Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-03-24
MAJOR NORMOYLE IS
DETAILED To OSWEGO
Army Officer Who Built Tented
City at Gettysburg in 1913
Honored Again
WAS AT GOVERNORS ISLAND
Had Charge of Relief During
Great Floods in Middle West
During 1912
WAS AT GOVERNORS ISLAND

Oswego, n Y, March 24.-MaJor
James L. Normoyle, recently detailed
as commandant of Fort Ontario
comes to Oswego with a record which
can be equaled by few men in the
army at the present time. His serv-
Ices have been unique in the annals
| of the quartermasters department, IN
which he performed them, and won
J for him the commendation of Major
General Leonard IT. Wood. special
mention in the reports of the Secre--
| tary OF War for the years of 1912 ana
1913, and high praise from foreign
military observers who saw his work
and its result.
Major Normoyle first came into
prominence during the terrible floods
in the Middle West in the Spring OF
1912. When Congress appropriated
81, 240, 900 for the relief of the flood
sufferers, the War Department picked
Major Normoyle as the man to take
full charge of the relief operations and
the expenditure of the money. lie
made his headquarters at Columbus,
o., and it was almost entirely due to
his efforts that thousands of the peo-
pie who had lost all property in the
foods did not lose their lives as well,
from exposure or starvation first, or
pestilence resulting from the terribly
unsanitary conditions following on the
track of the high water.
At one time during this period Ma
jor Normoyle was providing ratlons
for 1S5, 900 people. shelter for 10000,
and forage for nearly $4,000 head or
cattle. With traffic conditions unbe-
lievably bad. he took charge and car
ried out the distribution of relief ma
terial first, then he forced the people
to observe the rules of sanitation
which prevented a scourge of typhoid
far more fatal than the actual Hood.
Second Achievement
His second great achievement came
in 1918 when he was placed in fuli
charge of the construction and man
agement of the great tented city at
Gettysburg for the fiftieth anniversary
of the battle. The government had
planned to accommodate some 10000
aged men but when the time came
there were $4,000 to be cared for at
times. Major Normoyle had the tents
in position, all sanitary arrangements
complete. hospitals ready, electric
lights, telephones. telegraph stations
and post offices established.
When the veterans arrived $4,000
were carried into the camp on sim
gle track railroad and placed in their
designated locations without single
accident. The men stayed in camp
for a week and during that time there
was not death from accident or from
heat prostration, although there were
days when the heat was far above the
average. There were deaths, of course,
but they were from natural causes, in
Guiding the exhausted and enfeebled
condition of the men. When it is con-
sidered that over 10000 men lived in
the camp during the week and that
the average age was seventy years,
the low number of deaths Is surpris-
ing 1t was this feat that the British
military experts pronounced a verit-
able miracle.
Major Normoyle comes to Oswego'
from Governors Island, and had been
detailed to Panama. However, he
had so much foreign service to his
credit that he was allowed to exchange
duty with Major Peter Murray, whose
place he took at the local post.
Major Normoyle is we'll known in
this city and Gettysburg. For several
weeks prior to the opening of the
great reunion of veterans. he was sta
toned at the battlefield town to lay
out plans for the great camp and ar
range the sanitary details.