The times., 1899-04-17
HEALTH IN TROPICAL cL1MEs
General breckenridge Refers to Vol
unteers' Needs.

unteers' Needs.
AS the result of his extended trip
through Cuba and Porto Rico Inspector
General ]. C. Breckenridge will make sew
eral recommendations in his report to
the Secretary of War concerning the
health, food. and clothing of the United
States troops in those islands He will
favor a change in the tent arrangement,
an increase in the quantity of certain ar
ticles of the ration and change in the
present uniform.
General Breckenridge gave considerable
time 10 studying the needs of the soldier
as regards shelter. Proper shelter he be-
lieves 10 be the first essential to good
health. Speaking of his investigation Gen.
eral Breckinridge says:
Il found the soldiers better housed in
Porto Rico than anywhere else There
they are in tents. Next comes General
Woods province, Santiago. The ground
is full of miasma, and ii is absolutely nee
essary for the men TO have something
between them and the earth. In Porto
Rico the tents are floored, but in Santiago
and other parts Of Cuba they sleep on
the bare ground. Most of the tents are
without flies, and the result is that the
heat is intense.
Il have found from personal experience
that when tent is lined with blankets
the temperature is greatly reduced, and
while in Cuba the last time | made some
experiments along this line. l found that
by putting small tent into large one
and covering both with a fly difference
of about four degrees for each thickness
of canvas was obtained. With three thick
| nesses of canvas between the men and the
sun the comfort and health OF the soldiers
would be greatly increased.
THE health of the army is now very
! good, but the rainy season Is yet to come.
! We carried the typhoid fever to Cuba with
( the army and the hillsides are full OF IL.
| When the rainy season sets in it will be
washed down from the hills into the lower
I country. and we will have hard time TO
prevent an epidemic of the fever. 1t is
! the typhoid and not the yellow fever that
we are going TO have trouble with.
In considering the matter of food
was surprised to find that the volunteers
! consume large quantities of candies and
sweets. In one of the largest canteens the
/ man in charge told me that his largest
sales were tobacco, and close behind came
candy. He sells IL by the ton. The regu-
lars don't care for such stuff, but seem
content with their bacon and hardtack.
There is no objection to the volunteers
having the candy. provided that it is made
of pure materials"
Speaking of the canteen question. Gen.
eral Breckenridge said: The profits OF
the canteen are devoted in the end to the
company or regiment to which it belongs
and by abolishing the canteen system the
loss falls on the men. | visited the can
teen Of the Thirty-first Michigan Regi-
ment where there is not a drop of liquor
sold. | found that they were carrying a
stock of goods valued at $4,000 and doing
a large business.
II am inclined to think that we should
adopt the old blue cotton or linen for the
troops in the tropics. The men all like
the campaign hat. but the objection to il
is that there is no ventilation for the free
! circulation of air inside.
"One of the most interesting things
saw was the vaccine farm of Surgeon Ames
near Coamo, in Porto Rico. When / left
Surgeon Ames' farm was in good working
| order and he was obtaining plenty of ma
terial to vaccinate the 10000 people of the
island. He had been at work about week
! when l left. and expects TO complete ii
| within ffty-nine days"