Evening star., 1898-11-09
CAMP ALGER PRAISED.
Its Condition. Described by an 0Hcial
on Duty There.

It's Condition. Described by an 0Mcial
on Duty There.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
The investigation of the manner in which
the war with Spain has been carried on, to
be of any service or benefit to the govern
ment. should be conducted with the utmost
care and deliberation SO that not one detail
of the modus oDerandi in making war
should be left unsubjected to the x-ray
scrutiny of an honest careful and pains
taking commission; not with the object of
finding some one with broad shoulders upon
whom the responsibility of numerous er-
rors and results of Incompetence could be
placed, but for finding out and marking
those errors for future reference, and In
that way educating the incompetent. Ii
the treatment of the I'd Army Corps at
Camp Alger can be taken as fair sample,
should say that the government did re-
markably well with a war on Its hands,
commenced, prosecuted and honorabiy fin-
ished within three months of its inception.
Having been employed by the govern
ment in a civil position In the I'd Army
Corps at Camp Alger. and my duties rem
dering 1t necessary for me to visit every
regiment several times during the week,
had ample opportunity of seeing the
manner in which the different departments
were administered. as far as the necessi-
ties of the I'd Army Corps were concerned.
/ saw the regiments receive ration OF
fresh beef three times a week. l saw the
bread that they used brought fresh from
the bakers in Washington until the gov
ernment built it's own bake houses in the
camp and bread was furnished from them
just as good. probably little better from
being fresher. The raticns of potatoes and
beans and sometimes onions were as good
as could be furnished by any market In
the world. 1 saw the men at their meals,
and often wished that ] could join them
instead of riding two miles for mine. All
thNt II r
only roasted, but ground. All the soldiers
had to do was to put 1t In the coffee pot
ami boil it. Some of the soldiers claim
that for sanitary reasons Saltpeter was put
with the coffee before they received It, Of
that l have no proof, having frequently
drunk 1t without perceiving anything for
eign to the taste.
So much for the quality of the rations.
As for the quantity, l will only mention
one incident which think will prove that
that was all that could be desired. The
contractor who furnished the wood for the
different organizations OF the I'd Army
Corps employed a number of negroes at so
much per cord of wood cut. they to fur
nisb themselves l have frequently been
on the ground at dinner time and was an
eve witness of the manner in which they
furnished themselves Just before the
dinner hour two or three OF their number
would throw down their axes and start
over IL the direction of the camp of the
Sd New York or the Sd Missouri, these
regiments being camped not more than
quarter of a mile from where the wood
cbonpers were at work. In a short time
they would return laden with every thing
that was necessary for a very substantai
meal. Everything that they brought was
given to them by these starving sotdlers.
Although never saw them furnlsn theIr
breakf or supper. L was tolo that tne
same operation was repeated at each meal
which proves, / think. that at least those
two regiments had enough and 10 spare.
From what I saw I came to the conc!I-
sion that the officers of the commissary de-
partment of the government as far as
Camp Alger was concerned, were DONG
their duty in a manner that left nothing to
be desired.
In the ouartermaster's department the
government was particularly fortunate in
having an officer as depot quartermaster
whose natural ability, reinforced by an ex-
Derience of twenty years, enabled MN 10
handle the situation in such mastery
manner that there was no cause Tor any
romnlaint and as far as my recollection
serves me. do not think that there was
any as each regiment received what was
due II from that department
ID ARMY CORPS at Camp Alger became con-
solIdated when the I'd Division moved to
Thoroughfare Gap. That is, the sick of the
ID Division were transferred TO the 1st Di-
vision hospital. My quarters were in the
reservation of the 1st Division hospital,
merely for the sake of convenience and
with the permission Of the major surgeon
in charge l was very much interested in
some of the sick men. and visited the diff
ferent wards frequently, even during the
night and in the early hours of the morn
ing Even after the number of the sick had
been doubled by the addition of those from
the hospital of the ID Division. can recall
no fragrant example of rernissness in duty
or want of care and attention on the part
of either nurses or physicians in charge.
About twenty Sisters of Charity, trained
nurses, were distributed among the differ
end wards: these were assisted by the regu-
lar army nurses and men detailed as nurses
from the regiments. l have frequently ask
ed one of the sisters If the sick men were
in need Of anything. The invariabie reply
was that everything that they could pos
sibly want Was supplied either by the gov
eminent or by the different relief societies
that had tents in the hospital grounds-Red
Cross. etc.