Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-09-30
CAMP LIFE AT oH1cKAMAUoA

Rev. a. o. Day Addressed a Laru. An
dience In the Congregational Chu,ch
Tuesday Evening---Causes OF sioLn...
Enumerated.
The Congregational church was fned
again Tuesday night when Rev. G. O. nav
spoke for an our or more upon his evos
rlence as. chaplain of the First Vernon,
regiment. The talk was preceded hv a
solo 1.-TWO Grenadiers" by r. II, Miilor
and by the rendering of Kipling's Recess
sionaP by the church choir.
Mr.. Day dwelt largely upon the humor.
GUS side OF the camp life of the men in an
effort to Offset as much as possible The cad
side, about which so much has been sald
He followed the regiment in his talk from
the time it went into camp at Camp Olvm.
pia to its home coming, and that the audi.
ence thoroughly enjoyed the remarks was
shown by their applause and frequent out.
bursts of laughter.
Mr.. Day thought bad judgment was
shown in the selection of ChickanauOa
Park for a camp for so large a body Of
men. There were few places in the camn
where the soil was deep enough to allow
proper drainage and then some m stakes
were made, unintentionally, in the matter
Of the water supply. Another error in Judge.
ment was the selection of the woods for
the camp of the volunteer soldiers. The
dampness of the woods could have been
better endured by the regular army SOL
ders. Nobody was to blame for the in
tense heat, nevertheless the heat combined
with army rations had bad effect upon
the men. The temptation to eat berries.
peaches, watermelons, etc., was in many
frnaq 3 ~,
and this was the cause of much sickness
as was also the rainy season which follow.
ed the hot season. Then there was a lack of
devices for making the men well; the hos
pital preparation was based too much I'D
on theory.
Summing up the causes for so much
sickness Mr. Day mentioned the miscalcu.
lation In the selection of the park, the de.
lay in preparation, the carelessness of the
men, the bad judgment of the command
ing officers and other unfortunate circum-
stances. He does not believe the res nit of
the investigating committee will be very
satisfying TO the American people as It
does not appear TO him that they can
definitely locate the responsibility. r. be-
lieves the trouble at Montauk Point was
absolutely inexcusable as 10 that case there
was plenty Of time for adequate prepare
tion.
Speaking of the ''canteen" Mr.. Day
thought that at its best it was not the
proper thing. One great trouble with the
''canteen" was that it degenerated. The
hour limitations became broken down and
the men could obtain beer at almost any
time. And by falling into line after hay
ing obtained one drink they could come up
again for another drink, and so on for as
many times as they chose Mr.. DAYS
idea was to melt ice and add to it ginger or
some ingredient which would render it
harmless.
Mr.. Day spoke of the late Lieut.. Curtin
OF Brattleboro as one of the best men in
the regiment. He was a brave soldier,
and was loved and respected by the entire
regiment. The rifle range which he built
was a model. One of the greatest allevia-
tons was the postal department. This de-
partment was practically in charge of Mr..
Day. The postage on the mail sent out
from Chickamauga by the Vermont regi-
ment during three months amounted TO
$500, or about one-third the average
postage business of the Brattleboro post
office.