The Sentinel=record., 1917-12-29

ment for the sick in hospitals. Gen eral Wright answered that all officers were keen" to give the best possible care to the sick.
 General Wright said his troops had not used broomsticks or wooden rifles. He did not agree with Gen eral Crozier's view that men could be trained sufficiently with only half ! having rifles end taking their turns in their use. Training with Lewis machine guns, even if the new Brown ing guns are used in actual fighting, the officer said, would be valuable to teaching men the handling of the arms and general type of mechanism. He disclaimed any knowledge of the comparative merits of the two guns, but said he intended to teach his men to shoot.
 If his command was fully equip ped" General Wright said, fits train ing could be completed in two or three months"
 Food supplies, he pronounced fine" Despite the bayonet shortage at Camp Doniphan, bayonet training, General Wright said, had been excel lent.
 General Wright was followed by General Creole, commanding Camp Bowie, Texas, where 25,000 men and officers are stationed. Shortage in equipment at Camp Bowie on December 8 were given by the witness as follows: Rifles, 59 per cent; bayonets, 65 per cent; pistols, S6 per cent; cartridges, 59 per cent; automatic rifles, SS per cent; three inch guns, S8 per cent; artillery har- ness, 92 per cent; haversacks, etc, 78 Der cent, and artillery ammunition, 90 per cent.
 The command has no machine gu s, trench m1rtars, line grenades, six inch Howitzers and one-inch cannon.
 "This shortage delays training, , General Creole said, but added that the handicap was not serious. He be- lieyed the shortages due to the send ling of equipment abroad.
 ] General Creole agreed with General Wright that it was highly desirable to have ample rifles, but said target practice was proceeding well, despite the rifle shortage.
 We had some wooden guns sent down by the ordnance department" said General Creole.
 Were they of any use?" asked Sen- lator Chamberlain.
 Some" the general answered.
 We could teach them to right shoulder arms and some bayonet practice. But you want to teach men to kill the other II and you can't do it with a wooden rifle"
 General Creole said he had no as- surance when he would get machine guns. With full equipment he said he would want to train his men -four Imonths more before taking them labroad. He said, he would rather have Lewis machine guns thar none at all to train with, adding that he had never heard any complaint laeainst the Lewis gun.
 Camp Bowie is not now snort of overcoats. General Creole said, but all men were not equipped until Decem- Der 23. after cold spell had set in.
 out of .430 transport pieces need ed, General Creole said he had only 36S, including &62 wagons and one mo- Igor car. No bicycles motorcycles |notor trucks and many similar Ne- lhicles have been received.
 Some of the blankets received, he said, were rather flimsy probably bought in an emergency
 Regarding health conditions General lGreble said the camp had unfortunate ly had high sick rates
 For time we had about l6 deaths a day" he said Measles and pneu- Imonia were the principal causes"
 In November, 5000 men, or one Ithird of his command, passed through the hospital which was built to ac- commoda,e S00 men. At one time ] there were 500 men in it and at that Itime the sewage system had not been completed.
 That made their care very made quate." he said. and added that the hospital personnel was not sufficient lHealth since. General Creole said, has Improved, only lS0 being reported lsince December 23.
 General Creole said early in Sep ten,ber ne wrote Surgeon General lGorgas. 'luarternaster General Sharpe. General I.ytteli, and chief Of staff that sanitary conditions ought to be remedied.
 "Did you get any results?' asked Senator Chamberlain.
 Finally, yes But not until after lthere was much sickness in camp"
 General Creole preferred not to lhave his letter to General Sharpe, a lprivate letter, rut into the record, but lthe committee insisted. The letter complained of orders to put twelve Ivnen in a tent and expressed fear that lsiclness would result,
 But we had the orders to put | CONTINUED ON PAGE TWT