Honolulu star-bulletin., 1917-12-27
SANITATION in
ARMY CAMPS BAD;
SENATE PROBES
tA.soes..d Press Syu ;. H.vG w,r.l.ss.>

i " ASI1l NJ w. ~. - bCN ! AS
senate military affairs committee to
day listened 10 testimony as to con
ditions in Camps WadsWorth anj
! Bowie.
This committee investigation grows
| from charges made by the surgeon
general which are told Of in news
papers just received from the main
| land but Of which no wireless or cable
messages were ereceived here.
An article printed under the date OF
! Washington. Dec. is, says:
Sensational charges Of unsanitary
conditions at army training camps by
Surgeon General William C. Gorgas
were made public tonight by Secretary
of War Baker.
Copies OF the reports made to the
chief Of staff by General Gorgas on
conditions at four of the camps were
given out. They are: Funston, Kan /;
Sewer, IS. c.; Doniphan, Okla, and
Bowie, Tex. They allege:
Excessive deaths at the camps due
to overcrowding.
Failure Of winter clothing to arrive.
Location of camps in infectious
territories.
Inadequate and incomplete hospital
facilities.
Pneumonia, meningitis, measles and
mumps, cause many deaths.
Reason for Sickness
1t is the first time official admis
sion has been made that the death
70 ie i1 NJ
the failure of the war department
machinery to provide adequate accom-
modations.
OVercroWdtng Is in very case blamed
for the extensive sickness. Men were
placed 10 and IL in a tent, allowing
only 20 cubic feet Of air space per
man. when the proper space should
have been much larger, with only five
men to a tent
In each of the camps there was no
attempt to quarantine new arrivals un.
til they had been proven free from in.
fectious diseases. This, General Cor.
gas intimates. was unavoidable when
as many as $4,000 men were poured
into camp in a few days.
Detention Camps
He recommends the immediate es.
tablishment Of detention and separa.
tion camps for the sick men, issue Of
tents until there are but five men to
each, rushing warm wooden clothing
and a careful examination Of every
command before it leaves the camp,
where it has been infected.
OF Camp Funston, General Gorgas
said:
"T call attention to the fact that
they had 81 deaths Tin the last month";
when the normal death rate of such a
command should be about 12."
This part Of the country, General
Gorgas says. has been we'll known as
a center of epidemic meningitis to all
health officers for years. Yet, the
camp was built in the river bottom
where storms Of dust blow about the
streets. To the dust and the crowd
ing he attributes the excessive pneu.
monia rate. The men had no winter
clothing and no heat in the barracks.
Conditions Serious
OF Camp Sewer he says:
Sanitary conditions here are sert.
Oucs OlAIy nave ulSu
monia within the past month"
The condition was due to the over
crowding of men from rural communi-
ties who never had had measles and
to the lack Of warm clothing. Under
date of November 90, General Gorgas
says that wool clothing has arrived
but not issued and that the whole com.
mand was still in khaki.
Heat and plumbing are needed in
the hospital, he said, and he recon.
mends motor trucks for the hospital.
- At Camp Doniphan, nine men to a
tent resulted in excessive pneumonia,
meningitis, diphtheria and measles.
Il am Informed that shipments of
winter clothing are coming in rapidly
and issued to the men as fast as re.
ceived," says General Gorgas. From
personal observation, however, l find
that many men are still wearing their
cotton khaki clothing" This report
was dated December II.
All oVercrowdins
AT Camp Bowie the same prevalence
Of diseases due to overcrowding and
insufficient clothing is noted. Condi
tions here are described as the worst
Of any camp visited. They have dis.
turbed the governor of Texas and the
local health authorities.
The base hospital is in an unffn.
ished condition" General Gorgas re-
ports. mo water in the hospital, no
plumbing or sewer"
General Gorgas recommends tele-
rhfN nr1nHo -
tions.