The age-herald., 1898-10-26
SECURED HOSPITAL STORES
While at Santiago from ths Red Cross
 Society.
SURGEON KING OF WISCONSIN
Said That When the Men Under Him Complained of Their Food He Told Them to Go to
 the Devil.

Anniston, Ala, October 25.-Dr. R. D. Boss, assistant surgeon in the First infan- try, was the first witness before the war investigating commission today. He was in this regiment and with the Fourth infan- July l0. He found the medical supplies short and was unable to secure any of them for few days until he learned how to get them from the division hospital.
 There was a suficiency of quinine, but a shortage of morphine. However, he had all of this latter remedy that was abso- lutely necessary. He was able to secure hospital stores, such as food delicacies by ''rustling' for them, getting them first from the Red Cross society and then going 10 Santiago for them. He had made requi- sition for the chief surgeon of the division for these supplies, but had been unable to secure them because they were not there. However, he had no serious illness in the command.
 MT. Conner asked if the government could not have gotten these supplies to Santiago as promptly as the Red Cross society, and Dr. Ross replied that while he had no in formation he thought it could have done so.
 Command Broken Up
 He had left Santiago with the Fourth in- fantry and gone to Montauk Point on the Seneca. When they left Cuba, he said, the command was "all broken up'' and every man of the command was sick on the way north. The doctor himself was sick and ill the detention hospital at Montauk Point, and he testified to the careful conduct of that institution, saying the supplies were ample and the food was all that could have been dstred.
 E sColonel Fife, of the Third Tennessee Inade request to supplement hls state .Hent of yesterdaXan gave some particu- iars concerning the sinks in the regiment al ChickHfBauga. He said the sinks were very near the tents and it was impossible to remove them farther away owing to the proximity of other regiments, six of them being within a stones throw.
 In one instance the sinks of another regi- ment were within twenty paces of the tents of the line officers. The character of the soil also had rendered it impossible to put the sinks down more than four feet, rem dering 1t necessay to renew the sinks every two or three days. Thus the soil became honeycombed with sinks.
 Sinks Carefully Looked After
 Nevertheless the sinks were carefully looked after, and his regiment had been especially commended by the brigade com mander for the condition of it's camp.
 He characterized as false and malicious some charges made against his regiment by Chattanooga musician named Hunt, who had been with his regiment for a time.
 Other witnesses examined were Lieuten- ant Reed, of the Fourth Wisconsin, Lieu. tenant West, of the Third Alabama and 1.i0 Of rd see.
 West Is the commssary and quarter master of this regiment, and Reed was commissary for his regiment for a time. West said the supplies were ample and ex- cellent, but Reed complained somewhat of the meat supplied before the regiment left Wisconsin,.
 Lieutenant Hayley is commissary for his regiment. He said that there had been q jew complaints that the rations were not sufficient, but he thought the complaint was caused by the return of men on furloughs
 Negroes Examined
 Other witnesses of the forenoon session were Fountain Ragland and Edward Sim mons, two colored men of the Third Ala bama; Congressman Colson, colonel of the Fourth Kentucky and Colonel cabell, of the Second Arkansas.
 Colonel Cabell said in reply to questions put by Dr. Conner that he had observed a condition of affairs at the hospital of the second division of the third army corps in June which he considered horrible. He had, himself, seen one sick man lying in the rain without the protection of even a tent-fy, and he had been informed by other officers that sevral others had been left in the same way. He thought the doctors were honest enough, but that they did not know how to get supplies. Mule drivers had been used for nurses and he had been lfa1, ixafn fI,ok in the habit. of getting drunk and on this account neglecting their patietns. He said Dr. Schooler was the division surgeon at the time. Colonel Cabel is lieutenant in the regular army and his testimony made an evident impression upon the commits sion.
 Major Charles F. King, surgeon of the Fourth Wisconsin regiment, was one of the first witnesses of the afternoon. He said the medical supplies of his regiment were insufficient and that there was much delay in getting acquisitions filed He thought there was sufficient quantity of food, but said some of the men would not eat it, preferring to buy food for them selves. General Wilson asked if the men had ever complained to him as surgeon of the regiment and Dr. King replied that they had. What did you say to them?' asked the general. q told them to go to the devil and eat what they had" he replied. "I think that a very improper reply for you to have made" said General Wilson, and he de- clined to further continue the examination.
 Urged Removal of Camp
 Henry H. Lee, major and surgeon of the Third brigade, First division, Third corps, said he had urged the removal of tue camp from Chickamauga because he considered the water bad and because of the impos- sibiity of getting deep sinks.
 Major Benson, who was inspector-general of the First division of the Third corps at Chickamauga. said 1t had been impossible to enforce sanitary Regulations at Chick amauga because when men were arSested the courts would not punish them. He