The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-09-14
STERNBERG REPORTs.
Gives Official Views Concerning Camp
Wikoff

New York, Sept. 14-Surgeon General
Sternberg called attention to some adj
ditional features of the report made by
Lieutenant Colonel Smart concerning
the condition of Camp Wikoff. Colon
ell Smart is in charge of the sanitary di-
vision of the surgeon generals Office
and professor of hygiene in the army
medical school. He has had great ex-
perience in water analysis and is re-
garded as an expert. He was sent by
General Sternberg to make a sanitary
inspection of the camp and report on
the conditions. The conditions to which
General Sternberg calls attention are
as follows:
The first subject which attracted my
attention on arriving at the hospital
was the utterly PROSTATE condition of
some of the men furloughed at the in
PREVENTION of friends who desired to re-
move them to their homes. No doubt
much pressure was brought upon the
| surgeon charged with the duty of fur
Laughing by the injudicious entreaties
of friends and of the sick men them
selves. but it appears to me that much
greater care should have been exercised
IN authorizing the departure of certain
OF these men on journey which neces-
sarily involved much fatigue. An hour
| later, telegram from yourself to the
! surgeon in command, explicitly forbid
| ding the furloughing of men unabI to
| take care of themselves, appeared to
! me to be sufficient to remedy this evil
/ due not to careIessness, but to excess
sympathy with the soldier, and the de-
sire to have him in the care Of his
| friends and relatives.
The site of the camp is an
excellent one, firm, compact
and well drained grassy Sod, the
/ soil beneath the surface being held well
+ together in the fntertwined roots of the
! grass and freely growing ANIMALS and
, forming thus a surface which wears
well under foot and is productive of
/ neither dust in dry weather nor mud in
a hnT Inrn md fI0y-o frac hal
/ low depressions and ravines, the sur
! face had been trodden down to a clay
| bed which supports surface water in
pools, but in view of fresh breezes con-
| stantly blowing in from the ocean. I
| am of the opinion that no maIariaI de-
| velopments need be anticipated from
| these ponds.
Some of them in progress of time
| probably would become a nuisance and.
would require to be drained and filed
| up, particularly one on the north side
/ of the general hospital and between it
and its sinks.
The camps of some cavalry recruits
and of the engineer battalions are on
/ the southeast corner of Fort Pond. The
| first division extends from this east
/ ward on a plain skirting with its sinks
on the seaward side of the mems quar-
! ters and well removed from them. The
! second division is on a high rolling
/ ground overlooking the ocean and the
cavalry division on the rolling ground
! in the interior between the ocean and
/ a large BODY OF fresh water, a great
/ pond. The camps are kept in excellent
! condition, all garbage is burned except
/ some refuse which is more convenient
/ ly disposed of otherwise. The sinks
/ are deep, well protected by building
/ and also are fully attended to so as
/ in no instance to constitute a nuisance.
I The streets in front of the camp are
/ from twenty to twenty-five feet wide
| and as most of the regiments are small
/ in the cavalry division they are wider
| as the camp areas are larger to give
| space for the horses. Only two of the
| regiments, the Third and Twentieth in
4 fantry are in any way crowded. The
/ tents of all commands are wedge wall
! tents, three men to a tent, each tent
| well spaced from its neighbours In
! few cases board floors have been Iald
/ and the lumber is being delivered in
! some regiments for this purpose, but
! speaking in general terms the men
! sleep on bed sacks filled with straw and
I hay. These, with their blankets, are
clean and summed and aired daily. Some
recruits recently arrived are not yet
{ provided with bed sacks. In the in
| terror of many of the tents there is a
lack of tidiness and soldierly neatness,
/ due to the worn out condition of the
! men, The Tenth cavalry was eXcep-
/ tfonally good in this respect, every tent
| being notably clean and new. The
! kitchens of all the commands are I'M
der tent flies, all utensils clean and
| waste burned. No suggestion of
Z complaint as to the character OF the
food supply could be ELECTED in any of
| the regiments. Ice milk. eggs, melons,
! etc, appeared to be abundant in every
I camp The water supply of the camp
/ and hospital is taken from well about
200 yards from the eastern margin OF
! the fort pond. A free supply is found
at a depth of forty feet below the sur
| face Two sheets of clay, one near the
! surface the other at a depth of %
feet. separated the well water from
surface contamination.
It is distributed by about eight miles
! Of mir md e in each of the T6gl-
ments. Two of the regiments the
Ninth and Thirteenth infantry, are pro-
vided with Pasteur filters in their COM
pany kitchens.
! The following tabulation shows the
| result of a chemical examination of
the water by myself on Thursday, Sept.
g. Immediately after the samples were
drawn:
Pond Well Tap
water water. water.
Chlorin .... 81 8 g