The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-10-25

/ IL the regiment
cnlonel Campbell expressed the opin-
ION that a large part of >cAne>s III
AM, wash caused by drilling IN the
earlv morning when tbs dew was on the
ground
RED TAPE AND HOMESlChNkS>-
IL had no suggestion 10 make beyond
q -eare@t that his regiment be Suppiltu
vi-h K~rac-Jcr-ensen rifles. a III req
ment had taken first place fer marx,
manship. He also complained o. the ren
tape methods Of the army. but MADE no
specifications. He said there were very
fev Of his men who were now hoHe>lcA.
Lieutenant Moore. acting comml>SarE
no \ir-h Illinois was questioned in
regard 10 the quality q rations- lie
sa55 there had been no difficulty except
~ 10 The fresh beef and agreed with
Colonel Campbell that there had been no
7roubIo on account Of meat since the
a-rauraueut had been made . take
crrad hams instead Of beef. Lieutenant
ToItver. quartermaster Of the same re-l-
m,ur. also testified favora.ll * l. the
quality and quantity OF the supplies
-4achinc the command through hs Office.
lie thought the tent material poor. blt
made no requisit;cn for other tents.
Dr. K. y. Try. major and Executive
officer " the Third division hospital.
rf,riied az 10 the management Of the
Second division hospital ~ Montauk
Point. from which place he was transfer
red to this camp and the military ko>pl-
ta.~ at Fort Mcpherson. Ga. where ne
was also stationed for 4 time tie said
tha Nontauk patients had lacked 1or
nothing ana were eSceIcHtly taken care
o. TX both physicians and nurses. At
Fort MCPHERSON there were Al \ time
go patients. There was no material
.borrare in drugs or food AT this point,
I'M occasionally there was a slight de-
fc;ency. which was. however, quickly
overcome.
PERCENTAGE OF DEATHS SMALL
Speaking Of the hospital in which he
i engaged here. he said the location was
n good as could te secured III this Vi
ciuity. hut that the general surrounding
were not suitable u hospital service. IT
times the hospital had been slightly over
crowded. az many AZ : or : men being
occasionally stored in one tent. This
was due 10 emergency. The patients.
however. had been Well cared for. both
iy physicians and nurses. and the hos
ritaI supplies We're abundant and good.
Many Of the nurscS We're females. They
We're generally very competent. There
was always one nurse on duty for every
three patients on the average. Up TO
date 100 patients had been treated 1T
the hospitals. There had only been -
/ deaths: about 90 per cent. Of the cases
were from typhoid fever. This wae a
smaller percentage than the average
mortality in civilian hospitals.
RED CROSS GAVE BED LINEN.
DR.. FRYE spoke Of the causes for the
prevalence Of typhoid fever in the Jack
/ s%onville camp. He attributed it largely
10 the age of the men. young people
being more susceptible Khan those more
advanced in age to this disease. He
also thought much was due to The care
leSsnesS of the men themselves.
Or. Frye said that III all the hospitals
with which he had been connected there
had been a deficiency Of bed linen. This
had been especially true at Fort McPher-
son. There had been orders 10 prepare
beds there for a Thousand patients. but
this demand had by no means been met.
The hospital here had also been short
of lighting facilities. There was not a
sufficiently advanced TO permit them to
quisitionS had been made for them bur
they could not be secured from the Gov
nme stores. owing to the conStruc-
ton of orders. Hence it WAS necessary
to depend upon the Red Cross Society
for these articles.
Or. Frye expressed the opinion that in
several cases convaleScentS had been sent
away from the hospitals with which
he had been connected before they Were
Sufficiently advanced to peurmit them TO
60 in safety. He had no personal knowl-
edge Of any individual case of this kind.
but he was satisfied hat such cases had
occurred. He thought these instances
were due to insufficient supervision. to
ignorance Of physicians. and to i desire
TO clear the wards Of the hospitals for
new patients.
~ SCABBY LOOKING LOT"
Or. Frye spoke in very uncomplimen-
tary terms Of the men engaged IN the
hospital corps. saying they had been
picked up at random over the countr.
and were generally "a scabby looking
lot not fit to adorn any walk Of life.
He also spoke deprecatingly Of the CON
tract surgeons saying that he would not
be willing to trust his family or friends
to fifty per cent Of them.
MANY of them" he said. ''are recent
graduates from Medical institutions. and
L 30 IOl consider the average lItuic3l
graduate capable of taking charge of
from twenty-five to fifty typhoid fever
cases. There was. he said. no proper
opportunity for consultation with supe-
rior officers as the latter were as a rule
50 generally occupied with their admins
trative duties as to prevent their giving
close attention to professional matters
unless especially called upon. He con
SiiCred this system wrong and EXPRESSED
the opinion that there should be more Su-
pcrvision in serious cases in the hospital
oil the part Of experienced men. In re-
ply to a request from General Dodge.
Major Frye gave his opinion as to the
origin Of the popular excitement concern
ing conditions ut Montauk Point while
the troops We're stationed there. He
said that from fifty to Seventy-fve per
cent Of the men We're sick when they
landed there. and that insufficient pro-
vision had been made for them. As i