Evening journal., 1898-08-31
BACK FROM THECAMP
Hospital Train Of the Eighth
New York Arrives.
STORIES OF TERRIBLE SUFFERING.
Two Hundred and Sixty Sick Soldiers,
Many In Dying conditIon-They
Declare They Have Been
Treated Like Dogs.

~~---~ ~N1''
NEW YORK, Aug. s1--with a look on
their faces that told with sileht en-
phasis the suffering they had endured
the i'll and convalescent members Of the
Eighth regiment, New York volunteers,
arrived In this city at 10 minutes Of 3
o'clock yesterday afternoon after long
and tiresome journey from Camp Thom-
as, at Chickamauga.
AS the train Of sleeping cars pulled
into the Grand Central station the thou
sands who had assembled TO greet the
men cheered wildly and made a rush
forward for the cara
The cheering suddenly died down
when the soldiers, those who could
walk, left the cars and walked along
the platform. Their pinched features.
dull eyes and thin, wasted bodies made
50 pathetic a sight that a wave Of hor-
ror swept over all the great throng that
moment before had been ready to
cheer.
The men who were able to walk told
an eloquent tale of suffering with their
faces before one uttered a word but no
one was prepared for the sight furnish
ed by the fever stricken soldiers who
could scarcely raise their hands.
Many Of these, as they We're carried
on stretchers TO the dozen or mora am
balances waiting for them, bore the
stamp of death in their faces. Mere
skeletons many Of them We're, and 9TH
ers, dellrious with fever. stared va
cantly about them, unable to appreciate
the fact that they We're home again.
Women and men with tears in their
eyes watched the removal of these poor
fellows with bated breath, for no one
knew but that death had already put an
end TO their suffering. Many who had
come to meet loved ones that went out
so bravely with the regiment were al
most overcome when they saw the
wasted wrecks of what had once been
strong men pass by on the stretchers.
1t was not for these brave men Of the
Eighth to see active service at the
front, but they met a more relentless foe
than the soldiers Of Spain in the fever
and sickness that attacked them in
camp.
And yet. with all their privations.
some OF the heroes smiled as they saw
the crowd about eager to minister 10
their wants. The clang of the ambu-
lance bells told them that a hospital
awaited them. but after life in camp
l Allt AlOubnl VI a nOSDlldl Gdlilt 10 THEM
/ like a dream OF heaven.
Those who could talk, many OF them,
spoke openly Of the suffering they had
been compelled to undergo in camp.
/ caused by polluted water, lack of care
and diet Of hardtack and coffee. and
harsh words were spoken against who
ever may have been TO blame, but none
Of the men told all. Words were mad
equate to describe all the suffering
The train, composed OF 1S sleeping
cars and a baggage car, brought 26O nl
and conyalescent soldiers. but of these
only 10 were desperately III. They were
! hastily removed to ambulances.
Once off the train and feeling that
they had got back home at last, the i'll
and weary soldiers were willing to talk
OF the hardships they had endured, and
they did so in unmeasured terms.
They declared they were starved in
camp and made to do duty when they
were so III they could scarcely stand.
Among the first soldiers TO walk up
the platform from the train was Private
Joseph Devlin of Company A, who was
90 emaciated that the crowd about him
/ gave vent to exclamations OF horror and
Indignation.
He tottered as he walked, his eyes
were glazed, and he seemed weary and
faint. He could scarcely talk above a
whisper, and when approached by de-
| tective, said he lived at 1907 Third ave-
nue.. He refused to get into an ambu-
lance, saying that he must reach home
He staggered away between two of his
/ comrades.
One Of them said, pointing to Devlin:
starvation did this. We were treated
/ like dogs"