The evening times., 1898-10-26

has mortal man seen such vast num-
| bers Of this vermin as infested Chicka-
mauga Park. Later came the dust as
an element of infection. AS 1 said. the
contents of the sinkholes were spread
| over the ground by the rain water; then
dried under the influence of the sun;
| converted into dust under the tramping
feet. and carried everywhere by the
wind. 1t is not difficult to see why ty-
phoid fever ragged as it did" The rem
edy was the removal of the troops, say
every three weeks. They were not
moved out until September. Pensions
| far exceeding in. amount the cost of re-
moval will ultimately be paid" for keep
| ing the men there.
AS to the means of treating the ty-
phoid fever patients, he says: ice was
as rare as were diamonds. Two hun
dred pounds a day were allotted to us;
this was carted over hot. dusty. roads.
| in slowly rumbling mule carts. and
much of it dripped by the wayside.
| Milk-that sheet anchor in the nourish-
ment of cases of continued febrile dis
eases-was supplied in cans and placed
! in a trench dug in the ground, which
we used as a refrigerator. In the after
noon the ice gave out the milk soured.
and was rejected by both patients and
stomachs." Again: Water. ice. milk
these three things were obtainable. and
we had neither of them in sufficient
quantity nor of proper quality. Look
once upon the spectacle of a patient,
gaunt, emaciated, delirious. with sordes
on tongue, lips. and gums so thick that
articulation is impossible. motioning in
co-ordinately at his mouth, with tremb-
ling, transparent hands. and then know
that the ice was melted. the water
warm. and mud-stained. and the milk
sour and you will agree that. after all.
tremendous effort should have been
made to effect a remedy in executive
! departments. / make no apology for
this statement. nor do offer any quail
fication. War and misery have gone
hand in hand as long as history has
existed. Nothing will ever part them.
But they should not meet first in camps
of mobilization"
AS to medical supplies, he says: THE
method of organization of the hospitals
rise to delays that might have been
avoided. 1t would lead me too far to
go into this extensively. The general
impression among regimental surgeons
was that the division hospital was not
a desirable place to send their patients.
and they were right. Still, It was quite
| impossible for them to obtain all they
wanted for each regiment. when the di-
vision hospital had nothing itself ex-
cept in drugs"
The food furnished the troops" he
continues. was badly selected. No one
questions the heat value of the articles
of food. nor is there any doubt that
they contain the three classes of sub
stances necessary to maintain life. But
there was not enough variety, and. as
intestinal disturbances were exceed
ingly common, the diet offered was not
very conducive to health. OF course
some of the food stuffs were con-
vertible into either cash or some
other article of diet; but in the
confusion Of matters 1t was impossible
not enough fresh meat furnished and
. the bread was too porous. On the
whole, the food was not of good quail
ity." He concludes with this surprising
statement: Not a single case of isola-
tion occurred during the time the troops
camped in the park" This fact of it
self is enough to account for the epi-
demic of typhoid.
This much space is given to DR.. Hau-
, bolds statement because he is an expert
and knows, and because it will be ac-
, cepted as a true account of the condi-
tions that have been the subject of
, many contradictory official reports. 1t
is complete refutation of all of the
, statements made in defense of the loca-
ton and in defense of the War Depart
ment The evils on which DR.. Haubold
dwells and which led to more hundreds
r of deaths and to- more permanent disa-
bilities than the official records show
: were all preventable. The only fault at
trbuted to the men themselves was the
; drinking of polluted water that was
p clear and cool in preference to the
warm and muddy water of the general
. supply. Even if they had not done this
the conditions described by this author
', ity-the failure to isolate typhoid pa
| tients. the shallow sinks whose infected
| contents were spread by rains and in
, the form of dust by winds. and also
| by the flies that were attracted by the
failure to cover the sinks deeply OF
| apply disinfectants, which could not be
c obtained in sufficient quantity-would
f still have caused the epidemic. If Sec
retary Alger is at all sensitive, he will
sleep better if he does not read this
y statement.
, Yesterday the regular ultimatum was
sent to Spain through the Peace Com.