Evening star., 1898-10-08
VIEW OF A SURGEON
Major R. E. Giffan Before the Inves-
tigating Commission.
HIS EXPERIENCE At CAMP THOMAS
His Reason for the Spread of
Typhoid.
OVERCROWDED HOSPITAL

The war Investigating committee met at
10 O'Clock this morning, and al 1890 began
the examination of Maj. r. Emmet Giffen,
surgeon. United States volunteers. Ex Gov.
Beaver was the only member of the COM
mission absent when the meeting was
opened.
Surgeon Giffan sworn, and testified
to his appointment in the volunteer service,
May 20. He was stationed at Camp Thomas,
Chickan.auga Park, Ga, where he acted as
brigade surgeon.
The Hospital OvercrOwded.
The witness had once visited the division
hospital at Camp Thomas, and said it was
crowded. That was about July II to 20.
Beyond being crowded, it was not suitable.
There were eight and nine men in a tent;
there should not have been over six, to his
mind-from four to six would have Eeen
good number. The doctors he saiI, were
sufficient, and good men. He knew nothing
about the nurses. The nurses were men.
The witness had been brigade surgeon
three weeks.
The crowding of the hospital he thought.
was the result of not having tents enough.
At that time Maj. Bradbury was surgeon
In charge.
When asked if he saw anything done
which was not right in his judgment in the
treatment of patients he replied that he
heard there was a man suffering from Il
gunshot wound in the leg who was being
treated in the same tent with typhoid fever
patients. He went over to see the man;
thought he should not be in the same tent
with typhoid fever patients and had him
sent to Cincinnati. At the time the witness
complained Of the crowding of hospital
tents he thought Maj Bradbury was the
chief surgeon.
Surgeon Giffan favored regimental hos
pitfalls against division hospitals. He said
there are three surgeons in each regiment
md rhny1 iyrici hTEa tal t- h1irlnI
one or two of these surgeons are taken from
the regiment for duty in the division hos
pital He thought 1t would be better to
keep the surgeons with their regiments and
let them treat the men in their own camp.
He did not think there was any advantage
in having a large number together in a di-
vision hospital.
DR.. Conner: rs it not better to have mon
cared for in a large rather than in small
hospitals?"
Surgeon Giffan: II think it is
The witness said all the surgeons in the
division hospital at Camp Thomas were
capable surgeons, and he did not know a
single case in which a surgeon drank to
excess. They were competent far as
their professional ability was concerned,
but they were not capable as far as their
executive ability was concerned.
Sinks Too Near the Kitchens.
The witness said the water supply at
Camp Thomas was good. The sinks We're
badly located in his brigade; they were too
near the kitchen. They should have been
from $50 to 300 feet from the camp and
from eight to twelve feet deep. Some of
the sinks in his brigade were seventy-fve
feet from the company kitchens. He
thought this was the fault of the reg-
mental commander. The regimental sur
geCnS should have objected to these sinks
being near the camp When he became
brigade surgeon he had the sinks put back
2Oo feet from the camp. By the time he
got there the camps had all been infected.
The flies, he thought, had gone from the
sinks to the kitchen and so had been the
cause of the spread of typhoid. He was no
tilted that typhoid did not originate in
Camp Thomas but was brought there.
He thought mississippi regiment was
the first regiment tc carry typhoid to the
camp. He thought Pennsylvania reg-
ment also brought typhoid there, and these
two cases, he thought resulted in all the
typhoid in the camp. There We're from
1000 to 5000 cases Of typhoid in the entire
corps He had made a careful investiga-
ton ard found that there had not been a
case Of typhoid fever In the vicinity of
Camp Thomas for nine years prior to the
war.
Surgeon Giffan testified regarding the
hospitals he had built at Camp Thomas.
The Sternbcrs Hospital.
The witness had number of photographs
Of the Sternberg hospital and they were
she wn to the commission.
Water was brought to the Sternberg hos
pital in pipes for ordinary purposes, and
he used distilled water for drinking pur-
poses, later bringing drinking water a dis
tance of seven miles. He had 100 hospital
tents and thirteen working tents in the
Sternberg hospital. He had iron bedsteads
with open wire springs and hair mattresses
Five hundred and thirtythree was the
largest number of patients he had had at
one time, and the whole number he had
treated was over LOO. He had siXty-seven
deaths. The worst cases from the division
hospital had been sent to the Sternberg
hospital.
He had 25 contract surgeons and two army
officers. He had 167 nurses and 159 in the
hospital corps The nurses were efficient
He got his supplies by acquisitions direct
to the surgeon general in Washington with
the approval of the corps commander
There was no delay, and his acquisitions
were always approved. If in a hurry he
would telegraph for hospital supplies. and
had acquisitions filled by telegraph forty or
fifty times At times he bought supplies in
Chattanooga
The witness told of ways for supplying
his patients in the Sternberg hospital with
delicacies. He said the Red Cross had sent
jeilies, etc, by freight from the east, but |
the long journey usually caused these sup
plies to be spoiled when they reached them. |
He got everything they needed however. |
He had no knowledge of any neglect to any
patient in the Sternberg hospital. He never |
made a requisition for anything that was |
not supplied in a reasonable time He had |
no complaint against anybody. He had |
never heard a complaint except on one oc- |
casion when they were out of matches
twelve hours Last night, he said, the |
Sternberg hospital contained 2S3 patients.
Could Have Stamped Out Typhoid. |
Surgeon Giffan saad If the typhoid cases |
had been diagnosed in early stages and iso- |
lated the disease could have been stamped
out.
II not satisfied it could have been |
done." said DIR. Conner who had been ques-
tioning the witness. /
The witness thought all surgeons ap- |
pointed in the volunteer army and for hos |
pital duty should have been examined be- |
fore appointed. He had discharged some
contract surgeons when he found they were
incompetent. |
Speaking Of the stories about starvation.
he thought the starvation complained of |
was in cases Of typhoid patients ON special |
diet.
Had they been allowed to eat all thew
wanted, 1t would have resulted in their
death. He said he had no doubt deaths had |
occurred in cases of men who went home
from the hospitals and were there overfed. |
The witness said he thought some typhoid |
fever patients were kept in their regimental |