New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-10-28

to sleep Most men lacked the sternness Of char.
acter to have him punished, and yet We Were
all fully aware Of how serious was his crime
The officers could usually buy provisions OF
sort but as they could not purchase nre.
wood they suffered in this matter OF hrewood
equally with the men. The man with whom l
chummed during the severe months OF January
February and March was, like myself, an act
ing engineer. For some nights he had been en-.
gagged in destroying the Inkerman bridge over
the Tchernaia. lie returned one morning IN
great triumph from this bridge with Wheel
barrow and three planks as spoil from the Rus-
slams The planks were assigned by my freno
as a bedsead TO keep him from the damp EARN.
but the barrow was daily indented upon DIT by
bit to meet the requirements Of our servants
for cooking purposes. 1t gradually grew horribly
less till at length only the iron wheel remained
Firewood grew dearer and my poor irena
heayed deep signs Of regret as he perceived
that his planks became daily shorter Betore
long one whole plank had thus been inundated.
Even the restricted luxury of his remaining TWO
blanks did not last over many DAYS. TOT dinhers
had still 10 be cooked. \ second plank had 10 De
sacrificed. and my friend was left with only
one He consoled himself with the renectioh.
however that as II rested on the ground tnere
was not much danger in his rolling or II whhe
asleep Fircwood grew still scarcer, but no
amount of persuasive eloquence wouid inouce ny
friend TO part with his last plank. III was ms
declared the saving of his life. and his arsu-
ment was quite unanswerable. Al iehgtn
dreadful DAY OF snow came. My friend was
on duty in the trenches. and there was no fire.
wood to be had My servants gazed wisuu'y az
the remaining plank. which c0uld De seen pe
asked me how they were TO cook me dihher.
E,xcept the plank there was absolutely nothtn9
els. that would burn. We were all hungry anu
knew that my friend would soon ne PACK ,fons
the trenches cold wet and expecting to find his
dinner ready Still did not dare 10 give Neroat
orders but seem sadly conscious OF Tue az
that as | got up to leave my tent. pointee
somewhat significantly to that one last plank:
and I was fully aware on my return OF the ouat
fact tina, our dinner was being cooked anu '"ds
the plank had disappeared 49, A..
trenches tired cold. wet and hungry as nao
exnected but he shifted the frying pork ana ~.
face cleaned with pleasure But ne hau mS'u :.
seated himself. tailorfashion upon MS peu, -
aniov this savory repast, when percelVeu q
eudden change come over his face. he mao red'.
ized the painful fact that his one last plank naa
aona rom under him. He ate his dinner ana
we talked over the news from the trenches' uu.
noticed a cOldness in his manner ana trA' i..S
conversation lacked its wonted vivacity. we IN
tinued 10 live together for some time a..
hut never upon any occasion even mace d uis-
tant allusion to that one last plank . ,,,,
never had the least sympathy win WI 1a p.'y
t,r myself or for any u our officers we ma!
servants WHO stayed in camp ana always nau
something for us TO eat upon our return from wy
trenches We could generally puy 800 80
price | c0nfess-sardines or pate DE loie go
from some French regmental canteen IN GU.
nelghborhood: most OF lis had ponies on Wns Nh.
We rode Balaclava when on uuty' any any w. aai
rayardIass Of the price We had to pay nad rea'
ynod ..hlowotlt" on board some merchant snip:
With bottled beer and often nzzing Equ's
which the skipper VINO solo IL caileu
! The proportion Of sickness ana nhot 'aIi.y
| o,norg orr officers was small in comparison WIN
that among the rank and nile, although oo'n 80 nac
| about the same amount or Work 10 10. 49, H :,
| can he no doubt that this was due 10 tne IaNs
rat We were much better clothed ana. haNih4
| nrivate means were able to live much oetteI
| than our men Had our men peen thorousns
| we'll fed don't think that mere eNhaus.ioh' ~
sultiry from excessive work by night anu
| constant heavy fatgues by day woula na.e
| broken them down. occasionally we nau 49, 80
| flt,,ar ia
/ time was that horrible stuff commonly KNOWN as
| salt Junk" Il carmine In Color, anu 80
hard and briny. until soaked IN water TOT "DJ ,u
! half a day that il was diHicult 10 cut, IL aso
+ roouired a great amount OF boiling IL Is the
| very worst meat ration that can be issued 10
soldiers in the field The SAT- PORK W s ,h..
! ,erlv we obtained more frequently IMAM thsS
J heavy beef afforded much better rare. LOT we
| could cut it into thin slices and broil tnen
over even small fire. or: when nre~oou 700, WIS "a
at all plentiful. could fry II with biscuit IN
! the lid of a tin canteen. This made quite an APP
petizing dish for hungry man can Wen re-
! member the intense relish with whicn we p" -
I tnok of H. especially when there was an onion OF
emo notatoes Ia fry with IL. How clean We
wiped the tin LID upon which II was cooked anu -
served and how its savory smell SIN remains IN
my nostrils. -, - =,
We had then no trained cooks in the army In
th. long peace every useful military arr nau oeem
| forgotten and at last ignored. uhth ""sn, "''
the energies of our commanding oihcers hal ve.
,nn,s absorbed in the noble aim 81 trying u make
their regiments shoulder arms with mdc''ne
like precision. The men. Wnen S"'ue.,s
| into the field suffered in consequence ihey u'e
not even know how to construct a camp kltea a:
| and the amount OF frewood tney nurheu q. a.,
! ' hoW oven Tin not If tea would have suf1ced
| an Indian cook 10 prepare dinner OF many
| courses -, III. ,rade
Rut II the soldier knew nothing OF ms usuS
| heyond the stin mechanical driil ne was 'n n n
! ,anyhf whose fault was IL? Not MS. out 'ne
Sa",, ~ those in command Of the army. who IN
their anxiety to convert him into sort 81 au,"
! marie popiniay to please old fogies ana y"unss
h"msemaids forgot TO prepare him FOR war ana
its attendant camp life 1t was indeed sac Joke
To call the military force ot the Town u, ,.,
| arny at all That we reaped 50 little advantage
| from our victory at the Alma; that our orieaus
| OF light cavalry was practically annihllh'eu :.
| n, useful purpose at BalaclsNa; that our army
| was nearly cut in two and destroyed AZ Ihse'.
! man and that our final assault upon the Heuan
VAS a cruel failure may well be laid at the doori
If our superior officers and their stan but
without any doubt. the want ana nlsery .ha'
killed the army in the first winter before Seoas
topol must be attributed to the gross military ~
norance Of Lord Aberdeen's Cabinet ara 10 ,ns
false and patry economy OF our Treasury ON
Gals.