New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-11-15

| system, with Its lack OF disclphne' was ~
| OF the high death rate. g.
eral sternberg is In a position to speak posiu'eS
| and 10 show that as far the Regulars are con-
| cerned It has been almost marvellously good III
| the report to Secretary Root he says:
on account of the failure Of some OF the regi
FOR Jnlv and August or to keep accurate and com
pIete records OF their sick for these months many
Of the lighter ante S SaSs' nreess been lost to the
record but the medical histories OF the seriou ai
sick whose cases failed to be entered on the rex, a
mental reports were found In the recorus vi e M
general hospitals in which they were he sickness
| OF the Regular regiments has thus been gathered
| for tabulatlon in this report .,,o., rooords ~
the Regular troops for the last calendar year ars
excellent field G" 6oseta transport hos
pItal ship and general hospital-has peen dUIdHa
have been brought together to show his medical
history far reported by the medical oinc od,
cal history OF the year one hundred thousand
| histories had to be carded, and are now arIanseu
| alphabetically in the files for ready reference
WHAT THE STATISTICS SHOW.
The strength Of the Army for the first fG 1S.
months of the calendar year 1898 was only So,lSoa
but subsequent to this the strength was increassd
| to 6561 in December. the mean strength FOR the
The admissions to sick report were equivalent to
2li69 per thousand Of strength or TO sQmem VIA
| strength present during the year. Although ms
is greatly in Of the ratio OF admsslo..s IN III
decade iSS7-ss 1.2B59 the actual rate was UNI
of the reports for July and August were not rem
| dered or were evidently incomplete TINS excess
was was Que to yarous camp o. Strength as
compared with 1868 in 1897 During the year ISgs
| In which large proportion or the Regular
! Army was engaged in active hostilitles in Cuba
the ratio Of injuries considerably less IMAM III
sS for n yes WAS s per thousand
present as compared with 29O0S IN me PrsSNIoSSs
| Immediately preceding. The explanation of this Is
no doubt that in the field no note was taken IN 0a
the slight cuts and contusions. which form so large
a proportion Of the medical record OF post IN
times OF peace The rate loot OF raf as in @
1874 per thousand. while in 1891 It was only 9lZ,
and during the previous decade SCI Zoos THIS SHOWS
The total Of dGn = ron a meas
while in the previous year the rate was 81, and
in the years Of the previous decade 6@ The death
The loss to the service by disability. from dis
ease and injury was eGuiyaent to SOS Gays I1p
| 1905 days during 1897 and 1874 days In the years
the admissions during the year were nearly twice
as many as in previous years the constant SICK,
equal to that of the previous year multiplied by a.
The admission rate OF the infantry. 25lSo' and IT'S
Of the other arms OF the service The members
| Of the medical department and hospital corps
rate Of admission, 1855. This was undoubtedly
fever patients. While the admission rate for this
fever in the Army as whole was IS S. the cor cor.
l9S. Il. and, while the death rate OF the Army from
care care of the sick Vas 1852 their rate from ali
other causes being only $40 per 1000 men.
MALARIAL AND TYPHOID
Maaral infection was reported to have been
| the cause of 49, admissions, or nearly one-thrd
equalllng 69ia for every 1000 men enrolled
Diarrhpa and dysentery contributed l4l66 cases. or
juries s75S or nearly one-tenth of the whole, but
only l.457 of these were gunshot wounds while
typhoid fever, i19O cases. equal to Ss.56 per 10oo
and venereal diseases S727 cases 1892 per 1000
The largest item in the death rate OF the Army
Of strength Gunshot wounds occasioned 3si: mala-
rial fever. 32i; darrhra and dysertery, PA: yell
leaving 5SS for distribution among all other causes
OF fatality to make UP the total rate, 2755.
Only 10 cases Of smallpox. I Of which were fatal
our ooP T Ts eXpGsed
number Of men subjected to vaccination has not
been reported, but In view Of Army regulations
ject is probable that the whole Of the "a 500
accepted as recruits were subjected to this pro-
were excused from duty account Of vaccinia
but no death is attributed to this cause. There
We're reported LILO cases Of measles. Of which II
were fatal 22 of humps none fatal: 80 of cere-
bro-spinal meningts, Il fatal; p Of scarlet fever
The admission and death rates IN the Phfppines
but the admission rate was high in Porto Rico
compared S,o WIN the de % rate 49, and
the admission rate, 1881 rs the last rate failing.
already explained, to give expression to the facts
In Cuba there occurred 37i deaths 127 OF which
were the result Of gunshot wounds, 81 OF yellow
In Porto Rico total Of 50 deaths included a from
typhoid fever and IL from malaria fever In the
and maaral and diarrhpal diseases each in p
total Of g. In the United States there occurred Ss
80 from darrhea and dysentery is from gunshot
wounds and from yellow fever In total OF 765.
THE SORT OF MEN TAKEN AS RECRUITS
Interesting information regarding the class OF
men who compose the rank and file OF the Army
is given by General sternberg in a chapter on
recruiting, from which the following abstract Is
made:
The total number OF men examined for enlist
ment during the calendar year 1898 was 1880
was 54.S96. or 77047 OF every thousand examined
The ratio Of accepted men was lob for the
the number Of 227i and colored TO that OF
1915 per thousand declined enlistment. The rate
Of reflections on primary examination 2O6 Il
among the white and among the colored candidates
or every thousand examined GOS5 were rejected
on account of imperfect physique including over
weight s4a for diseases OF the eye 2657 for dis
eases OF the crculatory system. % 20 for diseases
the digestive system, 91 for venereal diseases
while ~ were rejected on account OF bad or
doubtful character or unsatisfactory references
43s generally unfit or undesirable. and only 10
on account of iteracy imperfect knowledge of
the English language and mental nsuniciency.
Among the recruits who fill up the ranks Of our
Regular Army there is usually a considerable
number Of men who are not native born. A few
years ago Irish and German recruits constituted
One-ffth OF the total number accepted, or 200 OF
every thousand men. Recently the proportion OF
foreign born has been decreasing In 1885, the
ratio for each OF these two classes OF foreign born
recruits fel FOR The frs, time below 80 per thou:
1870 During the last year a result of the
military spirit pervadlng the country, the ratio OF
native born rose to llOi7 per thousand while the
proportion Of naturallzed citizens OF German and
Irish birth fell. respectively to i79s and 81 "a per
thousand.
UNIFORM FOR THE TROPICS
Regarding the proper uniform for the tropics
General Sternberg says: