. He thought the
crowding of the hospital was from lack
of n
the surgeon in charge. DR.. Giffin
made his visit to the division him
self to see a man of his brigade who
had been shot in the leg. He found
him in a tent with typhoid fever pa
tients and consequently had him re-
moved. The division hospital surgeons
were competent in their profession,
some Of them being the most compe-
tent in the United States, but they
were not men of executive ability.
None of them was addicted to drink.
He considrd the water supply good. He
thinks the wells were poorly located
They were too near the kitchens and
were too shallow. Many of them were
only seventy-five feet from the COM
pany kitchens and were open when
he arrived. He then had them moved
farther back and gave directions for
daily disinfection and covering. By
this time, however, the regiments were
all infected, as he thought, by the flies
going from the sinks to the mess
tables
Dr. Giffin was satisfied that the ty-
phoid fever had been brought in by
the troops, the first case coming
through a Mississippi regiment. The
location was a healthful one, as he had
made an investigation and found that
previous to the arrival of the troops
there had only been one case of ty-
hot in hn tot nv fny x,tv
years. There had been about 5000
cases of typhoid fever in the camp.
DR.. Giffin had no complaint of neg
lect or inetficiency to make against any
of the bureaus of the war department
and he had heard of only one COM
plant. There were no matches for
twenty-four hours. He thought that
the contract surgeons should have
been examined before they were ap-
pointed. The doctor also expressed the
opinion that the complaints of starva-
tion had arisen from the fact that it
was necessary to put convalscents
from typhoid fever on a sparse diet
He thought many deaths had been
caused by overfeeding after GONZALES
cents had returned to their homes.
Orders were given, to his knowledge,
for prompt measures looking to the
suppression of the fever when it broke
out, but the orders had not been obey
ed. He knew of more cases in which
the sinks were at least within twenty
feet of the kitchen and in the cases
of the Fourteenth Minnesota and Ninth
Pennsylvania regiments the sinks were
crowded near the Kitchens when there
was a quarter of a mile of open field
back of them. He thought that it had
been mistake to locate so many men
together as were at Camp Thomas
Reqlisitions had been honored prompt
1y. He got everything he asked for.
AT CAMP CUBA LIBRE.
Captain James c. Baldridge, commits
sary of subsistence for the First bri-
Sade, Second division, Seventh army
corps, now at Camp Cuba Libre Jack
Sonvflle, occupied the attention of the
committee during the afternoon. He
reached the camp on August End and
made an immediate inspection of the
kitchens. He found some of them not
we'll managed. as all of the army cooks
were not experts. He believed that
for an army in camp green coffee was
preferable to the roasted, as it was
stronger and fresher. The meat he
considered good and it was received
on time, except in one instance. Upon
complaint by the Second New Jersey
regiment he investigated the meat
which had been rejected by it. Some
of this meat was eaten by the brigade
officers and found to be wholesome
The next day the same regiment re-
jected a consignment of corn beef, but
this also he found to be eatable. The
men were literally supplied with food
and the location of the camp was
good. Still there has been an increase
of disease, which he attributed to the
climate and to the assembling Of a