The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-27
DEAD MARCH
HEARD OFT AS
BUGLE CALL
Sad the Conditions at
Manila.
INR0ADS OF DREAD DISEASE
DEATHS AVERAGE THREE IN
NUMBER 4 DAY.
Ill and Homesick Soldiers Yet Com
plain That They Receive No
Reading Matter From
the States.
lNR0ADS OF DREAD DISEASE
DEATHS AVERAGE THREE IN
NUMBER 4 DAY.
BY CORPORAL FRED A. HEALY.
Special Correspondence of The Call.

MANILA, Oct 12-From the daily
papers We receive by each mail we
see long accounts of the sickness
and death attending upon the army
OF Cuba, but never word is
whispered concerning the illness preva-
lent down here. And yet we have ILL
ness, and plenty of it. This is a land of
promise and pesttlence Fair as the
Garden of the Lord, filed with sun
shine, fruit and flowers, it appears to
the first gaze OF the traveller from more
northern and more inhospitable chimes
an island paradise. Yet in its every
beauty there lies hidden danger, in
fits every perfection there will be found
death. ContagiOn is on every hand. 1t
arises from out the sun kissed flower
beds that carpet the entire island; 1t
drops down from the starry heavens in
the gentle mists that shadow the light
of the moon that at night seems to
hang, like a lambent flame, midway
between earth and heaven; it floats
upon the limpid waters of every one OF
the thousand streams that, rising
amid the Businesses Of the blue noun
tains that tower in the interior dis
lance, force their way to join together
In a grand eXpanse of bay, from which
infected shellfsh are drawn and sold
In the markets.
There is sickness in the heat of the
monday sun, there is death in the mi
asmas of the night. Fever comes with
the dryness; more fever is all that
is brought with the rains. One sleeps,
eats, walks, drills and passes his whole
existence down in this beautiful &C
cursed land in a continual atmosphere
Of fever, smallpox and dysentery The
consequence is that every hospital-and
there are many-is filled to OVERLOOKING
and the dead march is heard almost as
often as the bugle call. 1t has got SO
that a common query every morning is
as to the number that have answered
the call to eternal assembly the night
before. l say night before, for it is
when the shadows are the darkest and
the candle flame burns most family in
its socket, when the light has almost
faded and everything grows dim, that
the weary spirit of the tired, lonely
soldier goes forth to join the comrades
that beckOn to him from the other side.
Fever and dysentery are the most
prevalent maladies, though smallpox
has claimed nine victims out of a total
OF only thirteen cases. This is a per-
centage of mortality for that disease
that is alarmingly high, and every one
is congratulating himself on the fact
that apparently the spread of the
disease. owing to the excellent work
which has been accomplished by DR.. A.
P. O'Brien, who is in charge Of all the
smallpox cases, has been checked. A
curious fact in connection with the
deaths of those who died from the eff
fects of this evil is that every one Of
them had been Yaccinated but a short
time before they contracted the illness
which resulted in their death, and in
each case the vaccination took effect
in a satisfactory manner. This is
something for the medical fraternity at
home to ponder over and argue about.
The other two evils which are most
attendant on our army here-fever
of malaTial-typhOid nature and
dysentery-While not as terrible in their
results as the dreaded smallpox, yet are
quite bad enough to become a problem
for the most serious consideration of
our medical staff The hospitals, as 1
said before, are crowded to their ut
most capacity, while hundreds out
side of them are i'll and unfit
for duty in their quarters. The
deaths average about three every
tWenty-fOur hours, and yet the sickly
season has not commenced. One of the
worst features of illness in this part of
the world is that when the danger of
death has passed the patient does not
recuperate as he would in his own eli
mate. He gets to a certain stage of
convaleScence where he is not danger
ously i'll, yet where he is very, very
weak and far from well, and there he
remains in a condition that renders him
perfectly useless 20 his country Should
he be called upon to undergo any active
campaigning, such, for instance, as
preceded the fall Of this city,, and
misery to himself, with the fear ever
upon him Of becoming, like many Of
the Spanish soldier he sees Ioafing
about anaemic and good for nothing
for the rest Of his life.
There are hundreds of men down here
now in the condition I have described
who when they left home were as fine
specimens OF young American manhood
as one would wish to see-ful of
youth, strength, energy and enthu-
siasm. Now they drag themselves
around like decrepit old men, with
their spirit as well as their strength
gone. A change to their own climate
will set many of them on their feet
again, but there are many more who,
I much fear, will feel for the balance
of their lives the effects of their Manila
campaign.
This general illness cannot be as
cribed to any lack Of attention on
the part of the medical authori-
ties down here. They are doing all in
their power to alleviate distress, but the
Illness is in the very atmosphere We
breathe. and nothing in the power of
man CdU QlNSII H. lie Ileulcdl IIlt@Il
among us complain of the lack of suffi-
cient supplies. Whether these COM
plants are or are not well founded I
am unable to say, but from what I
have seen I imagine that the Govern
nent at home has been &bout as tardy
in the matter of drugs as it has been IN
everything else.
The place is beginning to fill up with
Americans Of all sorts, and not a
few women Of the best class, Off
GERS wives for the most part, have
already arrived bringing news Of
many more to come in the near future.
Though we of the rank and file are de-
barred for the most part from the so
ciety of these good women, yet even
to see them on the streets and to know
that they are about is something of
satisfaction. The Red Cross ladies, un-
der the leadership of Mr. Schlott. have
got to work and are doing an immense
amount of good There are two nurses
who have been with the California
boys from the start, whose labors nave
haoy1 11noaocinO and who have made