The morning news., 1898-08-11
FERNANDINA's CAMP.
The City Somewhat Taxed in Caring
for the People.

The City Somewhat Taxed in Caring
for the People.
Fernandina, Fla, Aug. 10.-Fernandina
has grown to be city in so short a space
Of time that the mercantile people are
having a hard time keeping up with the
large volume of business that daily comes
before them. The wants of the camp and
soldiers, however, are being attended to
admirably and the soldiers and officers
are well satisfied with the city and
camp. The short notice that the business
people received of the coming of the army
hardly gave them time to prepare but in
a few days after the arrivals started
heavy freights commenced to arrive daily
and business went ahead at a rapid rate
The shell road leading to the beach and
the adjoining woods leading to camp have
simply been cut into a jelly, and where
once it was no trouble for a gentle breeze
TO carry a bicyclist along 1t Is now almost
impossible for a light team to drive, TO
say nothing of riding a bicycle. There
has been an effort on the part of the city
10 keep up the streets inside of the city
limits, and they are succeeding well, but
teams are kent constantly on the move
carrying shell and rock to cover the street
with. Center street Is being first covered
with crushed rock and a layer of shells
put over the rock and this promises to
keep this street, at least, intact. The
heaviest traffic Is over this main street
and hundreds Of big army wagons are
going and coming all day long over this
street, in fact the camp has confined its
wagons to this street to avoid cutting up
the side streets
A liue of shops and stands now extend
from the city to the camp on both sides of
the streets on every available piece of
ground that could be secured and il is
remarkable what high rate of ground
rent these shop are willing to pay and do
pay. AS a matter of fact business is good
and a shopkeeper can sell most anything
that is salcable. For a little while il was
hard for The large crowds that usually
follow the army as we'll as officers and
soldiers. to get an eating place, but this
deficiency has about filed up and there is
now plenty of nice restaurants ana lunch
counters over the entire city There is a
lack of sleeping places and rooms and IL
is hard and almost impossible for a stran-
ger to get a place to sleep.
Heavy government freights are still ar
rivng and warehouses have been built
and rented and indications point TO the
probable permanent establishment of the
camp here until far into the winter sea
son. The soldiers here have about lost all
hopes of ever going TO the front, and have
settled down to making their camp as
comfortable as possible for long stay.
As regard to the health of the camp,
for the last week there has been an i'm
mense amount of sickness, but the doctors
now have Il under control and expect very
few cases from now on. Surgeon Major
Hendley, in charge of the Second divs-
ion hospital and Surgeon Major Knowles,
of the Third, both said TO the Morning
News representative yesterday that the
germs which caused the sudden break
ing out of sickness in this camp was
caused from germs contracted at their
late camp at Tampa. They both speak in
the highest terms of Fernandina camp
site and agree that better sanitary con-
dition could not be found in any camp
in the South. as the grounds are naturally
suitable from a sanitary point of view and
well adapted for a camp.
There has been a shortage Of livery
teams in the city. but enterprising stables
have sent part of their outfits here from
Brunswick. Starke, and other places. and
still it is hard to get team when Visi-
tors want to get out on the grounds
They, however, win not stop on this ac-
count, and il is not a rare sight TO see
hundreds of handsomely dressed men ana
women trudgng their way to camn
through the hot sun and deep sand