The San Francisco call., 1906-05-09

When earthquake and fire destroyed
the Mission street headquarters and the
100000 worth of stores of the Army
Medical Supply Department, the officer
in charge, Colonel Louis Brechemin, was
abruptly confronted by the seemingly
insurmountable difficulty of Immediate
ly procuring drugs and dressings ana
everything else requisite to satisfy the
greatly augmented demands of the cs-
tablished dispensaries and hospitals as
well as those from the emergency insti-
tutions that sprang up so numerously
and nobly throughouT the entire shaken
region. How he accomplished the task
is one of the individual exploits that
viii live among the marvels of a mar
velous period.
"Draw on the local drug stores, 4"
was his responce 10 all people FOR sup
plies while he labored sssiduously to
open telegraphic communication with
Pacific coast points on which he, with
the government to back him, could
draw. And ere that fateful April 18th
expired he had tons of drugs en- route
from many California and Oregon towns
to this city, while from the great army
supply depots in the Eost were started
cars directed to him as fast rs they
could be loaded. The wonderful result
of his nitiative-ecquired by twenty
eight years Of experience in combating
just such apparent inlpossibilities-was
that no MANNED or injured victim Of the
catastrophe suffered for lack of proper
articles intended to alleviate pain.
Those Trying Days.
"But those first few lays were try
ing days for all connected with this de-
partment, said Colonel Brechelnin as
he calmly smoked an after-luneheon
cigar yesterday and watched his we'll
ordered retinue st work. 1.-THE stuff
arrived in quantity sufficient TO meet
more than the current demand, but our
facilities for receiving and distribut-
ing it were primitive, to say the very
least, and chaos reigned, of course. We
did not even have tentage in which to
store the constantly coming goods, nor
did we have the time or the means to
meet the great volume OF requisitions il
a perfectly systematic way. My regu-
larly trained force WAS inadequate to
handle all the business, ami L was
obliged to employ many comparative
novices in almost every department.
But my main effort was to avert a
famine in any article for medical or
surgical use, and just as soon as that
danger was removed the work Of per-
feeting organization and equipment was
commenced This Is the result. 1T las
all been accomplished since April 18th.
"This is a canvas town situated east
of the Presidio General Hospital. Its
most conspicuous structure is spacious
tent that bears all the external marks
of a circus big top, which indeed it
was when Brigadier-General Funston
secured it from its owner, E. j. Arnold
of Portland, Oregon, and placed 1t at
Colonel Brechemin s service. Now it's
gaudily-striped walls enclose, instead Of
the sawdnst arenas, many hundreds Of
tons Of medical and surgical supplies,
and its presiding genius is DR.. Jack ,
Wilson Shiels, viee-president of the Bo-
hemian Club, who sits at the head of
long table and passes upon the requi-
sitions that pour in from all the city
hospitals and dispensaries and scores OF
similar institutions outside the city.
He lost his Office and all its effects and
sustained a crippled hand during the
blaze, and Colonel Breehemin quickly
appointed him chief issuance officer of
the department. With an army Of
clerks and laborers at his command the
popular young clubman seems to be as