Evening journal., 1898-10-05
WHEELER ON WIK0FF
The Cavalry Leader Continues
His Testimony.
DEFENDS ARMY ADMINISTRATION.
Everything Done nt the Camp which
Could Have Been ENpected--situ-
alton OF the Camp Admirable.
Reply 60 Newspaper Charges.


testimony yesterday. and Major General
Joseph Wheeler was on the stand the
greater part of the day. There was a
full attendance of the commission, and
the doors Of the room Ina which the in
quiry is conducted was for the first time
opened to representatives OF the press.
General Wheelers testimony covered
the case Of the soldiers at the two i'm
portant points of Santiago and Wikon.
lie said with reference TO the conduct
Of affairs at Santiago that there had
necessarily been some suffering In the
trenches. but that General shafter had
exercised the utmost effort to protect
his men. There had been. he said
shortage of land transportation facili-
ties for a time. and there had been no
tents for a week. The roads were very
fair. He revealed for the FIRST time
that he had some feeling over the fact
that his command had been given the
fourth place In General Skaters order
for the landing at Santiago when he
had thought he was entitled to be al
lowed TO land FIRST on account Of his
rank.
The entire afternoon session was de-
voted to the examination Of conditions
at Camp Wikom, on Long Island. The
model camp, the climate a salubrlous
one and the accommodations quite eX-
ceptional In character. He considered
the hospital capacity equal to the de-
mands upon IL and that no military
camp In history was ever so well sup
piled in all respects as was this Red
tape methods were entirely abolished
and the demands Of the men were met
as soon as they were properly voiced
Describing the general location OF the
camp, General Wheeler said 1t was
charming. The sea almost surrounded
Il, the ground was rolling, and the
tents We're all ditched. As a rule VIII
the parents or other relatives came TO
visit the soldiers they expressed sat
lsfaction at the care the men were Civ
en- lie knew of no complaints from
relatives. General Wheeler explained
that the reason there was so much
complaint about the burials was that
the burial ground was so near and so
plainly I'm View. only 26O OF the men
had died in the existence of the camp.
He knew nothing of the details of in
terments and could not say whether
any bodies had been buried without
clothing. Upon the whole, he thought
the fact that there had been no spread
of yellow fever from the camp was
quite marvellous. one OF the greatest
difficulties ne had encountered was TO
properly control the removal OF sick
soldiers by their relatives in cases
where sympathy and affection often
acted instead Of discretion. He had.
he said no medical director. but gave
his orders to various physicians who
seemed b be equally IN charge.
General Wheeler considered the hos
pital facilities ample after the erection
Of the division hospitals There were
times when they were crowded for a
day or two; but. on the other hand,
there We're many times when the build
lngs were not filled
Replying to General Dodge, General
Wheeler said that the want of railroad
facilities had been felt most, especial
ly in transporting troops and I'm secur-
Ing supplies, but ON this latter point
there was no very serious trouble. The
railroad officials had used every effort
10 meet the demands upon Il VIXEN
complaint was made to the manage
ment.
Replying to Dr. Jenkins as quoted I'm
the New York Worlds specifications,
General Wheeler said that If the sol
ders had not been landed az some iso-
lated place such as Montauk Point the
fear OF yellow fever would have caused
general outcry. The experts had diff
fered in opinion as TO whether there
had been any yellow fever at Wikom
Even at Santiago he had found that
the experts We're unable to dctermin,
whether patient had yellow fever lie
thought IL would have been cruel to
send the men home within 1--WE days
after their landing as Dr. Jenkins haC
suggested. AS a matter of fact many
Of them were sick men and needed al.
tention in the hospitals They woult
have fallen sick on the trains and at
tracted general attention 10 the sltua
tion The distress was due 60 the CON
dition of the men and not to the topo
graphical or climatic conditions. Nine
~ per cent had the fever in them. an,
the officers suffered as much as tn,
men, Montauk Point, he thought II
brief was necessary for quarantine
purposes to prevent the spread of fear
II for no other purpose.
Replying TO other allegations made h,
The World, General Wheeler gave de
tails Of the arrival Of troops from Cuba
He did not think the hospitals wer
crowded; that If the sick men wer
without blankets or adequate shelter d
had not known the fact and If he hal
piled IL; that no effort was made TO fur
nish cots TO the soldiers, but that a
soon as possible floors were put IN tn
tents and they were all given stray
beds, but that I'm the beginning ther
were many tents without floors that
the men had no blankets the fault mus
have been either that of the men O
their commanding officers In sue
cases as this last named there was n
red tape; the men were supplied imme
dlately. He mentioned one case i
which he had telegraphed to New Yor
for four carloads of medicine. and it M
rived on the evening of the next da,
If there had been any complaints abou
blankets. the wants could have been al
most immediately supplied.
He had read to the regular soldier
the assertion that they had been in a
almost starving condition, and the
laughed at the report. TlR men assert
ed that the only trouble was that the
had too much. and as a matter Of fa,
no soldiers had ever been so wcu suI
piled.
General Wheeler asserted that II we