The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-12
THE pREDIcAMExT of DIR. Sem.

One Of the distinguished surgeons tempo
rarily connected with the army is DIR. Sem.
He is heard of very much in the newspa-
yellow newspapers by reason of his con-
slant denunciaticn of camps and their man.
agement. AS assistant surgeon he gave the
following interview to the Associated Press
Sept l, 1898:
In regard to that camp (Chickamauga), /
want to say / warned the Washington au-
thcritieS before the soldiers were sent there
of the danger which would result from
maSSing a body of men there. / told them
that the water supply was insufficient
There were not enough springs, and the use
of river water would result in typhoid fever.
Ny protests went unheeded. The result was
shown when was in Porto Rico with Gen.
Miles.
Almost the first men sent there were from
Chickamauga. They We're run down and
half sick when they arrived. They were in
no condition to stand the southern climate.
General Miles noticed their weakness and
told him the. carse of it. asked him to
rotify the authorities and have the Chick
amauga camp broken up. He did so at
once, and the evacuation of the place fol-
lowed.
In a signed letter to the Chattanooga
Times, dated Jure 10, 1898. this same Colonel
and Assistant Surgeon General Sem made
tho following declaration:
Chickarauga Park is admirably adapted
for a large camp 1T embraces several
square miles. The forest trees furnish pro-
lection against the burning rays of the
semi-trOpical sun and the many open places
and fields are utilized as drill grounds.
Humus is scanty and the subsoil is OF clay
The surface is somewhat undulating and is
cut up Eere and there by ravines which add
much to the beauty of the scenery. An
ample supply of pure water is obtained
from numerous wells from fifty to sixty-five
feet in depth, recently supplemented by
pumping station, which derives water from
the river short distance below CraMfish
Spring and distributes the water to differ
ent parts of the park through IRON pipes.
The vastnesS of the grounds is realized by
the visitor soon he reaches Camp
George H. Thomas, which at present is &C.
cupied by nearly $1,000 men, yet seldom
more the one regiment can be seen at one
and the same time Malaria fas nearly dis
appeared from this part of the, country.
Spring, and that is probably due. to the
draining of little pond on the south of the
hotel. On the whole, the health of the
troops is excellent.
Dr. Sem has a worldwide reputation as
surgeon. and his latest statement-that of
Sept. ATTRACTED wide attention and caused
much Indignation. Now that his letter to
the Chattanooga Times has been brought
to light, people, while not doubling his skill
as surgeon. will wonder what kind of a
man he is. ST warned the Washington au-
thorities before the soldiers were sent there
of the danger which would result from
massing a body of men there" If he die
this, he must have changed his mind when
he wrote the Chattanooga Times, a month
or more after the troops began to be
massed, that 'Chickamauga Park is adj
mirably adapted for a large camp" and
that, ION the whole, the health of the troops
is excellent" If the health of the troops
was excellent on June 10, how could their
condition have become so very bad three or
four weeks later, when sent to the coast
for General Miles's expedition?
In view of these antagonistic statements
of Assistant Surgeon General and Colonel
Sem, he should be one of the first men
called by the commission making the pro-
posed investigation that he may struggle to
reconcile his conflicting declarations. In the
meantime the medical bureau of the army
should look over it's files to ascertain if it
has the warning made by DIR. Sem before
troops were sent there. If such eminent
physicians as DR.. Sem had declared Off
ciaily, early in May, that Chickamauga is
a bad location for a camp it would not have
been located there. 1t was kept there be-
cause DIR. Sem and others declared that
''the place is admirably adapted for the
massing of troops" The camp was broken
up as soon as it was found that the loca-
ton was not what DR.. Sem and other dis
tinguished physicians pronounced it. The
President. the secretary of war, the assist
ant quartermasters and regimental officers
and other subordinates appointed by the
President and Governors are in no way re-
sponsible, but the chief medical officers, ap-
pointed because of almost worldwide repu-
tation for scientific knowledge. BY all
means call Dr. Sem and ask an explana-
ton of his two conflicting opinions.