Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-11-17
SAYS TWAS SHAFTER
Who Was Responsible fer There
Being No An1bulances at
Santiago.
ISSUED SUCH An ORDER AT TAMPA.

No Cooking Allowed On the Firing Line
santiago-Nothing but Forage and Ra-
| tions for the Front-No System in the
Embarkation at TamPa-Comment and
| Criticism on Medical service.
| Washington, Nov. 17-AIajorLa Garde
| testified before the war investigating
| commission yesterday concerning the
conduct Of the war from a medical point
| of view. OF the yellow fever hospital
| at Siboney he said he was satisfied that
it was well conducted and that the sup
1 plies on the whole were ample. DR..
| Conner asked whether the contingency
J Of yellow fever could not have been
| provided against. asking whether If in
| his judgment it should not have been
! known by the surgeon general that un-
| der the circumstances there would be
an outbreak of fever. He should have
known that such were the probabilities
and everybody should have known
! that such were the chances in sending
an army into an affected district in the
| summer. Evidently the surgeon gener-
al did foresee what happened, and his
words on this subject written before
the expedition set out and giving warn
ing against the invasion at the time ii
was underStaken read like prophecy"
Fever Was Very Mild, However.
The witness added that under these
circumstances he could not understand
why more provision should not have
been made for supplying immune nurses.
However, the yellow fever was very
mild. As n consequence the mortality
among the sick in Cuba was less than
among those left in the United States.
As to conditions at the hospital for
wounded soldiers. DIR. La Garde said
there were times when forty or fifty
men were waiting outside for attention.
OF the wounded men there were about
dozen deaths, or less than l per cent.
There had never before been a war
when the mortality record was so
small. This was due largely to the use
of the modern rifle and the prompt
methods of rendering aid on the battle
field to prevent blood poisoning. If the
soldiers had been fully equipped there
would have been less sickness among
them.
Embarkation a Haphazard Affair.
Colonel J. w. Jacobs. who was chief
quartcrmaster of the Fifth corps at
Tampa and Cuba, testified that Gen
eraI Humphrey had been in charge of
the embarkation of troops at Tampa,
and that no order specifying what ves-
sells they were TO occupy were issued.
IN reply To d question: from OONeEnOT
Beaver he said the embarkatiou had
been a haphazard affair-"decidedly So"
He also thought there was great de-
iCienCy in the provision for disem-
barkation, as only two lighters were
provided and one of those was lost on
the way over. He expressed the opin-
ion that there We're not n sufficient
number of wagons. General Skaters
first orders had been to take only fifty
wagons. When General Miles went to
Tampa he doubled the number, but even
this order did not secure a sufficient
number. He knew no reason for not
sending more except that there was no
means of getting them from Tampa to
Santiago.
Shafter's Order Forbade Cooking.
General McCook asked if there were
any reason why the cooking utensils
and camp equipage of the troops should
not have been forwarded from Daiquiri |
to the troops in the field.
There was no reason" Colonel ia |
cobs replied. except that General Shaf- |
ter's order forbade" Continuing, he |
said that the order was most positive. |
1t did not specify what should not be |
forwarded, but was most specific in |
providing that only forage and rations |
should be forwarded General Shaf- |
ters orders to this effect were written, |
and the general had given him strict |
verbal instructions to see that the or |
ders We're observed. Food had been |
sent TO the front cooked, but he thought !
the men should have had some facilities !
for cooking. The order had never been |
changed during the month he remained |
at DaiQuiri.