The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 7, 1898, Page 19

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 1898. 19 T JMOST DEADLY ENEMY OF OUR SOLDIERS IN CUBA— YELLOW FEVER. THE DANGERS OF @N EPIDEMIC THAT SHOULD SWEEP OUT OF EXISTENCE MOST OF THE AMERICAN FORCES.QUARTERED AT SANTIAGO BECAME SO STRONG THAT THE OFFICERS GOT UP d ROUND ROBIN PETITIONING GENERAL : SHAFTER TO APPLY TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT TO REMOVE THE ARMY WHERE IT'COULD RECUPERATE ITS STRENGTH. INSIDE OF FOUR WEEKS NEARLY 5000 SOLDIERS WERE PROSTRATED WITH FEVER, AND THE ATTACK OF THE PESTILENCE THREATENED TO WIPE OUT THE ARMY. ALL THIS OCCURRED, TOO, WHILE A'WELL-EQUIPPED CORPS OF PHYSICIANS AND NURSES WERE STRUGGLING THEIR VERY BEST TO CHECK AND OVERCOME THE FEVER. nuuLe RuRN The following dispatches from Santiago will give an idea of the oo ROUND ROBIN PETITION SENT THE WAR DEPARTMENT. g terrific strides of fever among the troops even when the b?st of s W h s 5 s : army preparations are made to meet it. The dates cover a period of $ We, the undersigned officers commanding the various brigades, §3 two weeks and in that period the cases of fever-stricken- soldiers in 3¢ divisions, etc., of the army of occupation in Cuba, are of the unani- g3 5 §8 mous opinion that this .rmy should be at once taken out of the isl- g one camp jumped from 200 to over 4000. . - §¢ and of Cuba and sent to some point on the northern seacoast of the gg WASHINGTON, July 31.—Following are the reports POS}Ed by & United States; that it can be out of danger to the piople of the g the War Department on-the cases of fever in camp-at Santiago de 4 United States; that yellow fever in the army at present is not epi- gs Cuba: . & demic; that there are only a few sporadic cases; that the army is July 14—Yellow fever appears among troops at Santiago. . gt ‘disabled by malarial fever to the extent that its efficiency is de- July 25—Four hundred cases. : © stroye.d. t'md that it is in condition to be practically destroyed by July 26—One thousand cases. 8 ans-e?)den-l.w ?f }'E!la"~fe“el' Wm-d‘l's Elze o come: July 27—Two thousand one hundred and thirty-eight cases. — igned iu round robin by the division and brigade commanders of - g3 the stricken army. Santiago de Cuba, Aug. 4, 1898. July 28—Three thousand seven hundred and seventy cases. July 81—Four thousand two hundred and seventy-four cases. FERRRRR R R RAR R R now they new foe iately 0| Ciihin limited bounds, and drugs and ’ / [ i | other means have been discovered to is yellow | successfully cope with the disease until entists feel that the a battle with it con- | now th t gue and can mastered - p mitigate its deadly pow When the army started for Cuba large quantities of the anti-yellow fever serum, as one of the most powerful medicines is called, were manufactured and sent to the front, together with | & ¢ % it for fumiga- |4t New Orleans during the latter part ] cal men stamped out the disease before s several of the | Of last vear. It not oniy appeared in |it got a strong foothold-in-the towns ot known physicians who have made | the Queen City of the gulf but found | along the rivers. New Orleans suftered e . il |its way up the Mississippi River and | most. The new cases reported each day | been a plague greater th: with the troops, taking along the Ohio, w several c | wer increasing, and the death at New Orleans and corps « ined nu | were found in the towns on | gradually rollel up until over 100 per- | later at Jacksonville | * The ¢ has been mainly confined | their banks. St. Louis was also slight- | sons had succumbed to tne fever. - It | a loss of comparatively few lives. personal reward for their work, as they net proceeds from which amounted to $353,568. The net total of the two prizes 5 to the troops in front of Santiago 13d| 0O OCEECOOOOCCOCOCTVO000000C0C000000CC 00G0CO00O0OO000000p 12d 1o vorts in which to land their $393.308 in the vallevs leading to that city. The prizes, and consequently they burned adily | oy Laali = S e FIRST @ID TO THE FEVER-STRICKEN SOLDIERS, MANY OF WHOM SUCCUMBED WHILE ATTENDING TO CAMP DUTIES. The last of the yellow fever epidem- |ly infected, and matters were begin-| was during this time that the new the claims for damages against that he been aware of the fact that she was | ics to visit the United States was that | ning to take a serious turn, but medi-‘ anti-yellow -fever serum, discovered by country were all bunched under the ti- the richest prize of the war, he no | | an efforts to but already oV about Santi allied £ s the rainy When it was proposed | 1y into Cuba t of the enemy