The San Francisco call., 1898-10-09
PATIENTS WERE
 RATHER CROWDED Major Giffin Admits Some of the Abuses. CONDITIONS AT CAMP THOMAS SICK SOLDIERS WERE CRAMPED
 IN THE TENTS. The War Investigating Commission will Soon Start on the Round
 of Personal h.
 spection.
CONDITIONS AT CAMP THOMAS
SICK SOLDIERS WERE CRAMPED
 IN THE TENTS.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

WASHINGTON, Oct. S.-The War Investigating Commission examined two witnesses to-day. They were pr. Giffin, who was in charge of the Stern berg Hospital at Camp Thomas, Chick amauga Park, Ga, and Captain Bald ridge, a brigade commissary of subsis- tence at Camp Cuba Libre, at Jackson vile
 The commission has practically de- cided to start on the night of the 16th on its round of the various camps. It will go either to Camp Meade or to Jacksonville first. AnAhe camps will be visited in succession but the under standing is that the trip to Camp Wikoff will not be made until some time in November. Next week will be given largely to the inspection of off .cial reports and to other statements that have been furnished in answer 10 letters.
 Major R. Emmet Giffin told of his visit to the Second Division Hospital in July last. when he said it was over crowded In each tent and under it's flies there were eight or nine men when there should have been but four to six. There was d sutticlency of physicians and Major Glttin was sure they were competent men, The majority of pa
 
 venereaI diseases, about 20 per cent be- ing Of the latter class. He thought the croWding of the hospital was from lack of suriclent tentage, a fault due to the surgeon in charge.
 pr. Giffin has no complaint of neg feet to make against any of the otfi- cialS of the War Department, and he had heard of only one complaint. There were no matches for twenty-four hours. He thought that the contract surgeons should have been examined before they were appointed. They were not so eX- amined to his knowledge. The doctor expressed the opinion that the com plaints of starvation had arisen from the fact that it was necessary to put convalescents from typhoid fever on sparse diet. He thought many deaths had been caused by overfeeding after cOnValesCents returned to their homes.
 Orders were given to his knowledge for prompt measures looking to the sup pression of the fever when 1t broke out, but the orders had not been obeyed. He knew of more cases in which the sinks were to the last within twenty feet of the kitchens, and in the cases of the Fourteenth Minnesota and Ninth Pennsylvania regiments the sinks were crowded near the kitchens when there was quarter of mile of open field back of them. He thought that it had been a mistake to locate so many men together as were at Camp Thomas. Acquisitions had been honored prompt ly.
 Captain James c. Baldridge, commits sary of subsistence for the First Brig ade of the Second Division of the Sev- enth Army Corps, now at Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville, occupied the com mission during the afternoon. He reached the camp on August and made an immediate inspection of the kitchens. He found some of them not well managed, as all of the army cooks were not experts. He believed that for an army in camp green coffee was pref erable to the roasted, as it was stronger and fresher. The meat he considered good.
 The men were literally supplied with food and the location of the camp was good Still there had been an increase of disease, which he attributed to the ~cIimate and to the assembling of a large body of men. He also thought decaying fruit and the canteen beer shad had an influence in producing dis ease. Much of his testimony related to complaints from the Second New Jersey Regiment. He said there had been many complaints from this regi- ment, and investigation had shown the trouble was due to the fact that the officers were without experience