Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-10-25
TOO MUCH RED TAPE.
That Is Major Folke's Opinion Of Affairs Il
chickamauga Park.


Admission, Ala, Oct. A.-1he war inves-
tigating commission began it's session. at
8 O'Clock today. Major Otto H. Folke
was on the stand. He is chief quarter
master of the LIST Division, Sd Army Corps.
He said the most serious complaint in
the early history of Camp Thomas was
from the LIST Missouri, whose men claimed
that their trousers were nothing more
than rags and threatened to appeal to
charity at home to supply their wants.
There was also a shortage in tents
which became quite serious at the time
of the beginning of the rainy season. Pre-
vious to that time the men had slept I'M
der trees and under their shelter tents
without complaint. Indeed, he said,
there was never a sufficient supply of
tentage and it was necessary to put six
men in tent.
He said the division had never been
completely equipped until the present
time, especially in the matter of trans
portation facilities. He said, however,
that there had been no refusal to honor
acquisitions. He thought, however, that
upon the whole there was too much red
tape in the quartermaster's department.
Il do away with il whenever l can,
have succeeded so far he said, 'even
though I sometimes violate regulations"
Illustrating, he said he had to sign his
name nine times in the process of paying
a bill of $40.
DR.. Charles NJ. Drake, in charge lof the
general hospital here and who was in
command of the hospital of the LIST Divi-
sion of the Sd Corps at Chickamauga, was
the next witness. He told of the various
improvements he had found it necessary
to make in the hospital at Chickamauga
There was he said, such a flood of
disease that it was almost impossible to
meet the demand for tentage and quite
out of the question to anticipate it,"
AS fast as he would pitch new tents
they would be filled up. The medical
supplies had been ample from the begin
ming, but the hospital corps had proved
inefficient as nurses. ''They were, as
Glass; he said, "the very worst material
that could have been found out of which
to make nurses" However, he thought
there had been no more serious results
than discomfort to patients caused by in
efficiency of nurses. He was positive that
there had been no deaths from starvation
or deprivation. One per cent. of the ty-
phoid cases of the hospital had died, and
compared with hospitals generally the
percentage was phenomenally low. He
was of the opinion that patients in this
hospital received better attention than
the average man in this country receives
at home.
Replying to charges made by Sig
nal Corps patient in the Chickamauga
fol nr n,,ol nj ho
maggots on one occasion in box in the
hospital but never on patients. Often
the men came there lousy but they did
not remain SO. Replying to charges
concerning the furloughing and ship
ment of members of the Sth and 14th
New York Regiments. he said that the
men of the two regiments had not
wanted to travel together and that the
delay in shipping the Sth had been due
to the fact that after he had secured
transportation for them over the Penn
sylvania Line, a major in their regi-
ment changed the order so as to secure
transportation over more circuitous
route. Regarding the insinuation that
he tried to favor the Southern Road
because he had been the chief surgeon
of that line. he said that he had not
been connected with the road since Au-
gust, 1897.
Major Joseph H. Heatwole, chief
commissary of subsistence, said the
quality of the rations had been excel
lent. AS for the quantity, man would
have to be a gormandizer to eat it.
After Major Heatwole was excused,
Gen. Dodge read a letter from DR.. Sea-
man of New York, who was before the
commission in Washington, in which
he corrected an error in his testimony.
He stated that he had received only
the regular army rations for the con-
valescents on the steamer OLDHAM from
Porto Rico to New York. He says that
such supplies as had been received up
to the night previous to sailing han
been received from the relief societies
during the night.
He continues: The hospital ship
Relief arrived, and early the nexe
morning | boarded the Relief and per-
sonally secured without any requisi-
ton, the additional supplies enumerat-
ed in the receipt signed by me. Until
my conference. yesterday, with Major
Bradley. l believed these supplies, like
many others, We're bought by outside
contributions and were not government
supplies
The letter is dated October IS, and is
directed to the surgeon general of the
army.
Major David Vickers, who was in
spector general for the End Division.
of the 3rd Corps at Chickamauga. at
tributed the troubles in that camp to
the shallowness of the sinks. He said
also that some Of the regimental Off
GERS insisted on making poor selections
Of camp sites and in one instance. a
Mississippi colonel, had put his men in
a swamp, had insisted upon remain.
ing on the ground that Mississippian
had natural affection for swamps.