The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-27
CRUELTY AID NEGLECT
STARVATION AND ABUSE
He Beads the Algsr Whitswashing Com
mission . Needed Lsssou-oick
Soldiers Maltroasod and
Uncarod For.

New York. Nov. 3e.-when the war
investigating commission met today
Dr. N. r. Terry. surgeon general Of the
national guard Of New York. was asked
to tell what he knew about the various
camps he visited. Terry began with
Camp Alger. The site was q good one,
he said. and everything appeared In good
condition. The water was clear In ap-
pearance. but had q bad odor. He
found the camp Of the Sth New York
regiment at Chickamauga in q very un-
sanitary condition. The camps Of the
9th and 18th New York were In good
condition DR.. Terry said that Sternberg
hospital at Camp Thomas was In cx-
cellent condition and the best of order
prevailed. In speaking Of the camp at
Huntsville, Ala, Terry said he met Col
onel DUFFY and both he and the officers
and the men ot his regiment appeared
in excellent condition Colonel DUFFY.
he seid, did all he could for his men
and there was very little sickness.
DR.. Terry said he visited the hospitals
In Porto Rico-the government hospit-
ais and those conducted by Miss
Chandler and other charitable women.
Except at one government hospital, at
Ponce, where there was one physi-
clan to do the work Of several, all the
hospitals were IN good condition and
well served.
Mrs. L. w. Quintard. who was at the
Camp Wikoff from Aug. IL to Sept. Is
in charge OF the paid trained nurses at
the general and divisional hospitals,
said:
There were very few supplies of any
sort at first. There were no hypoder-
mic syringes, no hot water bags and
not enough sheets. Later We had every
thing that was necessary. Colonel For
ward and DR.. Brown did all they could
to make the work as efficient as possi-
ble"
Miss Alice b. Babcock Of New York.
who went to Cuba with the Red Cross
and returned to the United States with
DIR. Lesser, In the transport Concho and
was assigned to duty at Camp Wikoff,
told OF the voyage Of the Concho from
Santiago to Hampton Roads. There
were six dead men aboard and the sick
wanted for food and clothing. There
were no delicacies aboard except those
Mrs. Lesser had.
w. III. Baldwin, jr., president of the
Long Island railroad said there was
no real scarcity of water. Mr. Bald
win said that from the beginning to
the end there was no delay in the car
riage of troops or commissary supplies
Everything was hauled as express mat
ter, although at freight rates.
Captain Howell read a Letter ad-
dressed TO the commission by Robert j.
Roosevelt secretary OF the committee
Of the Society for the Protection of Sol
diers. General Dodge suggested that
the letter be received and filed and by
general consent General Dodge's sug-
gestion was adopted. The letter writ
welt read, in part, as follows:
ITO the Commission of Inquiry-Gen-
tlemen: I have noticed in the morning
papers that one of your members criti-
cises the witnesses who have testified
at the request of the committee formed
in this city to protect the soldiers for
the reason that while establishing the
fact that much groundless and mex
cusable suffering was inflicted on the
army. they do not fix the responsibility
nor show who is to blame. II the
views of your commission are correctly
reported. there seems to be a misun-
derstanding between us. We supposed
that all the witnesses had to do was to
prove the facts and that the commis-
sion would fix the responsibility, in
deed was appointed for the purpose of
fixing the responsibility.
Those boys forgot their sufferings
and may even refuse to testify to them.
Dut tuciT utOAncIS VIII uOt anu their
fathers will not. Nor will IL do to take
refuge behind the errors OF the civil
war. The sick men were not starved
Sick men were treated with all possi-
BILE attention and kindness. Water was
not sold to fever-racked sufferers at I
cent a glass. food was not sold to starv-
ing men at % cents for q sandwich and
dainties for the dying men were not
eaten by the officers. But suppose mat
ters had been a thousand times worse
in the civil war. would that be any
reason now that our men should be
sent with arms out of date. that there
should be no ambulances, no pack
trains or transportation to carry food
to the front: not half sufficient medi-
cines nor doctors nor proper hospitals.
and that men with freshly treated
wounds should be left to die In the mud
on a blanket IL they had one-without
II IL they had none-nor even why mid
winter underclothing should be sent to
Cuba and midsummer gauze under
shirts to Montauk?
The uncomplaining endurance of our
men has simply been heroic. They bore
wounds. sickness, privations. to death
even. without a word. 1t was only ne
glect. starvation, In fact. and abuse in
the hospital which called forth letters.
and them only home to their families.
letters which were sent to me by
heart-broken mothers in pitifui appeals
to try and help their sons. wish your
commission could have read them. but
as many OF them were transmitted to
me confidentially I cannot even quote
from them.
"The witnesses have established mon
strous incapacity. That they have not
full confidence in the power of your
commission. no matter how good its
will. to meet all the requirements the
public demands of II. Is only echoing
your own doubts. but In spite of that
they seem to have done their share. and
II would seem that IL only remains for
you to do your best. even II that best
IL not quite satisfactory to yourselves.
l. 81 a.