The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1902-07-03

: THE KIND INDUCED TO CONTRIBUTE TO II
40, SIR
do you mean to say that when you re-
lieved the other man he did not tell you
anything about what to do!"
20, yes he did, SIR
I well, / thought SO. What did he tell
your
He said could stand in the shade"
So much for Oregon. Another story
that went the rounds was credited to the
Tennessees. 1t was to the effect that the
Officer of the Day in his perambulations
about the posts came upon lanky senti-
mel sitting comfortably on a bamboo rail-
ing. This reused his wrath, for while the
men We're permitted to stand in the shade,
the permission did not include reserved
seats. So he spoke sharply to the sentry
| about it, and then asked him about his
| orders, the conversation being very similar
to that just given, until he asked him if
the Corporal did not tell him something
when he took post.
Yes, sir; he did," said the sentry.
well, what was it:"
He told me to keep my eye skinned for
the Officer of the Day, as he was the
| meanest skunk in the army"
HOSPITALS RED CROSS AND CANTEEN.
/ have related how the Chief Surgeon
of the Department at San Francisco sent
the Oregon regiment to war in a distant
| tropical country, cut off from other sources
of supply, to battle with fevers and ineyi-
table bowel complaints, and with the eX-
pectation Of actual fighting with the enc
my, equipped with only 10 ounces of quin-
inc, 200 ca:hartic pills for thousand men,
and only enough bandages to serve two
men who had operations performed upon
them during the voyage, and how, when
| the regiment landed in the Philippines, it
| had in O
medical and surgical equipment. At that
time without question the Medical De-
| partment from top to bottom in the Reg
ular army had not yet been shaken out of
its letEargy and made TO realize that there
was war on hand; that men were to be
Killed and wounded in battle. and that
| thousands of them were to be sick in hos
pital and thousands more to be treated in
! quarters, and that all this required not
| only intelligent fOrethOught, but prompt
action. The first expedition to the Philip
| pines was permitted to sail without either
| of these.
/ have spoken of the miserable hospital
accommodations in Cavite and the great
| amount Of sickness due to overwOrk in the
| hot sun before the men were accIimated,
| and to imprudence in eating. These con
| d!tions continued after Manila was occu-
pied and for time grew daily worse.
There had been established ON the banks
of the Pasig River, across the bouleyarde
east Of the walled city, a military hospital
which the Americans at once occupied.
| There were six ward buildings standing,
| three on opposite sides of u flower garden.
| with an administration building in front
\ and Kitchens and storehouSes in the rear,
| and detached ward for contagious cases.
| The hospital was accessible from all parts
of the city-in front by carriageor tramway
| and in the rear by boats Oh the river. This
/ al
| during the fighting to the north of the
city, since the wounded could be sent down
| on the railroad and be transferred directly
| from the cars to a launch and taken at
once to the hospital. SO well was this
matter handled that at the battle of Mala-
ben wounded men were actually in the
! hospital in less than an hour after being
hit on the field six miles away.
The complaint to be made Of this hos
! pltal was the SlowneSS in getting it into
shape to care properly for its rapidly
increasing inmates. 1t was five days after
| the occupation of the city before | had an
| opportunity TO pay the hospital q visit to
! see how couple Of my men were getting
| along. One of them was found quite east
| ~, because he had been visited before and
| located, but the other was lost After
some search it seemed settled that he was
il: particular ward, but the steward or
Eaad nurse had no register, and could not
! itl.FHDcI any PERSON OF mat name. lie
said the only way to tell was to lool,
| through the ward. Ii was early in the
evening but pitch dark none the less. and
taking up the only candle the ward DOS.
sessed he began tour of TIE room, look
ing at the names on TIE little slips of
paper pinned to the wall over each patient
some Of whom had cots and others Law on
the hard floor on blankets. The Pickering
candle made 1t difficult to read the names,
and while he was doing so / looked nj
faces, with the result that when he finally
announced that there was no suci. man in
the ward l had found him. While the
candle was being used in this way all
work requiring light had to be suspended.
l asked the steward how it was he had
but d single candle, and he replied that
THIS was the last of his allowance. the
regulation allowance of candles being all
the light SO far provided With thou
sands of lamps and thousands of gallons
OF coal oil to be had for the mere buying
at stores almost within stones throw Of
the hospital, 1t seemed to me a criminal
neglect to leave the hospital In the dark