The age-herald., 1898-07-26
IT IS THE USUAL
 DOUBTFUL STORY That Comes From Miami Of Men
 Stricken With Fever. PULL" MORE IN EVIDENCE One Surgeon Reports But Six Cases Oi
 Typhoid Another Forty. WATER IS THE CAUSE ASSIGNED Miami Gets Water From Mud PuddeS Subject to Various of impurities, Carrying
 With It Nothing But Germs of Disease.
WATER IS THE CAUSE ASSIGNED
BY sEWELL HAGGARD

Bureau of The Age-Herald, at Colonel Higdon's Headouarters, Camp First Ala bama Volunteers. Miami, Fla, July 2o- Able bodied men stricken with levers every aay is the same doleful story to be sent from this camp of United States volunteers.
 Matters have reached the appalling stage and every day the men remain in camp here gives fuller guarantee of the numper of graves to be left behind
 "A naj,ful mistake was made In bring ing the troops here," remarked an officer of high rank, and it is nothing short of of ficai murder to keep them here"
 The sick list of the First Alabama has swelled to 100 with about thirty in the hos pital. Lieutenant Davidson, of Company G. who is at one of the hotels, is better, while Lieutenant Simpson, sick with fever in his quarters is not doing so well. Sur geon Morris has been very unwell for sev- eral days, but still manages to keep go- ing.
 Something More of the "PuiI"
 Some new incident developes every day to show the strong pulp being exerted to keep the troops in this pest hole.
 Several days ago a committee of prom nent surgeons was appointed to investigate and report on the number of typhoid cases. This committee filed its report specifying fifty-one cases almost one week ago, and new cases have been added every day since that time The surgeon in charge in the face of this report filed his own statemenf saving there were only six cases IL was noticed that his report s!?S-- neatly Worded so that he had Q set,Ing out place if called -upo'i 10 show down.
 Mei ior Archinard, a prominent physician of New Orleans, was a member of this committee. He is man of wide exper- fence and has the reputation of a gentle man to be relied on. He, with others, take the position that typhoid fever has become epidemic, and that the only reme- dy is instant removal In his regiment he has no more than loo sick. Of this num- Der forty are afflicted with fevers, but have not reached the phase where all can be decided as typhoid.
 The surgeons have become so indignant at the reatment of the man in charge that they threaten to detail one of their own number to go to Jacksonville and lay the facts before General Lee.
 The Water is Doing It
 That the impure water has given rise to the typhoid epidemic is hardly denied. This is not the first mistake the government has made in sending men to camp where the water supply was not Sumcent ana pure
 A camp to which unacclimated men are sent should have water supply from river or some other source sufficient in quantity and pure. Wells in camp close to where the men bathe and cook are con- demned by all army surgeons.
 Miami gets its water supply from what would be termed in Alabama mud puddles. Bv the natives these pools reeking with filth are termed splings. Before the sur geons became frightened seepage wells were used. Now these have been discarded, the officers drink their water distilled. while the men of the line get it from the hydrants. Water that stands in the low places Of the everglades subject to contect with various kinds of impurities can carry with 1t noth- ing but germs of disease. Any commoh- sense old fogy who never saw a medicine book or a dissecting table knows this much The water after analysis has been pro- nounced bad It tastes bad and 1t smells bad.
 The town is not capable of taking care or so large a number of people. For some time an ice famine has been imminent and one day the local factory was eonnscatea and it's supply turned over to the hospital