Evening journal., 1898-11-21
.STERNBERGREPORT
Surgeon General on Medical
Departments Work.
ADMINISTRATION OF CAMPS SCORED.
Nothing Done For Soldiers Comfort
In Camp Untii sccrctary's Tour.
Legal INSTRUCTIONS Hurt Depart
ment-Typhoid In the Camps.

Neutldl george M. NlelnNcIH mas maze
his report TO the secretary Of war. It
relates mainly TO the work OF the med
ical corps during the war The follow
Ing are the more important features Of
the report:
"The number Of medical officers. 1872
allowed by law 10 the army is made
quate In time Of peace. The insufficient
cy in time OF war was met by the as
signment Of over $50 contract surgeons
The very small proportion of medical
officers having experience OF a military
character impaired the efficiency OF the
department at the outset. but many Of
the STAFF surgeons from civil life showed
great aptitude for the service ana
speedily became of value as admins
trative and sanitary officers
mo provision was made for hospital
CORPS men for the volunteer troops, e.,-
cept that which empowered the score
tary OF war 10 enlist as many prvates
for the hospital corps as the service re-
CURED. The number of men enlisted and
transferred during the war was approx
imately 5000.
THE want Of a sufficient body Of
trained hospital corps men necessitated
the detail Of enlisted men from the regi-
ments for hospital duty IN several of the
camps and the employment OF trained
nurses at the general hospitals. over
loo female nurses have been employed,
at first at the general hospitals and lat
er at the field division hospitals, when
Il became evident that the field service
purposes, for which the latter had been
organized, would have 10 give place o.
the imperative need of caring for the
many sick men coming from the regi-
mental camps.
Immediately upon the declaration Of
war, April q, steps were taken to OBJ
tain medical supplies for the new volun-
teer army. Their manufacture was ex-
pedited with utmost dispatch. on May
3. foreseeing that II would be impossi-
BILE 70 have ready for issue TO the vol-
unteer regiments as soon as they were
mustered In the necessary articles of
field equipment / telegraphed the gov
errors OF the several states for author
ity 10 use the medical equipment Of the
national guard In the service In the
state until our army medical supplies
We're ready for issue. Most of the gov
ernors who had field equipment re-
sponded promptly and satisfactorily
but unfortunately many of the state
medical departmentshad no such equip
ment. Meanwhile the officers IN charge
Of the medical supply depots were de
rected 20 make arrangements so that
supplies could be Immediately obtained
for 100000 men for six months.
whenever notice was received from
the adjutant generals Office that COM
mands We're TO be moved or camps
formed, / endeavored to anticipate the
wants Of the troops by telegraphing TO
the officer in charge of the nearest sup
ply depot TO forward supplies for the
stated number OF men. In my opinion
the reduction of the age limit from 2t
to IS years and the haste with which
the volunteer regiments were organized
and mustered into the service were re-
sponsible for much of the sickness
which was reported in the early days
OF their camp life.
"Al military experience shows that
young men under q years break down
readily under the strain of war service,
and every regiment had many of these
youths in its ranks. Medical exami-
ners were appointed 10 testify to the
physical qualifications OF each man be-
fore acceptance, but Notwithstanding
this so many men We're afterward found
on the sick lists of the camps unfit for
service from causes existing prior to en-
listment that special arrangements had
TO be made for their discharge
Soon after the newly raised levics
were aggregated in large camps sick
ness began to increase progressively
from causes that were so general in
their operation that scarcely a regiment
escaped from their harmful influence.
These causes may largely be referred
TO ignorance on the part of officers Of
the principles Of camp sanitation and OF
their duties and responsibilities as re-
CARDS the welfare of the enlisted men
in their commands.
"The sites of certain Of the camps
have been instanced In the newspapers
as the cause of the sickness which was
developed In them. but review OF the
whole situation shows that il was not
the site, but the manner of its occupa-
ton which must be held responsible for
the general spread of disease among
the troops. April 25, 1898. foreseeing the
likelihood of unsanitary conditions M
the camps, I issued circular No. I. inn
pressing upon medical officers their re-
sponsibuity In sanitary matters and the
necessity for strict sanitary police
especially in the care of the sinks and
from contamination. But the density
of the military population on the area
of these contracted camps prevented
the possibility of good sanitary condi.
tion. Camps of this character may .,
occupied for a week or two at tim,
without serious results as IN the cas-,
OF national guardsmen out for ten days
field practice during the summer. bat
their continued occupation will inevita.
bly, result I'm the breaking down of IN,
command by diarrhea, dysentery anC
typhoid fever.
Practically nothing was done {,
make the men comfortable or to rem
edy the unsanitary conditions unit
these were brought to the attention o
the secretary Of war by inspectors sen
out from The war department Thei
the camps. held for so long, were aban
doned but not before the manifesto
tions Of typhoid infection were rife &,
them. New sites We're carefully Sc
lected, regimental camps We're expand
ed. company tentage increased an
board flooring provided. Then. for tn
first time, the troops went into canp
suitable for continued occupation
zone prominent cause Of the increas
OF sickness In the early camps has bee
commented upon by only a few Of ou
medical officials. These cite the preva
n.