The Indianapolis journal., 1898-09-02

The report Of General H. V. Boynton, who
was directed to inspect the hospitals and
camps at Camp Thomas, published yester-
day morning, should have weight with can
did people. General Boynton is man of
high character, noted for his independence.
If he had found filthy hospitals, lack of at
tention and food he would have so declared.
He found the hospitals in excellent condi-
ton, the medical service faithful and ef-
ficient, and the food for patients of ex-
celent quality and abundant.
1t is probable that the massing of so large
an army at Chfckamauga fer so long a
period has been detrimental to the health
of the troops. While the troops were spread
over a space much greater than that oc-
cupied by cities of much larger population,
the sanitary conditions are not so favorable.
1t would be quite impossible to SO dispose
of the camp debris and offaI that it would
not be liable to engender disease, so that a
camp that would be healthy during two
months would be most unhealthy location
during a third month. While regiments
would be healthy when located on the high
er slopes of tract of land, those encamped
near the foot of the hills would suffer from
the wash of those above The filth of a
camp might be harmless when drained into
a river which filled its banks, and yet be
most harmful when the flow of water
should be shrunken with drought.
But. when everything else has been done,
the sanitary condition of a camp depends
largely upon brigade and regimental COM
manders. If they are careless about polio
ing camp grounds there will be sickness
during any season of the year. General
Boynton cited a New York regiment whose
losses have attracted attention. 1t had the
filthiest camp he had ever seen. So far as
attending camp duties was concerned it's
officers were inefficient. They were doubt
less free-and-easy officers who preferred
most of all to be on good terms with their
men rather than to keeping a camp care
fully policed, since camp cleaning is very
disagreeable work. 1t was the inef1ciency
of the regimental officers and the careless
ness of brigade and division officers of
the day that filled the camp of that regi-
ment with deadly pestilence.
Recently a regiment in a New England
State was sent home with nearly one-fourth
of the men in hospital care. When the
colonel reached his State he wrote letter
to the newspapers declaring that the camp
of his regiment at Camp Thomas was pest
hole, because of the drainage of the camps
above him. If this was the case why did
he not, when he made the discovery, make
d protest to his brigade commander? There
is no intimation in his letter that he made
any representation to his superior officer
regarding the character of his location, but
waited until he was in his native State to
publish his own incompetency.
There were tidy regiments and nasty
regiments said an officer in this city who
commanded a brigade or division nearly
three years in the field, "and the difference
was due largely to the officers" When all
the facts appear, the first of which General
Boynton has given, it will be shown that
the outbreak of typhoid fever in camps is
due more to the inefficiency of brigade and
regimental officers than to any other
agency. The Journal does not entertain the
highest opinion of the qualifications Of the
secretary of war and of some of the heads
of bureaus, but it maintains that they cam
not be held responsible for the short-com-
ings Of officers in command of camps.