The evening times., 1898-08-31

in chance Railways; with haggard, mol
low-eyed men wearing the blue or brown
OF Uncle Sans army dragging faltering
feet along city sidewalks. and with veter-
ans tossing upon beds Of pain in many
New York homes, the metropolis Is
brought face to face not alone with the
hardships of war, but also with the mis-
cries Of unsanitary and fever infested
camps.
Every soldier sent to city hospitals
scores of poor fellows have been rumbled
in ambulances to such institutions with
in the last few days-is a wan and hag-
gard human document testifying to what
| the Government has not done for the men
who fought its battles in the war with
| Spain. Every pain-lined face tells Of the
| horrors OF the camps-the lack of food,
| the lack of medicines, the lack of proper
nursing. the lack of sanitation-the lack
/ of almost everything which should have
| been provided. Ch!ckamauga and Tam
| pa and Montauk have been brought to
| our doors by these sufferers. individual
| representatives of a terrible whole. See
| ing these wretched men, no great stretch
! of imagination is needed to realize what
| our soldiers suffer in these camps Of
sickness and death.
| Strangely. the government hitherto has
not shown itself willing TO avail itself Of
| the opportunities presented by these hos
| pitals OF ours. Notwithstanding the
doors OF these institutions were willingly
thrown open to 1t, the great majority OF
| the soldiers in New York hospitals went
| there of their own accord. Why this mis-
, take was made nobody outside of official
Government circles apparently knows.
Now however she Government Is begin
| ming to realize that a mistake has been
| made for Government patients are COM
ing TO the hospitals
| Hospital treatment at Camp Wikoff
evidently Is not TO the liking of Col. Roo
| sevelt Whenever one Of his volunteer
| cavalrymen shows signs of Illness he Is
allowed furlough and is sent to this
city with instructions to apply for ad-
mfa.ance at some of the hospitals here.
As a result. several Rough Rid:rs who
have recently developed malaria or in
! cfpiens typhoid at M5ntauk Point are un-
der the care of hospital staffs In Man.
hatran. They have struggled In appar-
emily on their own account and with
the Rough Riders has come large num-
Der of regulars on furloughs. who have
been quick to follow the plan suggested
by the volunteers.
| The arrival of these soldiers as individ-
uals has raised question in the mind OF
officials of many of the hospitals. and Its
| consideration has led TO criticism OF Gov
| ernment methods. The question Is. why
has the Government not taken advantage
of the liberal offers of the city hospitals
| to accommodate soldiers?
Every general hospital in Manhattan
came forward at the first mention oi
bringing the sufferers from the field Il
| this neighborhood and placed at the dis
| posal of the military authorities larg'
number of wards for the invalids. with
the most skillful treatment known to sci
ence Hundreds of fever-racked men thu:
| could have received the best of care, ant
that speedily, whom the Government saw
fit to transport 10 Montauk Point.
For instance. Bellevue Hospital agreed
to take all the soldiers who might b.
sent there, and. all told, 19S have been re
ceived But of this number the Govern
\ ment has sent only SO. The remainde
walked in of their own accord or wer
sent by friends.
ST. Luke's offered to receive twenty
| five. 1t has thirty, of whom not one ha
been sent by the army medical authori
ties. until thirteen Eighth Regiment me
were arranged for yesterday.
To the Presbyterian Hospital. wher
thirty beds were offered. not a man ha
been sent by the Government thus fal
| Eight i'll soldiers are in the wards of tina
| institution, each Of whom applied for ad
; | mission on his own responsibility. No
until this late day has the Governmer
, elected to give any Of its victims tn
benefits of the Presbyterian Hospita
Now, however. it is planning to send thin
| ty or forty there. who will be receive
: | today or tomorrow.
: Roosevelt Hospital. which offered thir
| ~ aipsflt irrC
tients. Most of these were placed ther
| by the Red Cross Society. 1t will hav
its first consignment from the Govern
ment today. when fifteen men are eS
I | pec:ed from Montauk Point.
, One entire ward of forty beds was tn
offer of the New York Hospital. Th
Government sent nine patients last Sur
. day for the first time. Sixteen men VIII
applied on their own account have bee
admitted. and enough more are expecte
| officially from Montauk Point in da
or two to oct>py all the available rooI
: in the hospital.
Hospital officials are unwilling to b
quoted on the failure of the GovernmeI
I to make prompt use of these hospital ac
4 | yantages. but they feel that grievou
: error had been made in this direction
t As Illustrating the. benefits Of hospft
S treatment one superintendent said that
I member of the house staff. looking at
= dozen soldiers who mad been admttet
said half OF them would not live throug
o the day. yet within twelve hoT-s. froi
e the effects of hospital attention, ever
:. one showed marked Improvement
L In contrast with this was the repol
Il brought from Montauk Point by anotht
surgeon to his superintendent. He sal
. there was such scarcity Of medical SUI
:, plies that only one surgical instrument
;. whose use is in general demand, wa
: available for 800 men.
Fresh victims of camp and campais
: are daily admitted to city hospitai
4 Charles E. Shanks. twenty-six years oil
: a private in Company D, Eighth Unite
Il States Infantry. who lives at NO. ~
: swan Street. st. Louis. Mo-, was take
n to tho Hudson Street Hospital, frol
whitehall and Bridge Streets. yesterda
: afternoon, suffering from malaria.
e Patrick G. Cassidy, twenty-three veal
e old, of No. 556 West Forty-third Stree
a member of Company A, 2O1st Regimen
= came from Camp Black yesterday afte
noon, and entered Roosevelt Hospita
y suffering from malaria.
n John Mcwilliams. twenty-five years oil