The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-21

mentioned one or two instances when poor
bacon had been received and said there
were occasional complaints from the men,
though of no. serious character. He
thought the troops ought 60 have more
canned vegetables for warm climates.
Col. w. j. Bryan was next called. He
asked to be excused from testifying, Nre-
questing that his lieutenant colonel be eX-
amined in his stead.
you will I have no doubt, understand
my reasons for the request" he said
L think the request very proper and
reasonable" responded Gov. Beaver, and
as the entire commission assented to this
concession, Col. Bryan was excused with
the request to send up his lieutenant cob
onel.
Col w. T. Durbin of the One Hundred
and SiXty-tirst Indiana said there were
few complaints from his men and that
they were generally trivial. He spoke es-
peclaHy of the grounds of the Third Divs-
ION hospital, saying that they had for a
ume been very poorly kept. There had,
however, been vast Improvement since
DIR. Clendennin had succeeded DR.. Jesu-
rum Of the Rough Riders. Daily complaint
mad been made by him, but it had appar-
entity gone unheeded. Col. Durbin also said
there mad been one or two complaints of
neglect OF his men at this hospital, and
that one of these complaints was to the
effect that men who had been sent to the
zeal attention up to the following day. He
mad called attention TO the condition of
dIalrs and the surgeon in charge of the
ward had said that he had visited the men,
put that the patients probably did not
know he was a physician.
Col. Letcher Hardin of the Sixth Mis-
sour also complained that the grounds
OF the Third Division hospital had not
been Wen kept. He said they were bad
under Dr. Vaughn, better under Dr. Je-
surum, and stin much better under DR..
Clendennin. He thought the army ration
should contain more vegetables and less
meat.
DIR. Alexander Kent, pastor of the Peo-
Pies Church at Washington and field
agent at Jacksonville for the Red Cross
was questioned concerning the operations
of the Red Cross at this point He said
he had been received very cordially by
the army surgeons and he had co-operated
with them. He had noticed the absence
/ of sheets and pillow cases at the Second
division hospital in its early history. This
was in midsummer, and many men lay
uncovered because il was too hot to use
their blankets. He had supplied the de-
| ficiency, and the supply had been thor
oughly appreciated by the doctors There
was also at that time a shortage of hos
pital tents and of food suitable to typhoid
fever patients. He had undertaken 10 sup
ply the necessary delica cies, and had dis
tributed two carloads of them. ut SEEM
ed he said, "as if the hospital was ar
ranged upon a smaller scale than was de-
manded, and as a consequence there was
constant demand upon the Red Cross to
supply the deficiency"
DR. Kent said he had heard many COM
| plants concerning misconduct at the hos
| pitfalls and many of them were apparently
J we'll vouched for, but they had not gem
orally proved well founded when investi-
| gated. Replying to a question he said he
thought it had been very difficult to get
medical men of sufficient administrative
| ability to manage such institutions as the
| division hospital Before the female
| nurses were secured the nurses, who were
/ men of the hospital corps, were not capa-
! BILE. They were not intelligent class
! and while some of them were doggedly
faithful, they failed to meet the require
| ments. They did not, for instance, seem
! to regard it as of consequence if flies were
| crawling in and out of a sick mans mouth
with IMMUNITY and he had seen as many
as six cases of this kind at one time Since
| the trained nurses had been secured the
/ sick were better cared for than at home.
| He thought the government should send
COWS TO Cuba in advance of the army in
order to supply fever patients with milk.
The witness said he thought the prin-
| cipal reason for the failure of the sur
/ geons to make acquisitions upon the gov
|
fear of making demands that would not
! be sanctioned. He said the contributions
of his society were generally solicited and
not volunteered by him, The society had
paid for all the milk and all the ice used
at the hospitals up to Sept. I. The socie-
ty had also supplied great many rubber
! sheets, thermometers, ice bags hot water
bags syringes etc. Since the allowance
of the 60 cents a day Communication, how
ever, there had been great Improvement
and he thought the hospitals were now
in the way to be better cared for.
w w. Kirksey of Texas, hospital
steward was questioned concerning the
| mana cement Of the case of Charles Be
raud, Jr, of the Louisiana troops, for
| which the hospital management has been
! severely criticised He said he had had
| the care of this case, that everything pos
sible had been done for the man, and
| that the father of the man had thanked
| him for his care of his son.
Lieut. Col. Vifquain, a veteran Of the
civil war. and a graduate of the military
| school of Brussels, of the Third Nebraska,
| said the regiment was eXcellently equipp-
1 ed except that the tentage was poor. he
also said the quality of the clothing was
| bad The pork had also been wormy at
| times and the beef tainted but these had
been exchanged He thought the cloth
| ing better than in the civil war, but the
rations were not SO good as then. He also
thought the camp entirely too crowded.
Other witnesses examined at the after
noon session were Lieut.. Jones, commits
sary of the Fourth Virginia. Private AL
| len O. W mite of the same regiment, Pri-
| vate S. C. Thompson of the Third Nebras-
| ka. Lieut. Freeman commlssary of the
| One Hundred and SiXty-first Indiana
| Commissary Sergeant Morse of the One
| Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana James r.
Pourie a company commissary sergeant
of the Sixth Missouri and Private James
T. James of the Sixth Missouri. All these
witnesses expressed themselves as salts
fed with their treatment. The commits
sary officers said the rations were abund-
ant but that occasionally the fresh meats
were tainted, owing to the heat. The pri-
Yates found no fault, all saying they had
| enough to eat and generally that the food
was good Private Thompson of Nebraska
said he had gained ten pounds since his
arrival in Florida.
AT the night session, Mrs. e. e. Marshall
of Jacksonville, who acted in the capacity
of a volunteer nurse at the Second Divis-