The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-07-17

animal pens and putting in extra tanks
for water. In addition. contracts had
To be made for supplies of coal and
water at points where the volunteers
were assembling. So. when all these
things are taken into view, and the
difficulty of the problem is duly re-
garded. assert that there have been no
real delays in the quartermaster's de-
partment.
Statement by B%rigadier General c. p.
Eagan, Commissary General OF Sub
sistence.
The subsistence department is right
up to date in this war. There has never
been a day or an hour since the procla-
nation of hostilities when the army,
even to the smallest Subdivisions of it
scattered about in hundreds of places,
has been without adequate food sup
plies, except in a few cases where
trouble was caused by the ignorance
of volunteer officers who failed to
make the rations at hand available for
The soldiers. Such happenings. due TO
no fault OF ours, have elected some
complaints, and difficulty has arisen
! also from the inability of the troops
and their officers to cook and care for
their food properly. These matters are
running more smoothly now: the
stores furnished to the volunteers are
being kept in proper shape and dis
tributed with hardly a hitch. Congress
is about to provide expert cooks for
the company messes. and pretty soon
our men in the field will be the best
fed soldiers in the world.
They are already the best fed SOL
diers in the world, so far as quantity
and quality of food are concerned. All
that is needed is good cooking, and this
is of the greatest Importance to an
army, because the improper prepara-
ton of food means waste of supplies
and ill-health among the troops. 1t is
worth noting that in the regular army
there has never been a complaint re-
specting the rations furnished. On
the contrary, the allowance has been
so liberal that it has been customary
for the men to make considerable saw
ings from ii. You will find that the
volunteers. as soon as they get used To
handling their rations and have cooks
TO assist in caring for the stores, will
make savings likewise out of their AL
lowances. The army has not been de-
layed a minute by lack of food ready
at hand. Indeed, the movements of the
troops have been constantly antici-
pated by the subsistence department.
and at all times millions of rations
have been lying ready for the soldiers.
in addition to the supplies needed to
meet current demands. In less than
one month AFTER the ueCIdrdllOn u
war we loaded u solid miles of freight
cars with provisions for the troops.
This included 10, 1923. 945 rations for reg
ulars and volunteers, Weighing $3.50
tons.
Statement by Brigadier General B. w.
Flagler, chief of ordnance of the
army.
Up to within a few weeks of the
present time it was understood and ac-
cepted as fact that the militia of the
states was pretty well armed and
equipped. Though lacking In some de-
tails, the citizen soldiery was supposed
TO constitute an army available at
short notice and provided at all events
with rood rifles. But the actual out
break of war proved that this belief
was largely an error. A large percent
age of the guns furnished by the states
with their troops were found to be
worthless. and had to be replaced with
good ones. Some time was consumed
in condemning the bad guns and MAX
ing acquisitions for others, and 1t was
not possible for this department to
furnish rifles or any kind Of equip
ments to the soldiers until they were
actually mustered into the federal
service. That was a matter controlled
by law.
The equipments furnished by the
nan department are numerous
and varied. and most of them are not
articles of trade in the ordinary sense.
We had to find people who possessed
facilities for producing them, and they
had actually to be taught how to make
them. Some of the contractors were
late with their deliveries and the goods
furnished by others were worthless and
had to be condemned. All Of this was
entirely beyond our control, and could
not haUa haan avoided nv anV fore
sight on our part. There was an emer-
gent demand, and the material was not
at hand to satisfy it; that is the whole
story. The result vas that manv OF
the troops lacked equipments, and by
no means all of them have been fully
supplied yet. More or less confusion
has been caused by the unavoidable
hurry. involving additional delay.
Nevertheless, not many more days will
elapse before we shall be fully up to
date. and no soldier will lack anything
that II is our business to supply.
At present we are turning out equip
ments of all sorts at a rate to supply
5000 men per day, including everything
down TO canteens, meat cans spoons
and forks. At no time have / allowed
the troops at Tampa to be without all
the equipments required for service in
the field. the idea of his being that the
soldiers likely to be sent to the front
at any time must lack nothing. on
the other hand. the camps at Fort AL
ger and elsewhere, which were not to
be- drawn upon Immediately for men,
have been kept waiting for their sup
plies. This has been misunderstood
to some extent, and ] have even been
accused of favoritism. but il is easily
seen that no other method could have
been adopted with propriety. We are
pretty nearly out of the woods now.
happily.
Meanwhile. the arsenals have been
pushed to the utmost. and rifles have
been turned out as fast as possible. ]
am not at liberty to say how many
guns per day we are making, because
that would be information for the
enemy. One remark / would like TO
make in regard TO charges recently
published TO the effect that the govern
ment is supplying the troops with an
obsolete and worthless arm-namely