The record-union., 1898-10-03

TYPHOID IN THE ARMY.
The New York Engineering News
has a thoughtful and extended article
on typhoid fever in the army, in which
a conclusion is reached that is main
tained by reason and by the experience
of sanitarians, namely, the cause of
so much typhoid among the troops in
camp is the failure or incapacity of
officers to enforce the necessary sani-
tary regulations.
The proof that the fever has not been
chargeable to camp locations and badly
chosen sites for camps, is found in the
fact that typhoid has prevailed in all
the camps, North, South, East, West
and abroad, and in those which topo-
graphically, for drainage and salubrity
of atmosphere. are conceded to be quite
ideal
1t is well known, established as a GER
tainty, that the growth of typhoid into
epidemic is due to failure to destroy
the germs Of the disease in the dis
charges of patients. Decaying vege-
sinks and neglected garbage offend eye
and nostril and produce ills .innumer-
able, but will not propagate typhoid,
except there is deposited in such gar
bage and decaying matter literally the
typhoid germs, and these must come in
some way into contact with the liquid
or solid food of the person, or of the
water in which he laves.
To prevent a spread Of typhoid, there
FORE it is necessary to destroy the
germs of the disease as rapidly as pro-
duced in the discharges of every ty-
phoid patient With this precaution
observed, it is safe to say that preva-
lence of the disease in army camps
widely separated and scattered over
the earth's surface, from Porto Rico
TO the Hudson, from Florida to San
Francisco, and from Chickamauga to
the Philippines, would be impossible.
The conclusion is reasonable. there
fore that the officers of the volunteer
army were either ignorant of the neces-
sary requirements, or negligent Of
them. or both, coupled with which rea-
son is the fact, well established, that
the men themselves very largely re
belled against the enforcement Of sani-
tary regulations, against rules concern
ing bathing, food, the use of contami-
mated water for drinking purposes and
concerning the policing Of the camps.
The very latest official communica-
ton from Porto Rico appearing in the
dispatches Of Monday, contained the
pressing request that in sending more
troops to the island, they be sent in
small bodies with a large number Of
officers to each small group, that the
men may be constantly watched and
compelled to observe the regulations
laid down by the medical boards. In
a recent delivery General Shafter dwelt
upon the almost impossible task of
compelling the large number Of men
thrown together at Santiago, to OBJ
serve the sanitary rules and, especially,
regarding unusual food, bathing, use
of drinking water, policing of quarters,
etc, and to this fact he attributed most
.
The probability is, as is suggested by
the News" that the large body Of
officers of the new army have been
more concerned IN drilling the men
and converting them speedily into sol
diers, than in enforcing needful sani-
tary rules among them. They have
permitted men to remain in the ranks
who should have been in hospital long
before they were carried there, for the
average volunteer officer detests the
very word hospital, and does what he
can to eliminate II from his command
but also as rule he does not accom-
plish it by the methods he adopts.
1t is likewise impressed upon the stu
dent of the subject that the militia
officers were not as well informed as
they should have been concerning the
prevention Of typhoid and other dis
ease epidemics. Taken fresh from ci-
william life, with 100000 men suddenly
gathered from the same walks, they
were largely careless, negligent and ig-
norant of the Importance Of enforcing
the necessary health regulations in
camps. The men themselves have been
as anxious as the officers to keep out
Of hospital, and, hence, thousands who
should have been treated early. held
out until disease had firmly fastened
upon them.
The Medical Record of September
9TH contains report .substantiating
these views. 1T is found in the official
statement Of physicians of the Presby-
terrain and Bellevue Hospitals that on
that day they had diagnosed seventeen