The herald., 1898-06-08

When It comes to the details Of the busi-
ness at Porto Rico. Santiago or the Phil
ippines, 1t is understood that the Presi-
dent will insist that the officer in command
of the expedition, be he Merritt, Shafter
or Miles himself, shall be permitted to
work out each for himself as completely
as may be, with cooperation with the
navy. his own plan Of campaign.
Hot as it is in Santiago, considered one
of the summer towns in Cuba, it is noe
hotter for the Spaniards than 1t will be for
the United States army and navy, and the
forces of the United States, as it appears
to the administration, will be much bet
ter off in the matter of clothes, food and
discipline than the Spanish army. At all
events. 1t is war, and not q matter of plea
sure, that the country Is embarked in, and
some men are sure to lose their lives on
the field or in hospital as the result of the
war. The administration does not desire
to prolong it, even If contractors for the
army are taking the other and heartless
view that a war now and then is a good
thing, particularly for contractors.
These are some of the ideas that are
being discussed by the administration at
the beginning of June, with the hottest
weather of the year coming on. 1t is the
opinion of some of the Presidents adj
visers that war can be terminated before
winter If the summer Is employed to good
advantage Movements on Porto Rico and
Santiago, followed by successes and prob
ably by season of camping on acquired
territory that is not unhealthful. even for
northern men, will maintain the spirits of
the troops not yet ready, but preparing
to be ready by and by.
The navy and the army will both be oc-
cupied in the operations of the summer,
and possibly before the summer is ended
it may be that the navy will be called upon
to go to Cadiz to look for the lost fleet Of
Spanish reserve vessels. That has been
thought of several times, and with Porto
Rico occupied, Santiago taken, Havana
invested and the Cadiz fleet not yet on this
side, 1t will be possible to spare a squadron
of half dozen or more ships to run across
the ocean and see what has become of
Admiral Camara and his much talked-of
fighting ships.
Loading the Transports
. CHICAGO, June IA Tampa dis .
. patch from a reliable correspondent .
. of the Chicago Daily News. dated June .
81, says the work of loading. troops, .
. horses, guns, ammunition, stores, .
. equipment and medical supplies for .
the first great invasion of the Spanish
. West Indies, is almost completed and .
0 before many hours General Skaters .
. corps, the Fifth, is expected ia sail .
Q away. The destination is known only
. to few, and may not be given out .
. until the fleet of transports with con- .
| . of xyar ic up1
. to Cuba. .
At Chickamauga
CHICKAMAUGA NATIONAL PARK,
Tenn, June THE very warm weather
which has been the only drawback to the
work of the park is relieved today by
steady breeze and the men are getting
| through their drill work with much less
trouble than usual. Regiment and COM
pany drills and some regiment camp ir-
spections are the order of the day.
| The main work of the regimental COM
manders, outside of the regular routine,
during the next few weeks, will be the
recruiting of each camp to Its full strength
of 106 men. The Major of each battalion
accompanied by four men will be sent
out to do the recruiting. Offices will be
opened in the best places In the States
represented here and every effort will be
made to finish the work in short time
When the regiments are recruited to full
strength the park army will number 75,OO0
men.
| The First Regiment South Carolina In
fantry. under Colonel Thompson, arrived
this afternoon. 1t was taken through to
the park soon after arriving here.
Governor Bradley, with a large party
of prominent Kentuckians, arrived this
evening and will remain several days.
| All the light batteries of artillery are
not fully equipped and the infantry regi-
ments will soon receive their equipment.
| The division hospitals are complete and
! in operation. These are for the second and
third divisions of the First Corps, and the
second division of the Third Corps. Col
Hartsuff, Surgeon-in- Chief. states that he
has sufficient medical supplies on hand to
last some time. The volunteers, however
he states, expect more and use more
medicine than the regulars. A large con-
signment of surgical instruments in en-
route.
Major Nye, Commlssary of Subsistence
stated this morning that one-third of four
and q half million rations last ordered
has been received and the balance was
coming as fast as trains could haul it.
Captain Wright. Assistant Quartermas-
ter, states that up to o'clock last evening
the volunteer army had been furnished
by the Quartermasters' Department with
1900 horses and 5000 mules. The army Is
now about fully supplied with cavalry,
artillery, wagon-train and officers horses
and mules. and only a few more are needed.
S