The age-herald., 1898-10-05

! physicians. So Tar as ne Knew theie was general commendation of the medical corps l except that on one or two occasions there l had been some grumbling in regard to l general conditions He thought there was | a deficiency in the number of ambuances, 1 but this deficiency was due to the exigencles 1 of the campaign.
 | General Wheeler also said in reply to
 Captain Howell that he knew of no con- | fusion in shipping supplies from Tampa. ! he was not acquainted with case III
 which the body of a vehicle was shipped
 on one vessel and the wheels on another. | His memory was not distinct as to conn.,
 praints from physicians in his command
 as to the scarcity of medical supplies, but
 he thought there were some such com
 plaints, and in such cases he had had them ] supplied as promptly as possible,
 There had been difficulty in getting the
 transports to lie as near in shore as was
 desirable, rendering it difficult to get at | supplies promptly. | Wheeler SIighted
 In this connection General Wheeler Ja- | vealed the fact that he felt somewhat | hurt that his had been the fourth com | mand ordered to be landed when he thought | his rank entitled him to the first landing. | General Shafter had given the oruer | which thus affected him.
 | Speaking of the sleeping departments Of | the transoorts, General Wheeler said they
 were quite warm and there was some dis | comfort. He had often gone down among
 the men at night and found that there was
 comparatively little complaint. from the | heat. Coming back from Santiago to Mon- 1 tauk Point he had sailed on the Miami, | having chosen it because it was said to be | the worst. He had found it very comfort able, and there were only thirty-four SICK and only three or four of them were too | i'll to stand up for inspection. There was plenty of water on the vessel and suff1- ciency of ice for the sick, though not for otners. After the destruction of Cervera's fleet the army was more abundantly sup
 piled than any army in the field had ever been.
 For the future he recommended that the men should be kept off the ground and be well sheltered from the rain by good tents. There should also be much care in regard to transportation facilities and as to medical and commissary supplies. He said in reply to a question that the tents had been left on board the trans ports so no time should be consumed in removing them. We were there for busi- ness," he said, land we felt that prompt decentralization and a speedy movement to the front would impress the enemy more than aything else We could do." There as also shortage at this time | of transportation facilities. The deficiency | of transportation after landing was the | reason why the tents were not brought up, why the siege guns were not brought up and why many other things were not 1 done.
 Aftr a recess General Wheeler confined his testimony chiefly to his experience at Camp Wikoff, Montauk Point.
 Experiences at WiiSoff "PThe president, on giving him command ordered him to spare no pains or expense to make the men comfortable. He made an examination of the camp, and found it necessary to undertake much preparation
 to care for the men properly-to bore wells,
 lay water pipes, build laundres, disinfect- ing plants, get floor for the tents, erect hospitals, etc.
 list of special articles to be purchased for
 the sick. This he had asked them to do in obedience to the presidents directions The list included evaporated fruits, green corn in cans, sugar-cured hams, oatmeal fish, canned peas, prunes, soups, pickles, lem ons, oranges, eggs, tea, milk and many oth- CT articles, in addition to their regular 1 rations. The people came with many kinds ! of food, "and undertake to say he de- l clareds "that no army on earth was ever 1 SO abundantly supplied with necessaries or luxuries." is- f'=,-- '''- esa5 The general location and transportation facilities of the camp were poor. There was but one line of railroad, and that a single track, and without adequate termi- nal facilities. The camp could, he said, have been supplied by water, but unfortu- natey there was contract with the rail- road company owning the land which gave it the control of all the transportation cept that on government transports. This
 contract had been made. he understood, in | return for use of the land He did not know who had made the contract. There were good hospitals erected but there a scarcity of nurses. He imme- diately wired for nurses, and within five | or six days there was an abundance. He
 summoned the surgeons for a consultation
 each morning, and would immediately by | wire order any article needed
 | 10000 Men in Hospital
 The hospital tents were, he sad all | floored. The patients were laid upon mat | tresses on the floor and were supplied with | clean bed linen. From first to last, 10000
 patients entered the hospitals at Montauk. l The hospitals had, when he landed, ca | pacity of not to exceed 900 and so far as | he knew the hospital had up to this time been equal to the demands upon it. Over
 3,252 of the Santiago men had been reported | sick on arrival but many others of the ar
 rivals were really sick.
 Visiting ladies had made frequent com | plaints to him of specific cases in which l sick men were not properly cared for but
 he found upon investigation in each case | that the physicians said the ladies were | mistaken.
 l As a rule, when the parents or other rel | atives came to visit the soldiers they ex- | pressed satisfaction at the care the men | were given. lie Knew or no complalnt | from relatives. General Wheeler ex- l plained that the reason there was so much
 complaint about the burials was that the
 burial ground was so near and so plainly | in view. Only twenty-siX of the men had
 died in the existence lof the camp. He | knew nothing of the details of interments
 and could not say whether any bodies had | been buried without clothing. Upon the
 whole, he thought the fact that there had
 not been any spread of yellow fever from | the camp was quite marvellous. One of
 the greatest difficulties he 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.
 Hospital Facilities Ample
 General Wheeler considered the hospital | facilities ample after the erection of the di- l vision hospitals. There were times when they were crowded for day or two but on the other hand there were many times | when the buildings were not filled.