The record-union., 1899-04-29

BALTIMORE. April 2S-Speaking at
a banquet last night in celebration OF
the centennial anniversary of the Mary
land Medical and Chirurgical Faculty,
Surgeon General Sternberg, u. S. A.,
said:
1t is patent that the Medical De-
partment of the United States failed
under the great stress put upon it, but
the reasons for this failure are obvious.
When l was made Surgeon General
of the army six years ago my first fight
with Congress was to keep all the SUR
geons we then had. Congress wanted
to cut down the corps. The force was
insufficient. When the war came we
had not only this insufficient number.
but there were twelve vacancies among
the surgeons. The places had to be
filled, and in some cases we were conn.,
PEELED to call in very young men.
The army was increased suddenly
from $4,000 to 1000 men. Everything
had to be done in a great hurry. 1t was
an emergency. The troops wanted to
be mustered in quickly. 1t was the
duty of the Medical Department to
equip them for light marching order
We could not overload the wagons with
bottles of tinctures 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 We're raw. For any per-
son in Washington to absolutely control
the situation at Chickamauga or any
other place was utterly out of the ques-
ton. This had to be done by men on
the spot-the surgeons of the regiments
In many cases these men had to learn
the first principles. The enlisted men
themselves were new and apt to be
careless. 1t is the history of new
levies of troops everywhere.
1T has been great disappointment
to me that things turned out as they
did, and that typhoid fever appeared [
issued a sanitary circular showing how
it could be avoided and giving rules of
health to be followed by the soldiers in
the field. No attention was paid to it..
You know how hard it is even in cities
for the health officers to prevent cpl
denies of typhoid and smallpox. But L
wish to say that, Notwithstanding the
criticisms that have been made durinGl
the war, there has been less sickness
than in any war that l know of. Under
the use of aseptic dressings for wounds
fewer capital operations. Not only is
this true at Santiago. but at Manila.
The wounds of the men heal quickly.
But there is one blot which can be-
traced to the enlarged Medical Depart
ment- There were three surgeons tor
each regiment. At one time 1 had 600
acting assistant surgeons under me-
Most of them were unknown to me per-
sonally. They had to be taken in rap
idly ON the recommendation of profess
sional men. All lacked experience. Some
Of the very best surgeons and ply
sicians in the country did not proven
good for taking care of sick men in tha
field
You cannot have camp sanitation
without discipline In nearly every one
Of our camps typhoid fever ragged. L
still believe in sanitation as a prevent
i've of the disease, 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 hest
tated to diagnose anything as typhoid
until it was too late and a camp cpl
demic had started. When you diagnose
case of typhoid as malaria and dose
it with quinine you sow the seeds OF
typhoid throughout the camp. / know
of many cases of men who were held in
regimental hospitals owing to mis-
taken diagnosis and who later came to
the division hospital with typhoid 1t
was unfortunate, but it was owing to
the hurry, the inexperience of the sur
geons and to the carelessness of the Of
fcers and men themselves