Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-02-17

GAMBLE THEIR PAY AwAY.
1T doesn't surprise me in the least to hear
almost continually of desertions from that un-
fortunate portion Of the army stationed At
Jefferson barracks" said q tall, hne-looking
young man in the hearing Of STAR reporter
the other evening.
'Were you ever at that post2' asked the re-
porter and when the young man said he had
put in the three most miserable months of his
life at that suburb Of St. Louis he was asked to
give brief sketch of his experiences.
"As soon as / arrived at Jefferson" said he,
~ was made to realize how complete was the
power Of the non-commissioned officers. A
sergeant assigned me to my quarters and
marched me to them and then, lest should
wander away, he threatened, with Q profusion
OF oaths, to run his saber down my throat if I
moved from the spot. What could Q recruit
do? was powerless.
I COULD MOT COMPLAIN TO THE COMMANDING
OFFICER
because 1t would be necessary to obtain the
consent Of the first sergeant before could
speak to my captain, and a second permit was
necessary to reach the colonel never sue
ceeded IN securing permission from the first
sergeant, although 1 tried dozens of times.
Every day the great majority of the officers
Louis, leaving these sergeants in charge Of
everything, and more ignorant, brutal wretches
you could not find anywhere. II you did not
exert yourself to please them they made things
more than uncomfortable for you. Without
having been guilty OF even the least breach Of
discipline was one day thrust in the guard
house and kept there for forty-eight hours,
Just to please the caprice Of a sergeant. / was
Obliged to sleep on q damp stone floor without
covering for myself and with no pillow but my
boots.
BRUTAL TREATMENT OF SICK soLp1kRa
''The heartlessness Of which complain was
extended even to sick men. When was barely
able to walk my first sergeant gave me extra
duty to do-a more than ordinary amount Of
potato digging and other farm work. To man
In good health that was in itself an outrage If
we wanted to do farm work we could do it with
out enlisting, at better wages and with more
liberty"
"How was the food?" asked the reporter.
miserable" was the reply. Straight bread
and clear coffee-the former badly baked, the
latter vile decoction-was all we had for
breakfast. Dinner consisted Of a mixture of
potatoes, onions and other vegetables, which
was known as 'slumgullion.' The water was
Just as it came from the Mississippi-filthy with
the drainage from above-and to those who
drank it it was substitute for EPSON salts. 1
suffered good, deal myself, although had
money with which to buy extra food. What
the moneyless men suffered no one can tell.
The effects OF this treatment could only be of
two descriptions
DEsERTIoN Or DEATH.
Hundreds OF young men went into hospital
and came out boxed up. This made sick men
loath to go into hospital SO they stayed out
and endured the tyranny and vile food as long
as they could: then they either broke down or
deserted. There were about six hundred men
at the post during my term there, and there
never was a day passed without witnessing
funeral there; sometimes there were two or
three"
'.Was the food we'll cooked, or was IL in.
ferior in its original quality?'
The stuff was poor anyhow, but the cooking
ruined it entirely, The cooks were recruits
who knew as much about cooking as do about
the Chinese emperOr's domestic arrangements
A Ian must be IN drst-class physical condition
or he would not be accepted as a recruit and
yet men who were in the prime Of youth would
succumb to month or so Of the treatment
WHAT CHANCE HAS PRIVATE FOR JUSTICE?
''Things would have been much better il the
officers had attended to inspection duty. 1
never saw an officer in the kitchen but once in
three months, and that was one day after the
dinner dishes had been washed up. ] suppose
the non-commissioned officers made a good
deal out Of the food we didn't get I know
they had q pretty good time of it in their
quarters. They had good food and experienced
cooks. One Of the most important sources
from which the sergeanrs drew their income
was the gambling. As soon as the men re-
ceived their pay those rascals would set out
tables with all kinds of games, and they would
skin any recruit who was fool enough to try his
luck. Some of the boys wouldn't gamble, and
yet they couldn't save q cent-they spent all to
get something decent to eat Il it any wonder
that men deserted? Thousands Of these un-
fortunates are now in constant fear Of arrest.
They went into the army prepared to fight,
and, if necessary, to die fighting, but they re-
fused to be starved to death by men who are
supposed to look after them. l hope the
President will not long delay the amnesty to
deserters which it is said he ID considering.
Queen Victoria recently pardoned all deserters
followed it will not be so much an act of mercy
"a of iustice"