confronte partment and the Strate no doubt was felt for the of our own men in dri Dr. (_}uls«.;;pe Sunarglli, an - Italian tle of the Alabama Claims, and, as doubt would have lost no time in over- scientist of some note was experi- everybody knows, England settled the hauling her. The expense of adjudica- mented with, and what mi 0 biil by paying $15,500,000. tion amounted to $32,581, leaving a net The crews of the Confederate cruis- result of $510,914. ers, although inflicting great damage The Magnolia also captured, without upon our commerce, received but little assistance, the steamer Matagorda, the h out and causing them der and abandon a hOPeless | gy o 4 whom the fever has been dis- The topography Of the COUN- | coverad, and with the advances made well known to our command- | i medieal science and the skill 7f the > one thing that baffled | trai is believed the disease can be k thin a limited space and soon stamped out office . department was to cope with and subdue the hidden enemy. For some| Tpp, ", 11 corps has already re- time gns of the fever were found, | ;.04 the stricken men from the camp but with the rain and the poor location | proper and placed them in the shade of the troops this most dreaded disea in the dry and cool lands on the hills. »st prevalent in the West | fyere they kept in strict quaran- appearance and started | tine. A ¢l inspection of the troops one Inc in on its errand of de: I | is made at short intervals, and those telling force. Every day since its ad-| o¢ the men suspected of infection are vent the troops have succumbed to0 itS | 3)50 removed to the quarantine station. ong those who have taken| Upon the hills and back from the :d over the “great| camps are placed two rows of little the heroes Who | white tents, above which fly not only 2 and helped | the flag of the nation, but the little stars and stripes on Spanish | vellow emblem of guarantine and the . banner of the Red Cross Society, Jcr the troops were ksent! qui‘!: they, too, are helping to stamp out ‘he ecaution was taken to ke disease. perfect physical condition | ~After the bugler has sounded the sick and when they were ianded | call through the camp in the morniag and more healthy body | and an inspection of the troops has hard to fir:id any- | been made by the medical officers, it being fitted With | js no uncor sary to carrv on a|of brawny troopers, tanned by the ign the department in | tropical sun and dust-stained from )ns and nurses was | camp life, being carried from the camp and ap- | on litters by strong-armed men from and espe- | the army nurse corps to the little white tented city on the hilltop. This is but is not in reality a more | one of the familiar sights to be met ase, even in places | with on the road to and from camp. ajl, than some Since the West Indies were discov- . familiar. It is | ered yellow fever has been known. The idea of pesti-| men who came with Columbus were stent disease, | stricken with an ‘“‘unknown plague” ikes terror. it|and died on the islands. as did many The disease | of the followers of other Spanish ex- 1 and the bt | plorers and conquerors who in after nited States. | years visited the place. At intervals he /e been rav- | during the past four centuries this aged by it. The per ge of 10 | plague has been master of the situa- life, too, until recent years in the South | tion in Southern countries, numbering w very large. among its vietims many thousands. When the disease was at its height in | Methods to destroy it wer€ tried with- New Orleans and Jacksonville a xcove | out suceess untii recent years, when of y‘.-a_rg ago, some of the most noted | scientists studied it and found the h{r;ysu};z\nspllgrl):’xgr‘l:inkzlw world vist 3 serul‘n' that ,)‘mfhbeg? ,,s“ Sl’xr(‘rvsslul in e the gue-stricken cities and | stamping ou e “disease in our. own studied it carefully. The cause and of- | coum';-y. so that an epidemic in a city féct with new modes of treatment, were | of the United States is no longer-re- soon discovered, with the result that it | garded as possible. This, however, is was decided the “black frost” was not | due, in a great measure, to the im- the only thing that would successfully | proved sanitary conditions of the -cities kil} the germs. Since then new methods | and towns where at different periods have been devised for keeping the pest | the fever raced. charge ¢ stocked paratus others w more £ lence than and the v is not nec is not alone vn to C countries_south of the Qur ow puthern ci i other troops will be kept apart from | sight to see a number | 0000C OO0 HERE are many inducements for prize money due any vessel