The herald., 1898-11-08
CONDUCT INQUIRY
CARRIED ON AT CHICAGo'S BIG
HOTEL
SCH00LER OF CAMP THOMAS
Tells What Was Lacking but Fails
to Say Who or What Was
the Cause
Associated Press Special Wire

Associated Press Special Wire
CHICAGO, Nov. 7-Gen. Dodge, Col
vestigating Commission, arrived in Chicago
today and Immediately began the examina-
tion Of witnesses at the Auditorium Hotel
large number Of witnesses are On the list,
and it is not likely that the three members
Of the commission will be able to leave Chi
cago before Wednesday. They will then
leave for Detroit, where the investigation
will be continued. DR.. Louis Schooler
of Des Moines, Ia, was the first witness
today. From July to July II DR.. Schooler
was stationed at Camp Thomas as camp sur
geon of the Second Division, Third Corps.
Questioned by DR.. Connor, he said during
the time he was there the sanitary condi-
tion in the hospital was not very good.
Sink holes in the whole division were bad,
owing principally to the character of the
ground. The discipline was rather lax.
"At the opening" said DR.. Schooler,
there was practically no facility for the
care Of the sick; we were short of medi-
cines and had no apparatus by which the
stewards could prepare the medicines that
we had. The regimental hospitals, all but
one or two, were as poorly supplied with
medicines as the division hospitals.
Requisition was made for more, but they
were generally disapproved at the camp
headquarters. The supply department had
certain hours for issuing supplies, and at
other times nothing could be obtained.
There was scarcity Of beds in the hospi-
tails, and practically half our nursing force
was sick or in the guard house for insub-
ordination"
DIR. Connor--Why was not a demand made
by somebody that better or more nurses
should be sent to that place?
DIR. Schooler-I don't know. wrote the
Surgeon-G General once protesting against the
difficulty of securing supplies. Part of the
blame rested upon the Quartermaster's de-
partment.
Asked to give in as few words as possible
his opinion about the general conditions at
Camp Thomas during the time he was sta
| toned there, DIR. Schooler said:
"In the first place, the quartermaster and
surgeons could not agree as to the number
of tents that we should have. Colonel Lee
contended that We were limited to certain
number Of tents, II think it was, in the be-
ginning. We afterwards prevailed upon
him to give us twenty-one. His contention
was that he could not issue tents beyond the
prescribed number. l think he based the
number of tents upon $50 patients, and when
the number of patients became greater, we
could not make him understand that we had
no more tents. 1t was his refusal to increase
the number of tents that made the over
crowding. The lack of medicines, the lack
of trained nurses and the lack of a sufficient
number of surgeons was a material difficulty.
One cause of the prevalence of sick in the
camp was that we had three regiments who
came there with great. deal of sickness
the First Mississippi and the First and Sec
ond Arkansas. There was much typhoid and
dysentery in those regiments. / think the
quartermaster' department was largely res
ponsible for the great sickness. The medical
department (that is the supply Department.
was also responsible for some things. Then
we lacked facilities to make reports on
did not even have stationery. We were told
all the time that the reports must be made"
DR.. Connor-So far asyou know, was there
on the part Of any medical officers or sur
geons any willful neglect in the care of the
sick?
DR.. Schooler-No, sir! The great diff
Guilty was in obtaining supplies and 1 think
the hitch came between Colonel Hartsuff
and the medical supply department.
For the successful care of the sick, DR..
Schooler considered the division hospital far
superior to regimental hospitals.
Il left on the 18th of July" he said, 'be-
fore any epidemic had set in. In my judg-
ment the responsibility for the continuance
of the conditions there does not rest upon
the division surgeons"
In regard to the water supply at the camp,
DR.. Schooler said he did not think any sur
geons in his division considered the water
fit to drink. And again there was not the
facilities at the disposal of the officials to
enable them to bring sufficient water. On
several occasions he had visited the ground
situated around where the supply was taken
from the river and felt convinced from what
he saw that much of the prevailing disease
was caused by the negligence of the policing
department in allowing the soldiers to go at
will through the woods situated along the
banks of the stream. He gave this as rea-
son for many of the cases of typhoid fever
existing in the camp. Another feature
which contributed largely to the sick list
in the opinion of the doctor was the laxity
shown in issuing passes to the men and al
lowing them to visit other camps. ''Fifty
per cent of the Sickness" said the doctor,
would not have been in existence had the
men not been allowed to leave Chickamauga
park on passes"
He gave it as his opinion that the medical
officers were hampered too much by officers
of higher rank, but who had no medical
training. In regard to the division hospitals.
the doctor said: ''I think there should have
been hospital in Chattanooga where class
of patients could have been taken who were
going to be sick any length of time. The
division hospital" he continued, "is never
intended for cases where patients were going
to be sick any length of time"
When questioned as to the lack of nurses,
the doctor said he thought both the nurses
as well as the doctors were overworked.
Mrs. Virginia F. Betz of Chicago, was the
next witness. She entered complaint in re-
gard to the death of her son, Frank NJ, who
enlisted with Company L, First Illinois vol
unteers. He was taken sick at Santiago and
was taken to Montauk on the transport Ber-
lin. From there he was allowed to 20 home
on furlough when he should have been sent
70 tho hoeuitn1 Flo uyae cont bov,c o,,4:r.1.,