The record-union., 1899-02-13

desires me to call attention to the fol-
lowing remarks of the MedicanD Depart
ment OF the army in which the Major
General commanding the army con-
ours: 2
Canned meats put up by reputable
firms are wholesome and have the full
nutritiye value of the meat contents
and in the absence Of fresh meat are to
be preferred to- any Of the three sub
stitutes suggested by the writer Meat
when salted loses a certain proportion
of its albuminoids and extractives, but
what remains is valuable as food and
has no specific influence in the produc-
tion of scurvy. With hard bread,
bacon, pea meal and an occasional
issue Of fresh beef, or in its absence,
canned meat, diety of satisfactory
| forceful value can be provided. To
these should be added for the preven-
tion of scurvy occasional issues of po-
tatoes, onions or canned vegetables or
in their unavoidable absence dessicated
vegetables and dried fruit. Very re-
spectfully, w. H. CARTER,
Assistant Adjutant General
Dated October 49, 1897.
'.All the above in quotation is the In
Marshall signed by c. S. Smart, Deputy
Surgeon General, U. S. A. The In
dorsement of the Major General COM
manding is in the following words:
Headquarters of the Army, Wash
| ington, October IS, 1897: The Major
General commanding concursI in the re-
marks of the Deputy Surgeon General,
! fourth Endorsement.
| "'J. C. GILMORE,
Assistant Adjutant General
| 1.-THE Major General commanding
| here referred to is Major General Nell
son A. Miles,"
| The work of the Signal Corps is high
ly commended, as is also that OF the
Pay Department, the Engineers De-
partment and Corps Of Engineers and
the Ordnance Department.
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.
Brigadier General George M. Stern
berg in charge:
This important part Of the report is
dwelt upon at great length by the
commission and must be read in it's
complete form to be properly under
stood A glance at the commissions
summing up, however, will sufficiently
Indicate its nature.
THAT at the outbreak of the war the
Medical Department was in men and
material altogether unprepared to meet
the necessities of the army called out.
THAT in the absence of a special
corps of inspectors and the apparent in
| frequency of inspections by Chief Sur
geons and of official reports of things
in camps and hospitals, there was not
such investigation of the sanitary con-
ditions of the army as is the first duty
imposed upon the department by the
regulations.
THAT the nursing force during the
months of May, June and July was
neither ample nor efficient.
That the shortcomings in adminis-
tration and operation may justly be
attributed in large measure to the
hurry and confusion incident to the as
sembling of an army of unframed off,
GERS and men, ten times larger than
before, for which no preparations in
advance had been or could be made be-
cause of existing rules and regulations.
THAT notwithstanding all the mani
fest errors of omission rather than of
commission, a vast deal of good work
was done by medical officers. high and
low, regular and volunteer and there
were unusually few deaths among the
wounded and the SICK.
Under the head What is needed by
the Medical Department in the future
the commission says there should be a
larger force of medical officers a re-
serve corps of selected trained women
nurses, an increased quantity of medi-
cines, hospital furniture, ETC.. to be held
constantly at supply depots; legisla-
tion giving army surgeons more lati-
4,,I
for convalescent soldiers
OF the camps at San Francisco it is
said:
"These were mobilization camps for
troops going to the Philippines The
men were somewhat crowded there and
good deal of sickness prevailed.
chiefly measles, some typhoid also ap-
Feared"
In conclusion the report says:
"The result of the Santiago campaign
was the complete realization of the sew
eral objects contemplated. The cap.
ture of the city with its Notifications
and munitions of war; together with
immense supplies of food stuffs and
ammunition the former estimated by
General Wood at 100000 rations); tha
surrender of the entire province of
Santiago de Cuba, with all the troops
garrisoning the same amounting as
already stated to between $4,000 and
$4,000; the destruction Of the navy OF
Admiral Cervera's fleet afte~ it's de-
parture fom the harbor and the general
disqualification of the Spanish forces
and the discontinue of the SPANISH
Government and people leading almost
Immediately to overtures for peace by
Spain. All this was accomplished
without the loss of a prisoner, n gun or
a color, and with a list of casualties
aggregating in killed less than 25O and
in wounded less than 1,4U0-losses
which in comparison with results, are
less than ever heretofore incurred in
moderen warfare"
1t should be added also that the total
deaths in battle, from wounds and dis-I
eases from the beginning to the end Of
the episode, aggregated less than 1000
only a fraction over 1 per cent"