of the fleet young Americans to enter the na- OF squadron in which he is serving. val serv The advantages, op- In case, however, the capture has portunities and comforts, owing to been made by the vessel on board of m",dc"’ improvements and chang- t,,;e e shares In proportion to his papy ed conditions, make the life of officers with the officers and men on his ship. and seamen in these da much more in- The commander of a gingle vessel gets viting than when I entered the navy, one-tenth ofi the prize money awarded forty-seven years ago. The man-of- to that vessel jf it is under the com- war's man, as a rule, sees nearly all the Mand of the commanding officer of a : : or squadron, s gof - principal seaports of the world. He gere 7 FAaCE su(-husuperlt:r officer he soon acquires an experience of great jg entitled to three-twentieths. After practical value, and especlally 8o these deductions are made the balance should he at any time withdraw from Is distributed among all other men car- the navy to engage in some commercial ried on the books of the ship and doing or professional pursuit. While the pay duty, including the fleet captain, in pro- is fair at all times, there comes in time POTtion to their respective rates of pay. of war a remuneration in the way of Cozzfd:r"a‘{:;é‘gi;‘Jmifll’)‘:’e‘:‘n?‘{"&“";,tflg prize money and bountles that in many ;" 1en“for each person on Thardtion cases gives a man a comfortable nest- gnv'war vessel belonging to an enemy egg, and Occasionally a-small fortune. at the comnfencement of an engage- The commanding officer of a fleet or Mment which is sunk or otherwise de- o Ry stroyed in that engagement by any ves- squadron gets one-twentieth part of all ™" pa United States, or which it prize money awarded to any vessel un- pay he necessary to destroy in conse- der his command. The commanding gquence of injuries sustained in action. officer of a division of a fleet or squad- If the enemy's vessel was of inferior ron on duty under the orders of the force the bounty is $100 per man of the commander in chief of each fleet or enemy, and $200 if it was of equal or squadron receives a sum equal to one- JUPCTRN (TG S TRReT CT QTGRS fifteenth of any prize money awarded g,me manner as prize money. to any vessel of his dhlslrzn for a cap- Again, a bounty is paid to the cap- ture made while under his command, tors of any vessel of war, and which his part being deducted from the js destroyed, under instructions, for the moiety due the United States, if there public interest, but not in consequence is such moiety, otherwise it is taken of injuries received in action. This from the amount awarded to the cap- b;;umy is §50 for gl\'er[ytgeri;m Ontbfl&l"fl ; _ the enemy's vessel at the time of cap- tors IS suc'h L S):‘:x“]n()t be;n Sd ture: . The amounts due from prize dition to any share which may be due ... 2ng nounties are judicially de- to the commander of the division, and (armined. 5 3 which he may elect to receive as com- The eleven Spanish ships destroyed mander of a single: ship making or as- at Manila carried about 2000 men. The sisting in the capture. The fleet cap- bounty, therefore, will amount to about ltain is given a hundredth part of all $200,000, of which Admiral Dewey gets PRIZE MONEY IN OUR NAVY. BY REAR ADMIRAL MILLER. 00COCCO0000000000000000000000C0000N000000000CO0000000LO00 one-twentieth, or $10,000, and the bal- ance goes to the other officers and men of the fleet, according to the rules of division, as I have just stated them. statement has been made Dewey would receive That is a mistake, as you can readily 0000000 ) about $150,000. The seven Spanish ships that Samp- son’s fleet destroyed at. Santiago car- ried 2462 men, for whom a bounty of $246,000 will be paid. son’s share will be $13,210, leaving $232,- 790 for' distribution others of the fleet. has captured twenty-one merchantmen, and he is entitled to one-twentieth of the prize money, resulting therefrom. It will be quite a large sum. It is not likely, however, that with Spain enough for us to capture as prizes as we took during the War of But with the conclu- sion of the Spanish war, or perhaps be- fore it is concluded, other.complications may arise to engage our navy against foreign foes who have a large and val- uable ocean commerce. Some people who have not informed themselves upon the subject believe that the Confederate cruisers captured more prizes than the North did., is a mistaken idea, owing, no doubt, to . depredations Florida, which destroyed many mer- value of which amounted, with their cargoes, to sev- eral million dollars, and to the havoc caused by the