Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-02-04

10 DrfHR uaunels. even LOT ltss slChS uu-
til public generosity came to the rescue,
aid even then summer weights were
Spplied Grimes artillerymen made
themselves shirts out of coarse grain
sacking.
Caudis.v words fail to describe the
situation as found I. from Aug 20 to
30. and this not at the hospitals. Snt in
the quarters of supposed well men.
On every side heard the one cry, some
times equaliug in terrible suggestiyeness
those narrowing lines Of Longfellow:
Oh, the famine and tho feverl
On, the wasting of the famine!
oh. the blasting Of the fever!
Stories Of exalted daring and heroism
have failed TO remove from my mind
its first impression, which was that |
was IN pest camp,
An extreme example Of distress was
the Eighth regulars which was just out
of Camp Detention when ] visited the
quarters. ID bad been among the last to
leave Cuba. About 40 sick were left at
Santiago many having been sent north
earlier, and there were go technically
sici. at Montauk. This regiment came
up ON the transport Mobile. where IL
died from the ranks Of well men as
against deaths among the sick on the
hospital ship Olivette. When | asked
the commandment how many men he
could muster for battle or heavy fatigue
duty, he answered, Monet" For ex-
PLANTATION was invited to walk through
the company streets. Every tent had
from two to four PROSTATE men rolled in
blankets, their faces the picture Of deep
and prolonged suffering. due, as was
stated, to general debility and fever.
Every regiment had a sad story Of sick
in quarters, not varying. relatively,
from the following statement taken
verbatim at the headquarters Of the
Second Massachusetts,:
Went to Cuba 935 strong electives on paper
at Montauk, 500; fit for duty, SO. Came north
on the Mobile: over 400 sick all the way from
Santiago; left 30 sick of yellow fever in Cuba
under care of officer a surgeon and ten
men, besides about 70 sick in Santiago hospi-
tails Have put in Montauk hospital ~ sick
and suffered in all GO deaths. Colonel Clark
thinks that $50 men will be disabled for life
from hardships, fever and wounds.
For the sfNlf in quarters at Camp Wi
koff there was no government medicine
and no aid up to Sept. l. Coarse field
rations formed the staple diet until
they got into the hospital. Half the du-
ty men were too weak to walk from the
wharf to Camp Detention. One trans
port came to the offing flying a flag of
distress and signaled: MEN starving
Send food " On the 2Sth of August out
of Is fever applicants for the general
hospital IL, having temperature of i06,
were sent back to the regiments. Colonel
Forwood said that his hospital carried
already third more than it's normal
capacity, and 100 was not high tenn
perature.
There were positively no medicines
for the camp sick in the government
supplies. | saw acquisitions reiterating
demands that had been repeated daily
many times, and heard official state
ments made to cover whole division,
while Colonel Forwood admitted as
much for the entire camp knowledge
| of this lack of medicine reached Gener-
al Wheeler late on Aug. 81, and on the
| 2Sth there was council Of surgeons
| lasting five hours. At this council ii
! transpired that there were 5000 sick
soldiers in the camp out of about 10, GOO
men, including those who had not been
in Cuba; also that there was no medi-
cine except for the 2 900 actually in hos
/ pital. General Wheeler took the matter
in hand, cutting red tape and wiring
rush orders for medicine. as we'll as
outfits for division hospitals to receive
the overflow at the general hospital.
By the way, General Wheeler was
the man for the hour at Camp Wikoff, as