The San Francisco call., 1898-07-03

E cie;ncy before they can be forwarded to \ their. regiments at Manila, and Major ~ General Otis could not plan a wiser move : Ihan to send them all over here, Where -:tl eY could have entire freedom for drill .and would not be subjected to the cll- niaric seventies they now endure. F With over 1900 men in camp here there has not been a single case ot illness, and only a. few minor cases of stomach trou- ble;, due to a change of diet, which speaks volumes for the health of the camp ana Its sanitary conditions.
 The. news of the desperate fighting at Santiago, with the assurance that they are tO.-see service; in Cuba, has aroused * the boys of the Eighth to a wild pitch or en6 husiaSfn and they are impatient at the delay in mustering them into the service E'They faiicX that al! that is necessary IS to take the oath prescribed by Uncle Sam and they will be ready to so anywhere or perform any duty.
 E But with the. officers it is different Over 50 per cent of the companies are composed ~of. .tbe raWeSt of recruits. and officers real ize that it will require much work to get F the. uien into anything like effective con difion..: While they are as anxious to see r real service as their men, they appreciate the: fact that it would be wisdom to re-. main right where they are for at least nionth, by which time the men would De seasoned. and drilled.
 E. .In Colonel Henshaw, Lieutenant Colonel Darlington, Majors Forbes ana Wmtton, and LieutenantS Smith and Heller IL IS admitted that the Eighth has a held ana
 
 regiment; regular or volunteer, to i'm prove on, but it is not so generally known : that the line officers, with hardly an eX- I ception, are as well qualified for their po- sitions as the others are to fill theirs. [ Colonel Darlington, who, in hls capacity as inspector of the National Guard Tor L the first three years and himself splen- did drillmaSter and rigid dlsclpilnarlan, has had every opportunity to fully ac- quaint himself with the ability of every officer in the Guard, asserts that the Eighth. has some captains and lieutenants who are proficient as can be found anywhere, and he predicts that given month for instruction where 1t Is now located, the Eighth will be one of the best drilled regiments in the service.
 Major Shields and his assistants. Lieu tenants Dudley and Yost, have continued their examination of the men all day long, and tonight finds them with four full companies-t', Of Oakland; C, of Peta- luna; l. of Grass Valley, and H, of Red ding-stlll to examine, whereas they had hoped to complete their work by now. That their examination has been most thorough is shown by the fact that not withstanding all the men passed the pre- iminary examination, elghty-fVe have been rejected in the eight companies in- spected so far. Having plenty of appli- cants to pick from, the examination has been as rigid as it is in the regular army in. time or peace, and the slightest de- feet has caused the rejection or the men.
 The surgeons will continue their work 'to-morrow and finish by Tuesday, as Cap
 
 permit of any. such routine work on the Fourth of July that he can prevent.
 Colonel Henshaw has accepted the in vitation of the Oakland Fourth of July committee and will parade a detachment from each company. It will be impossible to parade the full regiment, as many of the men cannot be equipped i'll time, and besides they are not all armed. Colonel HenshaW will not consent to his com .mand presenting an unmilitary appear ance on, such an occasion, so he will se- leot a detacnment of the best drilled and Equipped men from each company for the celebration.
 : The first accident since Camp. Barrett was established occurred this afternoon, Private Charles E. Evans of Grass Val ley being the victim. Evans, with several comrades went over to the tidal canal to bathe- The tide was not out and the water was quite shallow. Evans stepped on rd spring board and dove into about eighteen inches of water, striking his head with great force on the bottom of the canal. The shock rendered him uncon- Scious, but, his comrades carried him ashore, while a messenger was dispatched to the regimental hospital for .stretcher. Evans regained consciousness before he reached the hospital, but his entire body from the shoulders down was paralyzed. Surgeon .FitZgibbon of the San Francisco Receiving. Hospital, who Is on temporary duty with the regiment, made an eXami- nation, and later the three regimental sur geons were summoned.
 It was first thought that Evans had sus- ta1ned a fracture or dislocation oi the ve1tebra, but toward morning he rallied Somewhat and the surgeons nope his in .juries will not prove serious. lie was re- moved to the County Hospital and his 5arents sent. for.
 '.'. The regimental surgeons examined 263 men to-day, of whom 2S were rejected } Private Fisher of Company 1 is limping around With badly bruised toe. The night of the big blow one of the men in Fishers tent was ordered by the corporal 10 drive down the tent pegs, which were working loose Fisher was asleep next to the gall with one foot sticking out from lndet the tent, The other mistook it for q tent. peg and-as he told the corporal afterward-he drove it clear out of sight
 Among the visitors to Camp Barrett to- day were Judge AngeHotti and MT. and Mrs ". B. Bradford of San Rafael who had heard that the boys from that town were without food and came down to help them out. Captain Elliott was delighted to welcome his visitors, but laughed when he learned titeir mission. Captain Elliott is a thorough soldier and has got his com pany in such smooth working order that already he has provisions to sell to the quartermaster. This can be done and the money thus gained is used for food not included in the army rations.