Evening star., 1898-11-19
War Investigating Committee Con-
ducts an Inquiry Into 1t.
SERGEANT IN DISTRICT REGIMENq
Pathetic Story Recited by His
Mother of His Treatment.
CAMP WIKOFF EXPERIENCE

Col. DenDy conducted an examination OF
several witnesses before the war investi-
! eating commission this morning. The tes-
| timony of these witnesses related to the
| sickness and death of Sergeant Henry A.
| Dobson of Company B, 1st District of CO.
| lumbia Volunteer Regiment. Sergeant Dob
son is son of DR.. and Mrs. H. A. Dobson
of 100 11th street southeast.
Sergeant Dobson was taken i'll on his re-
| turn from Cuba, and died September 9 in
| the Long Island City College Hospital His
| parents believing that their son did not
receive proper medical treatment, desired to
have the facts in the case laid before the
| commission.
! Mrs. Dobson was the first witness, and
she told her story in simple and pathetic
| manner. She told how she had gone to
| Camp Wikoff in search of her son, after
she read of his illness in The Star, and of
| the difficulties that encountered her i'll Sc
| curing proper care for him.
| When l saw him in the general hospital
| at Montauk, Mrs. Dobson said, he had
| on the same clothes that he had worn on
| the transport. He had never been able to
change his clothing. He had been driven
so rapidly in the ambulance from his tent
over a mile and half of rough road that
| he was in great distress from the jarring
| He told me he had not been undressed since
| he had left Cuba"
| Mrs. Dobson looked after the bathing of
Ger son personally, and the boy, she said.
expressed himself as being exceedingly
| comfortable after she had cared for him
This was on September 6, and on the morn
| ing of the next day, when she visited him
| in the general hospital. he had had no at
! tention She said nurse had stated that
she mad taken his temperature, but she
| could not find the record of it. She asked
| DR.. Hancock in charge of that ward, if he
| would come to her son.
Moved Out of the HOSPITAL
He said he would do SO when he had the
| time. He was very calm, pleasant man,
who did not hurry himself at all. Ii was
; after II O'Clock when he got to the boy
and then said that he had malaria He said
| he would have to move him to New York
| IN order to let men who were worse have
ms pace in the hospital. | objected to his
gong Finally, clothing was sent for him
| to put on During this time he called on
several occasions for milk. j went to the
Kitchen and brought him some milk but
| he could not take it. saying it was con-
denSed milk. nurse helped me to get
enough fresh milk to give him ona drink.
He had little ice cream. and that WIS
the only thing that seemed to be satisfying
| to him. Nothing done for him while
was there. A woman brought bowl full
| or what was supposed to be white of egg
| beat up in sugar. When he tasted il he
could not drink it. / tasted it and found
| that the egg had been beaten up in salt
instead of sugar When / took it back to
| Ine kltchen they told mistake
| have been made
| In spite of my protests. my boy was
| sent from the general hospital to the trans
| port Shinnecock. The driver of the ambi,-
lance went very rapidly and the boy was
greatly Jared over the rough road. l held
his head and protested to the driver. His
| reply was, Who is driving these mules?'" "
Nurses on the Transport.
Mrs. Dobson told of the difficulty she had
| in being allowed to go on board the trans
| port, in order to accompany her son to New
York.
THE nurses on the Shinnecock told the
man where to carry the patients as they
were brought aboard. but did not see them
| do anything else. They were very pleasant
young women, and at 8 o'clock they went
into their staterooms and did not appear
again until the next morning. During the
night mother was attending 10 her sick
son, who was crying from pain a great por-
| tion of the time. When the nurses came out
in the morning one of them said: L could
not sleep very well because the poor devil
kept up such howl all night: 1 asked one
OF these nurses what they did on the trip
from New York back to Montauk. She said
that they rested. They had both been in
| their staterooms all night. There We're two
hospital corps men who did what they could
to help the sick people. The surgeon in
charge of the boat did not come near my
son, nor did he render any assistance. All
the medicine he was given was a brown
| tablet, given him by one of the hospital
corps men. 1 was told there were 400 sick
on that ship. In the morning l saw a doc
nurses for not helping the mother of the
sick man who had been crying out during
the night.
More Awful Experience.
"Abcut o'clock that afternoon I took
my son ashore, and he was driven for two
and half squares over cobblestones, which
Jared him very much. At times during
this ride he was not conscious He was
| taken to ST. Peters Catholic Hospital in
Brooklyn. L did not see a nurse in the
whole hospital, although 1 was told there
were 16O soldiers there. There was only a
| sister superior. as 1 supposed. with her
keys at her side. They allowed me to re-
main from until o'clock aud then told
| me l must leave They said it would be
against their rules for me to stay there
that night"
Mrs Dobson told how her boy was de-
l1rfous about the time she was leaving
him, and the strain cf relating these events
which were leading up to the death of her
son, caused her to break down and sob fer
some minutes before she could proceed
Was Typhoid Fever.
The next day she was told that she might
see her son ten minutes if she came back
at 10 o'clock She sought the assistance
OF Major Appel who wrote an order per-
mitting her to remain at her sons bed
side This order did not secure her the
desired privilege, and finally she arranged
for the removal of her son to the Long
Island City College Hospital, where the
patient was taken on a stretcher. At the
Long Island City College Hospital she was
permitted to remain with her son, and
stayed up with him all of Friday night
1t was at this hospital that the physician
Tor the first time pronounced her sons ILL
ness as typhoid fever. This physician had
said that he must have had fever for two
weeks.
Mrs. Dobson said her son, received the
best care at the Long Island City College
Hospital, but he died Sunday morning
Testimony of DIR. Dobson
DR.. Dobson testified to the treatment of
his son. Dr. Dobson has the distinction of
having enlisted in the civil war when he
had but one isg. His enlistment was or
dered by President Lincoln, after he had
raised company, and then wanted to go
in the service. He became a reginiental
comuissary sergeant. He said his son was
In perfect health when he was examined
and read letters from his son to show that
he had been taken sick on the transport
Hudson, on which he returned to the United