Alabama, which sixty-five vessels and property valued There were other cruis- ers—the Shenandoah, the Sumter, Nashville, the Retribution, the Talla- hassee, the Chickamauga—all of which did much damage to our merchant ma- All of these cruisers were more .or less assisted and protected by Eng- consequence was that Admiral Samp- the Rebellion. chant . vessels, at $6,000,000. land, and the the merchant ships, appropriating from the cargoes only such supplies as they needed and could conveniently carry. The Union navy, however, reaped a rich harvest off the foreign blockade runners, owing to the -fact that the cargoes, especially thos outward bound, consisted largely of cotton, and very valuable, as there was a great demand in England for that staple. During the war there were 1129 prizes brought in by our navy. Two hundred and ten of these prizes. were fast steamers, nearly all carrying valuable cargoes. There were also 355 vessels burned, sunk or driven on shore, or otherwise destroyed. The value of all the prize vessels and their cargoes was $30,000,000. They wi condemned in amounts aggregating $28,000,000. Among the richest prizes, as shown by the records, were the steamers At- lanta, valued at $350,829; Alice V $237,300; - Anni ,951; Cronstadt, $301,940; Circas: ; Elsie, $216,- 69; Greyhound, James Battle, §503.943; Matagorda, 1, $360,382; Swan, Tristam ; Victory, $306,421; Young Republic, $422, 341; A. D. Vance, $288,286; Britannia, $173,670; Columbia, $151 523; Lucy, $25 948; Memphis, $543,495; Kate Dale, $37 708; Lodina, $246,651; Lady Stirling, $509,354. The smallest prize was $111, paid to a fleet of twelve vessels at Key West. So you see the range in prizes was from $111 to over half a million doliars. The Santiagé de Cuba, a side-wheel steamer, was the great prize-taker. Un- assisted by any other vessel she cap- tured 'thirteen prizes, aggregating in value $1,404,847, one-half of which was awarded to her. No other vessel any- where near approached this record. The largest single share of prize money fell to the lot of Lieutenant Budd, a volunteer officer in command of the steamer Magnolia.- While on his way-from New York to join Farragut's squadron in the Gulf of Mexico he scooped in the steamer Memphis, out- ward’ bound from one of the Southern ports, ‘laden with cotton. Strange to say, the Memphis had been sighted by another American war vessel, whose commander failed to take her in. Had Wanda, $415,000 The law of vrizes provides that when the prize vessel is of superior or equal force to the vessel making the capture, the entire proceeds shall be given to the captors; but If the captured vessel te of inferior force, then the captors shall receive one-half, the Government taking the other half. In the case of privateers and letters of marque, however, the captors receive the whole prize, unless otherwise pro- vided in the commission i ed to the vessel. Under the law, the Magnolia was awarded one-half the prize money, amounting to $432,241, which was ready for distribution in November, 1863. Lieutenant Budd's share from the Memphis was ,318, and from the Matagorda, $26,517, making a total of $64,835. ~ Tieutenant Budd was a happy-go- lucky devil. He was brought up in the merchant service, was every inch a fighter and a strict disciplinarian. ‘While in command of a small vessel he was ordered to Newport harbor for a time to protect it against the raids of some of the lighter Confederate cruis- ers that were operating along the North Atlantic coast. One evening, while visiting on board one of the yachts in the harbor, he got into some discussion, in the course of which uncomplimentary remarks were made about the navy. Budd resented the re- flections cast upon the naval service, and finally got into a fight with some of the guests. He was badly beaten by an overwhelming force, and was put ashore in a boat. As the boat pulied away from the yacht he yelled out that he would settle with them later. The next evening Budd armed him- self with a revelver, and with an armed boat’s crew went gunning for the yachtsmen. Leading his force into the Ocean House he created the wildest commotion. The yachtsmen, having been warned by a servant, hurriedly retreated. Budd, however, marched through the halls with his men. The women screamed and fled either to their rooms or out of the building. Fi- nally he ran afoul of Commodore Jef- fers, his superior officer, ~who ordered him to return to his ship. This Incident occurred after the cap- ture of the two prizes by the Magnolia. The last time I saw Budd, some years ago, he was living in New York and was holding some public office. b4