The evening times., 1898-10-04
WHEELER ON TEE 'S4AND
Continued from First Page.)

Coming back to the camp at Tampa the
witness testified: 40
I'VE were well located while we were
there but from inquiries ] learned that
there were fears of suffering when the
weather should change. There was only
one railroad there. 1t belonged to the
Plant System. 1t was a single-track road
all the way. think there were about 49,
GOO or 1900 troops there. l think they
were well supplied with commissary
stores. We were all under tents. l con-
slider the men in the hospital very well
taken care of. The percentage of sick
was very small. There were very few
sick of regulars or volunteers, under my
command. / went into the hospitals and
saw all the men doing WE'LL
The general admitted that there was an
unusual amount of sickness during the
stay in the trenches because of the wet
nights and the hot days. He thought
from u to Is per cent of the men got sick
One of the troubles was the men would
not report the sickness. 1T happened
that the men would throw their rations
and other things away. It's a hard thing
to say that the Cubans stole these-they
did not think they were stealing. Our
men carried the rations with them-three
days rations-and when they were fight
ing they threw them away. Many really
nice ladies out of Santiago. with nice chill
dren, half starved, came along and picked
these rations up
Care of the Wounded.
Gen. Wheeler said he heard of lack Of
medical supplies, but there really were
enough in his own division. In answer to
query from Mr. DENLY as to the
promptness with which the wounded
were attended to, Gen. Wheeler said he
saw many picked up quickly, though he
also saw men crawling to the hospitals
| in the evening and supposed they had
| overlooked. Gen. Wheeler denied that
there was any ambuscades. He had ex-
| amined the line of the enemy thirty-hVe
minutes before the firing. The hardtack
! and bacon, in his opinion, was good. The
! field ration was not always fully supplied.
| but the men did not complain-they seem
! ed to be proud to be there at the front
! The regulars knew better how TO take
| care of themselves and their health was
better than that OF the volunteers. Gen
| Wheeler said the exposure was RESPONSE
BILE for most of the sickness. Some OF the
poison the men took into their systems
did not tome TO surface until the men
| got to Montauk.
Gen. Sexton asked If any died because
Of lack OF medical attention. Gen.
| Wheeler replied that he could not say of
his own personal knowledge.
Deficiency of AmbuIances.
DR.. Connor asked if subordinate Off
GERS complained of neglect by the medi-
cal officers. Gen. Wheeler responded
that he did hear some complaints. He
admitted there was a deficiency of am
balances, but he did not know who was
| responsible. Il
In answer 10 another question by DR..
Connor Gen. Wheeler said the medical
| supplies were promptly put forward 10
the place where needed. The surgeon
1 would sometimes complains of lack oi
medical supplies but their complaint was
attended to. II heard most complaint
about a shortage after we got into San
tiago. The transports did mot land as
promptly as possible" Gen. Wheeler said
because the captains seemed averse to
getting close 10 shore"
The witness inspected the transports and
found they were fixed properly for the
voyage. He took the worst ship of three
| when he came back in order TO see fOl
himself. This ship was the Miami.
There were only thirty-four sick ani
three or four unable to stand up TO be in
spected when the steamer landed at Mon
tauk There was abundance of water, bu
very little ice. After the destruction o
Cerveras 5 fleet there was an abundance o
everything, including luXuries sent by tn
people OF the United States. There beinl
no fear of Spanish cruisers, transport
moved without conveys.
, No Negligent Omissions.
Gen. Wheeler being asked if there was
anything in the way of condemnation ol
, commentator which he had not told, re
piled:
1T is natural to criticise now, after W,
, can look back and see what mistake
were made. But l was in command o
only q division, and so far as ! coui'
I | see there were no negligent omissions.
n | Gen. Wheeler stated positively that non
l of the sickness could have been pre-
vented by the medical department.
This ended the morning testimony an
/ the Commission adjourned TO . p. m.
t BAY STATE DEMOCRATS.