The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1898-10-28
The Inquiry Board Will Examine
His Lieutenant Colonel Instead.
PROFESSIONAL NURSES ARE HEARD.
Absence OF he'd Clothing supplied by the
Red Cross society-A Veteran Says
the Rations Were Not as Good
as In the Civil War.

They declared they found IL suitable
in every respect for the purpose in
tended. The war investigation COM
mission heard several Of the profess
sional female nurses at the forenoon
session, including Miss Copeland, chief
nurse at the Third division hospital;
Miss Robbins, head nurse at the First
division hospital; Miss Hubbard, head
nurse at the Second division hospital,
and Misses Walker and Waters, ward
nurses
Col. w. J. Bryan was the next wit
ness called He asked to be excused
from testifying requesting that his
lieutenant colonel be examined in his
stead. "You will, no doubt, UNDER
stand my reasons for the request" he
said. ~ think the request very proper
and reasonable" responded Gov.
Beaver, and as the entire commission
assented TO this concession, Col. Bryan
was excused, with the request to send
up his lieutenant colonel.
w. T. Durbin, of the One Hundred
and Sixty-frst Indiana, said there
were few complaints from his men and
that they were generally trivial. He
spoke especially of the grounds of the
third division hospital. Replying to a
question he said he thought it had
been very difficult to get medical men
of sufficient administrative ability to
manage such institutions as the divi-
sion hospitals Before the female
nurses were secured the nurses were
men of the hospital corps and were not
capable. They were not intelligent as
n class and, while some of them were
doggedly faithful, they failed to meet
the requirements They did not, for
instance, seem to regard it as of conse-
quence if flies were crawling in and
out of sick mans mouth with i'm
punity and he had seen as many as six
cases of this kind at one time. The
witnesses said the principal reasons
for failure of the physicians to make
acquisitions on the government for
supplies was found in the fear of their
making demands that would not be
sanctioned.
Col. Letcher Hardeman, OF the Sixth
Missouri, also complained that the
grounds OF the Third division hospital
had not been well kept
DIR. Alexander Kent pastor of the
Episcopal church at Washington and
field agent at Jacksonville for the Red
Cross, was questioned concerning the
operations OF the Red Cross at this
point He said he had been received
very cordially by the army surgeons,
and he had co.operated with them. He
had noticed the absence of sheets and
pillows at the Second division hospi-
tai in its early history. This was in
midsummer, and many men lay I'M
covered on account of the short supply
of blankets. He supplied the def
cheney. There was also at that time
a shortage of tents and food suitable
to typhoid fever patients. lie had un-
dertaken to supply the deficiency, and
had distributed two carloads of the
necessary delicacies. ut seemed" he
said, las If the hospital was arranged
upon smaller scale than was de-
manded, and as a consequence there
was n constant demand upon the Red
Cress to supply the deficiency" The
witness said the principal reasons for
failure of the physicians to make re-
questions on the government for sup
plies was found in the fear of their
making demands that would not be
sanctioned. lie said that the contri-
buttons of his society were generally
solicited and not volunteered by him.
Lieut.. Col. Vifquain, veteran of
the civil war and a graduate of the
military school of Brussels, of the
Third Nebraska, said the regiment
was eXcellently equipped, except that
the tentage was poor. He also said
the quality of the clothing was bad.
The pork had also been wormy at
times, and the beef tain ted, but these
had been exchanged. lie thought the
clothing better than in the civil war,
but the rations were not so good as
then. He also thought the camp en-.
tirely too much crowded. Other wit
nesses were examined at the afternoon
session among whom were James r.
Pouris, company commissary ser.
geant of the Sixth Missouri, and Pri.
vate James L. James, of the Sixth Mis-
souri,. All expressed themselves as
satisfied with their treatment. The
commissary officers said the rations
were abundant, but that occasionally
the fresh meats were tainted owing &c
the heat The privates found no fault
all saying they had enough TO eat, and
that generally the food was good
Miss Copeland, chief nurse at Third
division hospital. spoke in commenda
ton of the conduct of the hospital;
and she said the nurses We're wei
treated and apparently much respect
ed, She said that when the nurses
first came to the camp there was only
one nurse to each 40 or 80 patients
but this condition had been steadily
improved. There was also in the be
ginning some scarcity of appliances
for the sick, such as hot water bottles
which, while not necessary, were
often comfort.