La Junta tribune., 1899-05-13

regular session In December In order
to get the work under way. The re-
tirement OF Speaker Reed will natural
ly entail considerable delay in the np-
pointment OF committees In the House.
as II Is customary to allow new
speaker four or five weeks to make up
his committees, and this furnishes an
additional reason why Congress should
be convened before December. eOf the
several senators and members OF Con-
gress who are going abroad this sum-
mer, the President has particularly
inquired the length Of their stay, and
has limited that II was advisable that
they should be back In the early fall.
as the necessity for an extra session
might arise. With others. II IL said,
he has discussed the subject. and more
over 1t was upon the Presidents d.
rect suggestion that the caucus CON-
mittee appointed by the House Republi-
cans to formulate currency reform
measure met when 1t did.
The session OF the Association OF
American Physicians at the Arlington
was marked by an important paper on
typhoid in the volunteer camps by DIR.
V. q. Vaughn, one of the board of sur
geons appointed by Surgeon General
Sternberg last summer TO look into the
WHth tue VI phoiu
was prevalent in the various army
camps. The board made n thorough
study of the subject. and its report has
been looked forward to as an nuthori-
tative work. The report is not yet
completed, but DIR. Vaughn's paper
was in the nature of an advance state
ment, with the sanction of General
Sternberg. who was present at the
meeting. DIR. Naughn's paper was
severe arraignment Of the volunteer sur
geons and incidentally of the officials
who We're responsible for the policing
Of the great camps Mt Jacksonville.
Chickamauga, Camp Alger and Mon
tauk Point The board visited all
these points and found that not only
was there n great deal more typhoid
than was at first supposed, but that
| the surgeons. mostly Of the volunteer
class. were. from ignorance or other
motives. treating and reporting typhoid
under the names of persistent ma
| laria," indigestion" gastric fever"
| and .typho- malaria General Stern
berg referred to the appointment of
| volunteer medical army officers by the
governors of states, the former there
| by becoming responsible for the health
| OF our camps. Most of the volunteer
medical officers went to camp with the
expectation of fighting no end of ma
| larin. In one regiment each man was
provided with 200 grains of lulnine
and three-Ounce bottle Of pnregoric.
! The great bulk of supposed malarial
cases We're not malarial affections mt
ALL hut many of the doctors, regard
less of this, dosed their patients with
thirty to forty grains of quinine each
day.
| BY direction of the President. who
approves the findings. Acting Secretary
| OF War Meiklejohn has made public
| the report and findings Of the military
court appointed to investigate the
charges made by Major General Miles.
commanding the army. that the beef
supplied to the army during the war
with Spain was unfit for the use of the
| troops. The most important features
| OF the report are: The finding that
the generals charges TINT the refrlger-
ated beef was treated with chemicals
were not established; that his nllega-
tions concerning the canned fresh OF
canned roast beef were sustained ms
| to its unsuitability for food as used
on the transports and as long cOntin-
uetI field ration. censure Of General
Miles for ERROR in falling to prompt
ly notify the secretary of war when
he first formed the opinion that the
food WIS unfit: eensure OF the commits.
sary general tlien General Egam for
the too expensive purchases Of the
canned beef as an tried ration; cen
sure OF Colonel Mams of General Miles
staff; the finding that the packers were
not mt fnult and that the meats sup
piled to the army were of the same
quality as those supplied to the trade
generally and the recommendation that
no further proceedings will be taken
I'm the premises. The report places the
quantity Of canned roast beef pur-
chased for the war by the commissary
department at 8,357.174 pounds. includ-
ing 100000 pounds which was brought
from Liverpool and other English
points. This amount is characterized
as excessive and the commissary gen.
eral General Egan) is severely criti-
cised In several parts of the dOcu-
ments on this score. One of the sever
est rebukes is rs follows: Considering
the little use that has been made of
this beef in the regular army, the
probability that the volunteers were
entirely ignorant of 1t. that its use as
part of the field ration had never
been sanctioned by the President or
secretary of war. the court can but
characterize the action of the commits
snry general of subsistence as unwar-
wanted and reckless In that he ordered
the purchase of such enormous Quanti-
ties OF food that was practically un-
tried and unknown, and the court no
finds. The court also finds that there
IL no ground for any imputation what
ever or any other actuating motive on
the part OF the commissary general
than the earnest desire to procure the
best possible food for the troops. Tile
court pronOunces this act of the COM
niIssary general Of subsistence colOs-
sal error for which there is no pallia-
ton"