The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-11-16
HIS VISIT no sHAFTER.

General MeCook asked General
Breckenridge if he had visited General
Shafter in his tent when the latter
was i'll at Santiago, and General
Breckenridge replied that he had done
so.
Did he then offer the command of
the army to you as has been reported
in the press?"
General Breckenridge replied: 81
very much prefer. not to answer that
question. You should ask General
Shafter. Such a conversation as oc
CURED between General Shafter and
myself on that occasion is not of
character to be spoken of lightly. 1
fail to see how a reply from me would
promote the object of your inquiry.
You want to know what General Shat
ter did not what he may have thought
of doing. If General Shafter has not
repeated the conversation l ought not
to do so.''
LAS a matter of fact, he did not turn
the command over to your suggested
Governor Beaver, to which General
Breckenridge responded: No, he did
not, and 1 do not think there is any
improperly in my saying that he could
not have done So"
With this the matter was allowed to
drop and General Breckenridge was ex-
cused.
FEVER AT CAMP THOMAS.
Dr. William G. Weaver of the Ninth
Pennsylvania volunteers, was the first
witness before the war commission at
the afternoon session and he proved an
important witness, as he gave detailed
information concerning the conduct Of
a regimental hospital at Camp Thomas.
DR.. Weaver said that typhoid had
broken out about the 18th Of June and
that it had increased from that time
until the Goth of August. There had
been about 900 cases of this disease in
the regiment and % or so deaths The
doctor said there was an insufficient
supply Of drugs and that at times he
failed to get what was needed. Qui-
nine was one of the articles of which
there had been a scarcity, and 100000
pills were secured from home. He said
that at one time there were so or 60 ty-
phoid patients at the regimental hos
pital because there was no accommo-
dation for them in the division hos
pital. At another time there were 81
fever patients in the company tents,
for whom admission could not be Sc
cured in any hospital, division or regi-
mental.
In summing up the causes of di1ease
in the camp, DR.. Weaver included over
work as one reason. The reveille sound
ed at 1870 and after that time the men
were kept quite constantly engaged
with drills and other exercises until
6:15, Notwithstanding the weather was
intensely hot. He expressed the opin-
ion that the water from the Chicka-
manga creek was polluted. He con-
sidered the water in this stream as
hardly fit to battle in, much less to
drink. His information was that there
was possible source of contamination
above the intake pipe of the pipeline
system. The doctor admitted that he
had never visited the creek at the
pumping station.
DR.. Weaver related his difficulties in
securing tents for the regimental hos
pital and he said that in one case
Chief Quartermaster Lee refused to al
low the regiment to have a tent which
was stored and which was its property.
Colonel Lee said the tent could not
be taken out except in the proper mill
tary manner, but the regiment had
never been able to ascertain what he
required and had never secured the
tent. The defect was supplied by TAX
ing the officers mess tent for hospital
purposes.
In this connection Governor Beaver
expressed the opinion that this conduct
on the part Of Colonel Lee was an out
rage and he said the only mistake that
the doctor and his colonel made was
that they had not taken the colonel
by the nape of the neck and kicked
him out of the camp"