The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-04-29
IT WAS 4 FAILURE.
Medical Department Was Not Prepared
for the War.

Baltimore, Md, April 2S.-Speaking
at banquet last night in celebration
of the centennial anniversary of the
Maryland medical and chirurgical fac
ulty, Surgeon General Sternberg, U. S.
A. said:
1T is patent that The medical de-
partment of the United States army
failed under the great stress put upon
1t, but the reasons for this failure are
obvious. When 1 was made surgeon
general of the army six years ago,
my first fight with congress was to keep
all the surgeons we then had. Con-
sress wanted to cut down the corps
The force was insufficient. When the
war came we had not only this insult
ficient number, but there were II va
cancies among the surgeons The
places had to be filed and in some
cases we were competed to call in very
young men.
The army was increased suddenly
from $4,000 to 100000 men, Every
thlng had to be done in the greatest
hurry. 1t was an emergency. The
troops wanted to be mustered in quick
~ 1t was the duty Of the melical de-
partment to equip them for light
marching order. We could not over
lures and syringes and fluid extracts.
They would have proved altogether too
cumbersome. We had to equip the
men for active field work 1t was an
unframed army: officers and men alike
were rushed to Chickamauga This
had to be done by the men on the spot
the surgeons of the regiment. In
many cases these men had to learn the
first principles. The enlisted men
themselves We're new and apt to be
careless. 1t is the history Of new
leVies of troops everywhere.
1t has been a great dsappoint-
ment to me that things turned out as
they did and that typhoid fever APP
peared. I issued a sanitary circular
showing how it could be avoided and
giving rules of health to be followed
by the soldier in the field No atten-
ton was paid to it. You know how
hard it is even in cities for the health
officers to prevent epidemics of ty-
phoid fever and smallpox. But | wish
to say that, Notwithstanding the crit
iclsms that have been made during the
war, there has BEEN less sickness than
in any war that I Know Of
Under the use of asceptic dressings
for wounds there have been fewer bad
cases and fewer capital operations. Not
only is this true at Santiago. but at
Manila. But there is one blot which
can be traced to the enlarged medical
department. There We're three sur
geons to each regiment. At one time
| had 600 acting assistant surgeons UNI
der me. Most of them were unknown
to me personally They had to be ia
ken in rapidly on the recommendation
Of professional men, All lacked ex-
perience. Some of the very best sur
geons and physicians in the country
did not prove good for taking care
of sick men in the field. You cannot
have camp sanitation without discipline.
In nearly every one of our camps ty-
phoid fever ragged. / still believe in
sanitation as a preventive Of the dis
ease and in my opinion doctors do not
pay enough attention to disinfection.
Another thing that was a source of
worry to me was that the doctors hes
itated to diagnose anything as typhoid
unless it was too late and a camp ep-
idemic had started. When you dag
nose a case of typhoid as malaria and
dose it with quinine you SOW the seeds
of typhoid throughout the camp. I
know of many cases of men who We're
laid in regimental hospitals owing to
a mistaken diagnosis, and who later
came to the division hospital with ty-