Evening star., 1898-11-16
DR.. Weaver Says Private Aid Pre-
vented Suffering in His Regiment.
DR.. La GARDB GIVES TESTIMONY
Cubans Deceived Doctors About
Health Conditions of Sboney
RED CROSS GAVE AID GLADLY

geOn Of the 9th Pennsylvania Volunteers,
concluded his testimony. and DIR. Louis A.
la Garde major and surgeon of the 9th
Cavalry. who established and conducted the
hospitals at Siboney. went on the stand
After The Stars report of the commits
Sims proceedings was closed DR.. Conner
asked DIR. Weaver to what he attributed
the i'll health of his command.
Dr. Weaver-'First. to bad water. then
to faulty sinks. and the excessive work to
which they were subjected"
The days routine duty began at 4:30
O'Clock. and he read the list of work which
included drills. and he believed these were
excessive
He said he recommended the removal of
the sinks to the field farther from the
kitchens General Andrews had ordered
that this he done, and the work Of locat-
ing new sinks was begun. when General
Sanger rode up and ordered that the work
p stopped. saying II was unSighty. Two
w~rks later the witness again made repre-
S"HiationS 10 General Sanger about the
danger from the sinks. and then an order
was again given for their removal. and
they were located in field farther from
the kitchens.
The division hospitals in the Sd Army
Corps. he said, were too crowded and the
nursing was not what would be found in
modern hospital
Mortality Was Low.
The witness WAS asked how 1t had hap
pened that with poor nursing and crowdng
in the hospitals he had lost but twenty
eight of thirty of the men IN his regiment
by death, although there had been 600
cases of typhoid fever.
DR.. Weaver said it was an established
fact II at typhoid fever patients do bet
ter in the open air than in houses. He said
h.. had
died because of pocr nursing. but he could
not specify any such case.
The witness bad heard that the water
was polluted above the intake supplying
the pipe service at Camp Thomas, but he
had never personally examined the condf-
u"ns above the intake. He had never made
a psychological examination of the water
but it didn't look fit to bathe in.
DR.. Conner inquired whether the witness
would say the water was bad if the bac-
THEOLOGICAL examination showed no con-
tamination.
The witness: When we had a great
epidemic of typhoid fever in Philadelphia
year or SO ago the psychological exami-
nation rarely showed the presence of the
typhoid bacillus. 1t is a very hard thing
to find
When he had asked why the water had
rot been Dired from the Crawfish spring
h. was told that that would he too ex-
pensive, as it would require much more
piping.
me witness SAID Inere was a time at
Camp Thomas when he could not get the
seriously sick men Of his regiment into any
hospital either division or regimental; men
were allowed to lie in quarters without
nursing. He had applied for hospital tents
that he might care for them, but could not
get them
DIR. Weaver read several copies of COM
rnunicatious that had passed between him
self and his superior officers. showing the
effort he had made to get canvas for
tents. Colonel Lee had refused to give
him the mess tent, as il was private prop
erty Of the regiment and was stored in the
quartermastCr store. They wanted to get
this tent and use ii a hospital tent. but
Colonel Lee. chief quartermaster told him
they could get the tent only by securing il
through the proper methods, but they had
never been able to find out any way to
cause Colonel Lee TO give up the tent.
Volunteer Surgeons Efficient.
DR.. Weaver-'T want tc say right here
that any suggestion Of fault on the part Of
the surgeons Of the volunteer army Is un-
fair Those men. so far as | know ,hern
stood high in their profession at home. and
had military experience gained in the mill
tia service of their states. They were con-
scientious- ard worked harder than Trey
had ever worked before and with due re-
spcct for the regular army, ! think ttc vol
Untrar officers old their work as thJr-
o. Ehiy as did The regular officers. There
was no ground f"r criticism Of them"
Returning 70 the difficulty of getting can
vas for hospital tens. he said Col. Lee
wrote the chief medical officer stating thai
the witness had criticised the medical lie
parJweHt- He said the basis for this s'ate-
mfDt was his own complaint about his in
ability Z" secure canvas for hospital tents.
At this time he had ninety diS2ensarv pa
tisGtS. and II tents in which to provide for
the -eri"usly sick That was on August 3
After hearing this testimony, ey-ti0V.
Beaver remarked with a show of fo, ing:
The only mistake YOU made is that YOU
6iIu't take him by the uape of tho neck.
] would have made short work Oe such
business
Dr. Weaver said everything they had in
their regimental hospital was provided by
the people of WllkcsbarTe. More than
s. had been spent "a buy ice milk and
all the food especially adapted TO sick men.
Hospitals Supplied by Donations.
In reply 10 a question. the witness said
he thought supplies should be allowed for
the hospitals Of the army from private
sources. as it encouraged a patriotic feeling
on the part of the people sending them,
and they liked TO do it; but he continued.
I; does seem to me proper hospital faci!i-
ties should be provided by the govern
ment"
He said the sick of the 9th Pennsylvania
Volunteer Regiment would have been very
badly or had he depended on the supplies
furnished by the government.
Dr. Louis \. La GarGe. major and sur
eeon. L s \, of the 9th Cavalry, testified
lie had left Fort Robinson. Nebraska, April
81 and went 20 ChickamauEa Park and then
to Tampa He landed at Baiquri June ~,
and was placed in charge Of the hospitals
at Siboney.
The witness said he had sufficient hOspi-
tai supplies with the exception Of stores.
They had plenty Of liquor some milk and
some beef tea. but not sufficient amount.
They had looked To the commissary de-
partmeut for those things.
DR. La Garde did not leave Siboney be-
ing attached TO the hospital there. The
wounded. he said. when they came to the
hospital at Siboney, showed that they had
received proper nrst aid assistance There
were rare cases in which men attended to
their own wounds and in which they were
not properly dressed. These cases were
Fc1s-ally Of slight wounds and the patients
fid not GO u the doctors.
Providing for Transports.
They had provided the transports return
Ing To the United States with medicines
stores and nurses 50 far as they could spare
them. They were short of nurses and could
not send many of them on the transports
During the first part Of July it was under
stood that only men able to take care of
themselves should be returned on the trans
ports, that they would not require the