Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-05-30
GREAT WORK or TAE
ARMY IN SAN FRANCISCO
an rnneI.ea chranIlIr. NJ l.ih.

cal supply house in this city. There
/ is already sufficient stock on hand for
an army Of $1,000 men fUf one year
] and loads more are arriving daily.
/ Inese are supplies that Uncle sam is
sending for the relief of his distressed
in San Francisco.
Has any other than those directly
interested given n thought as to the
manner OF caring for the sick and in
/ iured among the go, 600 OF more that
/ fled from the fire, some suffering from
Wounds, others from shock and nat.
ural ailmentsg Among the multitude
thore were thousands, many of them
/ semi-inyalids and under the care of
/ physicians prev ious 10 the morning of
/ April 18th. How were they cared forY
With practically all the principal drug
stores and medical supply houses In
the city destroyed, from where was 20
come al the bandages, the llnt, the
antiseptic gnuze, the surgical APP
/ pliunces and the medicines for the
sicki Tho army
Somehow fiom whatever view pont
one takes Of the disaster be sees in
the thick of it a blue or khaki uni
form of tho army or navy; either q
| sentry with loaded rifle on guard over
! the peoples savings or man in khaki
/ handing ont relief for the sick and
hungry and giving tents 20 those with
out shelter. A street car conductor
with a union labor button in his lapel
said to the writer yesterday:
In all my life this is the first time
that | ever fully realized what govern
ment means. My God What would
We have done here without the help of
the army and nayy / used 10 stand
| down on Grant avenue Of nights
and listen open-mouthed 20 those
spouters against the government. No
more for me; this has been great
! object lesson. / know now what Uncle
Sam stands for and hereafter / am
ready TO back him to the limit, no
matter bow far be wants 10 20, Tor he
Is right; he will always be right no
matter what comes up." And there
are others.
Everyone knows how the great Me
chanics' Pavilion was converted into
a temporary morgue and hospital on
/ the morning of April 18th how hun
dreds of the dead and injured we're
carried in there; how the fire swept
/ down the pavilion and hundreds Of
! automobiles, carriages, hacks and
/ vehicles ofall descriptions we're pressed
/ into service 60 remove the patients 90
/ places of safety. The dead were re-
moved 20 another morgue and the liv-
! ing we're transferred TO the General
Hospital nt the presidio. Ii was soon
full Co overlooking, and the overflow
was sent TO the old Post Hospital.
whose normal capacity is q ty patients
within an hour il had 225 how they
were cared for and fed IS another story.
And they continued 90 como and as
fast as they came they were placed in
hospital tents and the stores dI the
| Army hospitals drawn ON he4vily.
! promised soon 10 be exhausted. Old
/ Army surgeons turned pale and shut
their jaws when they looked on their
scanty stores.
Lieutenant Colonel Louis Breehe
min, in charge Of the medical supply
depot in this city, was appealed 10
the request was similar TO an order "a
Bring up those guns" in a battle
| crisis and across an impossible field.
The medical supply depot had been
! located at 655 Mission street and was
ashes hours before With its burning
the government lost Si00, 600 worth of
medical stores. The only thing saved
was small box containing the most
valuable records, Colonel Brechemin
losing all his personal effects. Among
other things the depot contained a
field hospital. "No. O., thoroughly
equipped down to the most minute
detail, and thrse regimental hospitals
There were also, in stock 9, 500 blan-
kets and several thousand cots.
But Colonel Brechemin had already
cleared the way and brought up the
| guns, having anticipated the order
When he saw his supply depot burn
ing, and realizing the extent Of the
calamity, he sat az one end of tele-
| graph wire and sent emergency calls 10
Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland,
Seattle, Spokane, Salt Lake and other
coast cities for supplies and For
Gods sake hurry" That was on
Wednesday morning and before many
hours the situation was relieved by
| express deliveries. Before two days
had passed the Army realized what q
stupendous task IL had before It,
There we're thousands of patients ia
need of medicines nothing imme-
| diately serious, but their ailments
must be treat d TO prevent develop
ment into a more serious stage 10
was then that DIR. j. Wilson Shiels Of
this city, DR.. W. st. John Of the
Navy and many other physicians Of
this city volunteered their services.
The services Of DR.. Shiels we're so in
valuable that he was aiterward re-
quested TO assist Colonel Brechemin
at the supply depot
To receive and house the thousands
of tons Of medical supplies and miscel-
laneous articles that Uncle Sam was
hurrying across the country and TO
supervise their issuance 70 the various
hospitals and free dispensaries was a
task that devolved on Colonel Breche-
min. There were no buildings avail
able, so be began telegraphing. He
WAS soon in communication with +. j.
/ Arnold Of Arnold circus fame, who
was then at Portland, and, without
being asked, Arnold donated his big
/ three-ringed circus tent, lO0xlSO feet,
/ for the purposes of relief and ended
his season before it had fairly begun.
This tent arrived by express on April
/ 9th, and amateurs tried TO set it in a
gale of wind. but all they did was to
rip holes in il from ten TO twenty feet
/ long. The next day Lew Cullins came
| along. Every body who has loaied
around in the vicinity of a circus camp
knows Lew Cullins, one of the best
canvasmen on the road. No one asked
! how he came there. He Just hap
/ pened" along and when Colonee
/ Brechemin saw him he never lost sight
of him until that tent was up. In TIL
work he was assisted by w. b. Snow,
another veteran canvasman, and now
| Snow, with three assistants, has
/ charge of the issue tent and the other
big tents connected with the medical
supply depot.
In the big tent known as the issue
/ tent is probably the largest general
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