The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1917-02-02
COMPANY H HEALTHY
SOLDIERS, SAIDDOCTOR
HEAD OF MEDICAL DEPART
MENT Is PLEASED
Captain A. G. LiedlOff Compliments the
Boys and Declares Mankato Contin.
gents Camp Was Best at llando
Grande; Whiskey and Snake Bites;
Bugs and All Kinds of Scorpions
from Thurs days Daily.

from Thurs days Daily.
| Company H was one of the health
| lest, if not the healthiest companies
at Camp Llano Grande," stated Cap
! tain A. G.. Liedloff this morning.
| "They had less sickness than any
J company, excepting Company A OF
New Ulm. Company H lost one man,
however, by accident. He was Will
liam Telley of Waseca, formerly en-
ployed in the Heinrich hotel, and he
jumped from springboard into shall
low water, lighting on his head, and
inflicting fatal injuries.
about the only trouble Company
III experienced was. with the water,
but after we got so the water could
be boiled and sterilized we got along
very nicely. In the beginning OF
! course it was rather hard as we had
to have some time to get settled. The
boys were all used to good cold wat
er, ice water being furnished to them
everywhere, and they could hardly
stand the warm water. 1t was a week
or more before the ice boxes were
built, and during that time it was
hard to keep the food properly. The
method of drawing rations was con-
fused and consequently if they didn't
+, draw enough on the days they should
they were likely to run out. But this
state of affairs soon changed, and
the government furnished us plenty
Of ice and provisions. Uncle Sam
will take fine care of everyone in his
army, but there is lot of red tape
of course and it takes some time to
get things adjusted. During those
first days the natives would come in
to camp with tanks of water with a
piece Of ice floating in it, and would
sell ice cold canal water for ten cents
a canteen. 1t is all canal water you
know-all comes from the Rio Grande
river and is pumped into the canal.
One of our great troubles while on
long hikes was the fact that the boys
got blisters on their feet, making
walking very hard
Contracted Cold in North.
! When asked if he had contracted
his cold in the sunny south the cap
tain stated that he had not, but had
got it at Fort Smelling.
However, you are just as likely to
have bad cold down there as you
are here" he said. "We had no gem
uine cases of heat prostration there
at any time in spite of the intense
heat and humidity, although there
were two or three near cases in our
regiment. There was no typhoid, and
this we attribute to the fact that all
the men had been innoculated. There
were one or two cases of diptheria
/ in the regiment but prompt care pre-
vented the spread of the disease.
Company III was only one of the six
| teen organization with which I had
| to do, and of course / am speaking
of the entire regiment. There were
no cases of small pox, all the men
having been vaccinateo.
/ zone of the big things accomplish
ed by this maneuver is the better
care taken of the health of the army.
The vast improvement can easily be
seen by comparison of 1898 with
1916. There is a great difference to
be seen. One thing we have got to
give Colonel William T. Mollison
/ credit for, and that is for backing up
the medical department in every re-
spect, and helping in the making of
our regiment in fine condition and
our camp a model camp.
can interesting disease of the south
IS 'degue,' similar to measles and
grippe together. The patient breaks
out and suffers intense pain in the
bones. 1t is conveyed by the bite of
a mosquito. Fifty per cent of the
natives of Mercedes had 'degue,' and
we had few cases in the regiment.
We had twenty-three cases of malar-
ia in our regiment, which numbered
amout 9S6 men. We had quite ma
laria scare at one time. At least 100
of our men and sixteen of the officers
were pronounced as having positive
! cases of malaria, but this was a mis-
take in the diagnosis at the camp
! hospital. There were about ten thou
sand men at Camp Llano Grande and
the camp hospital took care of all
those who were sick. The regimental
surgeons sent all men to the camp
who had cases of over twenty-four
hours duration. There they had all
the conveniences of regular hos
pital."
/ Whiskey and Snake Bites.
| Whiskey and snake bites work to-
gether for the destruction of the man,
according to DR.. Liedloff. He ex-
planned that whiskey used as an an
tidote is very harmful, being a slim
.lllant, and the venom Of snake bite
also stimulant, the two together
likely to cause death He. told of a
number of soldiers who had been bit
ten by snakes and described the
treatment which consists OF bandag-
ing the limb tightly, cutting through
both punctures, and rubbing in the
antidote A patient delirious from
snake bite requires a surgeon who is
a wrestler to control him. Rattle
snakes and copper heads are common
but are seldom seen unless one goes
hunting for them which the soldiers
often do. The boys find rattlesnakes
and draw their fangs, and keep the
snakes for curiosity. All kinds OF
curious bugs and scorpions abound
in the south, but the doctor stated
that he had never had occasion to
treat the bite of tarantula. He ex-
planned that scorpion wasn't nice
thing to accidentally sit down or
| while watching outdoor sports of the
soldiers as their sting was more pain
! full than that of bee.
"After we got things in. shape al
the camp we did not have much
trouble said DR.. Liedloff, and oul
camp was neat and clean, and the
. ground became packed and smooth as
an adobe floor"
II Il.