The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-27


out they kept it up, until the strength
of one, Mr.. Lewis, entirely gave out
and he was forced to return nome In
order TO save. his own life. Wage is
still with US. He works all day ana I'M
! til far into the night, and seems TO De
possessed of an iron constltutlon which
nothing can break. Father Doherty,
! the Paulist priest who accompanied the
| troops down here, has also been forced
! to return to the States, his health haV-
! ing entirely given out. The work done
! by both himself and Father Mcklnnon
| has been simply splendid, and by con-
! trast with some of the other regimental
| holy men they stand out prominently.
| No task has been too arduous for
| them to take hold OF and they will
start on mission of comfort and mer-
cy at midnight as cheerfully as at any
other hour, nor do they care whether 1t
leads them into the headquarters of
general or the hospital of The leper or
smallpox patient. DR.. McCarty's hos
pital for the boys of our regiment Is
now an established fact out on pleas
ant site on the seashOre in the district
of Hermita, where the salty, strength
giving ocean breezes blow all day and
where the fine accommodations pro-
vded for them and the good atten-
ton they are sure to receive Will do
all for them that can be done in this
climate. The hospital is large and
comfortable and already all the sick in
quarters have been gathered together
and sent out there. The Scandal is in
the bay and is being put in order to re-
ceive patients, as she is to be used as
a hospital ship. The boys are all figur-
ing on an early return home though l
am afraid they will be disappointed
from the way things look down here.
Diplomatic procedure is slow and the
weeks are likely TO lengthen into months
TOerCV
loved coast of their native shore again.
In the meantime Death goes merrily
on reaping his harvest and when the
official report of the fatalities is re-
ceiVed at home the peans of victory
which are now resembling throughout
the land will be changed to dirges and
the voice of Columbia will be heard
mourning for her children and refusing
to be comforted because they are not.
There is one thing which no one
seems to have thought of. the want Of
which is so much felt down here that 1t
almost amounts TO necessity. That
is good reading matter. Almost every
one has an old magazine or novel or
two lying around the house. These could
be gathered together and sent down
here where they would be valued at
their weight in gold. If any one starts
any such movement Jet him be sure
they are sent in such way that they
The officers and enlisted men are con-
tinually receiving word by letter of
delicacies, comforts and articles of
wearing apparel which have been sent
Yet they often fail to arrive at their
destination.
The soldier seems to be legitimate
prey for every one, and comforts which |
are meant for loved ones at the front
often go into stOmachs still bilious
with the richness of San Francisco grill
rooms.
A bulletin was posted in front of
the Spanish newspaper office last
night informing the public that the
United States had decided to return the
islands to the dominion of Spain.
til 1t was ascertained that the story
was a fake. the Spanish paper merely
attempting a little yellow journalism
and copying the methods of some of its
trans-Pacif1c contemporaries.
am not a moraIst-far from it-but
there is one thing 1 would advise
mothers to do in the future, and that
is to keep their sons, If under 20 years
of age, at home until war reaches such
proportions that it becomes imperative
for all TO go. Army life, while it will
do much toward making a man out of
some young fellows, proves the utter
ruination of many. Especially is this
true in the case of boys who are too
young to have seen anything of dissi-
patton at home and who in garrison /
in a foreign land are loosed from the /
leading strings for the first time. There |
are few good women of their own race |
in the land where they are stationed |
and even these few are so far removed |
from an enlisted man that their in
huence is not felt; there are no even |
halfway decent places of amusement |
to which they can go; the language |
they hear about them is that of a for
eign tongue, thus preventing anything
in a social way with the natives of the
place; there is no reading material to
be had; there are no games such as
checkers. dominoes, etc, and the few
packs of cards to be found in garrison
are used exclusively for gambling pur-
poses. In fact, the only places open to
them for recreation and relief from the
terrible monotony of the barracks are
the saloons and the brothels.
In every army there are many hard
cases" whom nothing can spoil, and it's
a dollar to dime that the young boys
fresh from a good home will pick out
one of these fellows for chum instead
of one of the better men, in whose COM
pany he would at least learn to dissi-
pate with discretion, if nothing more.
The young fellow gets the idea that to
be a soldier he must be a bad man, and
the more he drinks, car1useS. curses
and CANDLES the more of a man he is.
The consequence is that by the time
his term of enlistment has expired he
has become rough of the first water,
and in many cases a confirmed drunk
ard in the bargain / don't intend this
for a lecture on morality, for l have
not been much of Sunday school
teacher myself, and penance rather
than preaching should be in my line.
But I do dislike to see young fellows.
some of whom I knew at home. who
have yet two or three years to go be-
fore gettin0 out IF their teens, becom-
ing not even fast gentlem n, but COM
mon gin DRINKS and whose lives are
in some instances ruined ere they have
fully commenced. Don't let those who
read this article misunderstood me.
Not all nor even the majority of the
regiment is going to the demni-
ton bow-wows Most of the fellows are
as fine healthy minded and pure-mor-
aled men as can be got together in the
way a regiment is recruited.
Numerous I lericans are continually
arriving here and looking around
for good apartments on the ground
floor The fecundity of these islands
hing GIIrV0a GSing he