The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-06-13

, edge Of the field and when a man topples
Into the dust he n carried to the hospital
tent, where q few hours of rest generally
restores him.. II he were well fed he
would be less likely to these prostrations
but II he were Inherently FED the danger
would be minimixed. A constant ration
In bacon-siices OF II. mostly fat. In cool
or temperate countries the stomach sc-
cepts this. ar II IL a maker OF heat. but In
the South. although the natives eat II to
some extent. IL In not the kind OF food
that Riaddens a soldier. After a few meals
of II his aversion becomes SO great as to
amount almost to nausea. Not only Ii the
pork used In this crude form. but IL ~
employed In other dishes by those cooks
who are so In artistic o
as to know any other dish. There 10. for
example. a certain dish known among
soldiers as son-of-a-gun that IL made Of
hard tack soaked and fried In bacon
grease. In the stews compounded OF bacon
and potatoes the bacon seems to dominate.
This food becomes almost intolerable af-
ter awhile. The craving IL for vegetables.
fruits and acids. so long as the hot wealth
er lasts. On a cooling diet Of fresh pota-
toes. tomatoes. turnips. spinach. straw
berries-abundant and cheap In the south
and with alterations OF baked beans
and occasional Eggs. the men would be
able to keep their strength and would not
lose their appetites. Yet there is no move
toward an alteration OF q diet that was
Intended for the distant army posts OF
Montana and Idaho.
The scarcity OF water at Southern
camps has been frequently referred to
i'm the associated press dispatches. In
all these camps II seems. the story Ii
the same-insuficient supply and poor
quality:
The best water IN Chickamagua In milky
Ia - A-A -A.-A
men are within reach OF the best, this
does not affect the patience Of those who
have to drink the worst There are In
the National park at this point several
springs and wells. the latter attached to
farm houses and now guarded by detach-
ments of troops. for in their rage OF thirst
the soldiers on their arrival broke through
law and custom and when hospitality
was refused they possessed themselves of
the wells and ran them dry. to the dis
enlargement of future kindnesses on the
part of the owners. Ropes that had held
buckets were cut by the farmers. In order
to save a few cupfuls OF the liquid, but
the men who had raided the premises tied
cords and straps to the wlndlasses and
lowered their canteens
But the most distressing feature OF
camp life has been the inadeauacy of
the medical department-not OF a suf-
nc.ent number OF physicians and sur-
geons, there are plenty OF them, but of
tools for them to work with:
Until the Letter hospital was bought
and opened, at the suggestion Of DIR. Sem.
one Of the most valued and valuable ofi-
GERS in the medical staff at Chickamagua.
there was In that vast camp no adequate
place for the treatment Of those who may
fall sick. The hospital In the camps has
been a simple A tent with a floor of rough
boards. When a man Is stricken with
pneumonia, a common disease in Georgia,
he is laid upon this floor and covered
with a couple OF blankets His dinner.
when he gets II, Is served In a tin wash
basin. Water sometimes has to be begged
for and waited for by the hour. The hos
pital corps is usually composed of we'll
trained men. there being three surgeons
TO each regiment, besides the Ambulance
which often includes gradu-
ate physicians and druggists. but the life
of a great camp. the constant demands
upon time. the forms and red tape that
wreak such havoc on valued hours, make
even this corps partly ineffective and 1t Is
seldom that a sick man receives any show
OF tenderness. Indeed. II Is such a hard
condition TO be III. that so long as a man
can keep on his legs he finds It to his in
terest to do so. Most OF the regiments
have no ambulances. II a man drops I'M
conscious in the heat the medical corps
will carry him to the hospital tent on a
stretcher. for he can get there no other
way. This involves Q long exposure to the
sun, II he falls at some distance from his
camp. as may be the case during battle
drill. in extended order. Moreover. the
medical supplies are grossly insufficient.
Since the men have been compelled TO
drink from the foul waters of Chicka-
magua creek there has been q prevalence
of diarrhoeal diseases and 80 men a day
in some of the regiments have lined up
at surgeons quarters on morning sick
call. Tit surgeon had nothing for these
patients except a recommendation to eat
less fat and drink only boiled water. As
few of the companies had boiled water.
and as II was fat or nothing. this was
simply grotesaue.
The lamps are also already infected
with vermin. Conditions could hardly
been worse IN the civil war under
stress of forced marches. frequent en-
gagements M constant peril from the
At the San Francisco camp.
for the Montana men. the
are UNNECESSARILY superior.