The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-11-08
UNFIT FOR A DOG.
DIR. Milo B. Ward of Kansas
City, Mo-,
Testifies Before the War InVes-
tigatiOn Commission
REGARDING THE FOOD
Furnished the Soldiers in Camp
at Chickamauga.
Men Would Have Starved But
For the Bed Cross.
REGARDING THE FOOD


to September 10, testified before the war
investigation commission yesterday.
When asked as to the condition of the
hospitals he said that there was a great
lack of medicines, only some OF the very
simplest medicines being on hand. 1.-THE
food which was furnished the men, said
he, Il would not want to give my pet
dog" He said the food would have been
all right had 1t been properly cooked,
but an the shape in which it was
brought to the men, 1t was enough to
make them sick. The doctor was then
questioned as to the lack of attention
shown patients just coming down with
o1seaSe. The doctor stated that he
knew Of several cases where the patient
was allowed to lie on the ground the
whole day and also during the night be-
fore taken to the hospital The doctor
was questioned as to what his hours
of duty were supposed to be. His reply
was from a. m till p. m In this
way the patients were without medical
attendance during the night.
is 1t possible that better care could
nave been secured if night calls had
been made?" was asked.
mo, sir. There was nothing to see
them for except to give them medi-
Cine
'seventy-dve per cent of the patients
were on cots and the other rs per cent
were on stretchers on the ground, four
to six inches from the ground. Some
times some of the men were put on the
bare ground, but within a few hours
they were always put on cots, or
StretcherS -
DR. Connor-Did you ever see man
on the bare ground, prOpped up against
a tree in dying condition, who died
within two or three hours after he was
put there?
DR.. Ward-I never saw such a thing,
but often heard of it. I don't believe it
DR.. Connor-What was the reason
that the second division hospital of the
Third army corps had, as it certainly
did have the worst reputation of anv
hospital during the war?
Dr. Ward-The first reason in nv
judgment, is that the hospital had for
ats corps surgeon, a man who never
paid any attention to it whatever His
name was HOff. The next reason is that
the man in charge of the hospital, the
DIVISION surgeon, very seldom visited
the hospital or paid any attention to
It his name was Jenney. The next
reason is that there We're not enough
doctors at any time to take care of the
patients without OverWorking the doc
tors and making them too I'll to get
out of bed. For the first two weeks that
I was there, there was not a man on
duty who was physically fit for duty
The next reason is that the nurses
were never competent in any sense Of
the word. But they did the best they
could when you consider their ignOr-
ance. Some of them could not even
READ. Ihey were forced to do this work
under protest and of course did only
what they were obliged to do. One day
I visited the typhoid fever ward and
found all the men splitting on the
ground. I said to the man in charge
that would have them all arrested if
they did not provide some paper or
something on the ground for the men to
spit on. But the next day things were
just as bad as ever.
HOn had no respect for individuals.
It made no difference what an individ-
ual wanted. he was only one out of
thousands W 7 nj iool
exhausted and not able to do the work.
he said: 4 don't care a damn for you,
sir; you are only one man; you are in
valuable in the hospital and can not
spare you"
But I told him was not able to con-
tnue work and must be relieved for two
weeks.
I know that the acquisitions made for
the goods and supplies were approved
by the doctors, but they were not
brought to the grounds because of the
fault of somebody else. I think it was
the fault of the doctors in charge of the
hospitals, the corps doctors, the division
doctor and the doctor in immediate
charge of the hospital They made
acquisitions but it is necessary to do
more than that A man had to get on
a horse, take a 6-shoOter and demand
the necessary supplies from the quar-
In reply to further questions, Dr.
Ward said:
''Necessaries were not available from
the army supplies, and had it not been
for the Red Cross some of the soldiers
would have starved. Reuuisition after
requisitiOn was forwarded and yet no
relief. The nurses as q rule were in
competent and Indifferent. This was
not remedied because we had to obey
army regulations to detailing men for
nursing duty.
THE location of the hospital was ex-
tremely bad in my judgment. 1t was
in a very low place and the sinks were
in filthy condition most of the time.
want to say that that is one of the
causes of the spread of typhoid fever
And the water also was never in con-
dition so that we felt we had safe drink
ing water and there was no provision
for boiling it,
When asked for his opinion as to the
responsibility for the conditions at
Camp Thomas DR.. Ward said:
For the condition Of the camp, first
the man who insisted that the camp
was perfect and that the hospital was
well run. That man was General Boyn-
tom
DR.. Connor-Had General Boynton
anything to do with the Quartermas-
ter's or commissary's department?
Dr. ward can say he was RESPONSE
bic for keeping the army there when
that army ought not to have been kept
there. The want of supplies was due
to the fact that the quartermaster'
and cOmmiSSary's departments were not
bounded enough for supplies-not fol-
lowed up enough.
When questioned again as to the con-
ditiOn of the water he said that when
he saw what kind of water the men
were using he spoke to General BOyntOn
about it and asked him why he brought
that water from where he did. To this
General Boynton made reply that the
water in question was never intended
for the use of the men as drinking wa
ter, but that 1t was meant simply for
watering the stock and such purposes.
Dr. William CulbertsOn, surgeon of
the First Illinois cavalry, said sinks
at Chickamauga had to be dug with
axes and shovels, the supply Of which