Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1899-02-13

also for the subsistence Of the troops there.
and ascribing the sickness in that locality
to the use of salt meats. and in reply there
attention at to the following gre remarks s Of Of the the
medical department of the army. in which
the major general commanding the army
concurs:
Canned meats put up by reputable firms
are wholesome and have the full nutritive
value of the meat contents. and in the abb
sence Of fresh meat are to be preferred to
any Of the three substitutes suggested by
the writer. Meat. when salted loses
certain proportion of its albuminoids and
eXtractives. but what remains is valuable
as food and has no specific influence in
the production of scurvy. With hard bread,
eacSn os Sre.b Ssns and d an
meat. n dietary of satisfactory force
value can be provided. To these. there
scurvy. occasional issues of potatoes,
oEions or canned vegetables. or. in their
unavoidable absence. desiccated vegetables
w. #. CARTER.
M,,,., NJ. As Assistant is ,sa- Adiutant General.
"All the above in quotation Is the in.
dorsement upon the letter by Mr.. Marshall,
signed by Z. Smart deputy surgeon gen.
eral: United States army. The Endorsement
following words:
Headquarters of the Army,
Washington. Oct Is, 1897.
The major general commanding concurs
in the remarks of the deputy surgeon gem
eral. fourth Endorsement.
J. 6. GILMORE.
The major general commanding here
sefsrrsd Mfias s to is Major General Nelson A.
corf The work work of the signal corps is highly
"Pay Department, Brisadier General
T. H. Stanton In charge.
1.-THE principal delay in the payment Of
troops was in Cuba and Porto Rico. In
cuba. the colonies of some of the regiments
did not desire their regiments paid there,
and Major General shafter. commanding
the ear, army there. approved their requests.
There has been complaint made as to
1he Tns payment of the army in Porto Rico;
Miles With wit Majgr General
not to have them sent to Porto Rico. as
the, money might be infected. although 1t
had never been landed from the vessels.
so far as the commission can ascertain.
all the officers of the pay department have
performed their duties promptly and eff
| ticiently.",-.
of Observation-Disclosures General
John NJ. Wilson, Chief of Engi-
| neers. U. s. A., in charge.
Where war officers of this corps have
been assigned to duty the testimony shows
that they have acted with great prompt
ness and to the great benefit of the serv-
|
OF campaigns, troops and camps has been
IN high praise OF the services of the corps
| OF engineers"
"Ordnance Department Brigadier
General d. w. FIasler, Chief of
Ordnance, In charge.
1.-THE testimony before the commission
shows that the ordnance department was
untiring in its work, both before and dur
Ing the war, and that every effort was
made made BY by its officers rs to properly arm ana
were none of them Of serious import, and
It was beyond the power of the department
''Medical Department-DriGad Gem
eral George NJ. sternberg in charge
This important part of the report Is
dwelt upon at great length by the COM
mission and must be read in its complete
form to be properly understood. A glance
at the commissions summing up, however,
will sufficiently indicate its nature:
'First-That at the outbreak of the war
the medical department was. in men and
materials, altogether unprepared to meet
the Of the ARMY eae "a q. out,
through generation of contracted and
contracting methods of administration, 1t
was impossible for the department TO oper-
.'Third-That in the absence of special
Oipo VI luSpcClOIS, anu tH6 apparent III.
frequency of Inspections by chief surgeons.
and of official reports of the state of things
In camps and hospitals. there was not such
investigation of the sanitary conditions Of
the army as is the first duty imposed upon
the department by the regulations.
FourthIThat the nursing force during
} neither ample nor efficient, reasons fol
which may be found In the lack of a proper
volunteer hospital corps, due to the failure
of congress to authorize its establishment,
and the transformation n he hecinpfpp
OF the value of women nurses and the ex-
tent to which their services could be Sc
cured.
the resources of the department in the care
. OF sick and wounded was very much great
er than had been anticipated, and conse-
. were tmperfectly met.
'Sixth.That powerless as the department
was to have supplies transferred from
point to point, except through the in
!, termediation Of the quartermaster's depart
ment, 1t was seriously crippled in its eff
forts to fulfill the regulation duty Of fur
, uishing all medical and hospital supplies.
"Seventh-That the shortcomings in ad-
, ministration and operation may justly be
attributed. in large measure, to the hurry
i and confusion incident to the assembling
, of an army Of unframed officers and men,
. ten times larger than before. for which
no preparations in advance had been OF
and regulations.
: "Eighth-That notwithstanding all the
: manifest errors, of omission rather than
of commission, vast deal of good work
was done by medical officers, high and
low, regular and volunteer, and there We're
unusually few deaths among the wounded
| and the sick.
What Is needed by the medical depart
, ment in the future is:
: "First-A larger force of commissioned
!, medical officers.
"Second-Authority to establish in time
! of war, a proper volunteer hospital corps