The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-19
MOVES THIS MORNING

Tomorrow, likely, the two remaining
regiments will have departed and then
the camp that the grand old man,
General ]. p. S. Goblin, so proudly as
sembled three weeks ago today will
be but a memory.
The restlessness consequent upon the
expected marching orders and the alb
sence of any regular duties make life
rather tedious for the remaining SOL
diers. IT wish we were out of here"
is heard on all sides, and particularly
in the Thirteenth, today, with the
Ninth on one side departed and the
Tenth Of the Second brigade, our
neighbors to the left, departing. The
complaints, however, will not be heard
much lo~ ->r, for before many days the
white city on the mountains will have
entirely disappeared and It's population
will he scattered far and wide.
The percentage Of original members
of the National Guard in the makeup
OF the Pennsylvania volunteers can be
estimated from a census of the Thir-
teenth, which was deduced today by
Adjutant Mates. According to his
figures only 321 Of the former 525 en-"
listed men and officers of the regiment
are now embraced in the organization.
When il is considered that the regi-
ment now numbers 604 enlisted men
and sc officers, an idea can be gained
of the great transformation the regi-
ment has undergone.
All of the original Thirteenth men
who are among the volunteers yester-
day received their discharges from the
National Guard, and now the Thir-
teenth regiment, Third brigade, n. c.
p, numbers less than two hundred
men-those who said mo" and those
who were rejected for physical disa-
bility.
There is considerable conjecture
among the old guardsmen as to when
the state is going to settle up for the
six days pay for which, 1t is under
stood, the commonwealth is response
bic, under the terms of the transfer
agreement. The boys are pretty well
shook for money, and as it will be two
or three weeks yet before they can
expect to get anything from the United.
States, they are beginning to fear that
they will spend the first part of their
stay in Washington with no where
withal to keep off the cold and provide
other such little necessities not found
in the United States army ration table.
There is a report extant here that it
is possible the state will not pay any
wages at all to the guardsmen, as
there is question as to the legality
of the payment on constitutional
grounds, the guard not having been
called out for state service, but simply
invited by the president, through the
governor. to become volunteers in the
United States army and rendezvous at
Mt. Gretna.
If this is the case the boys will get
no pay for those first six days, as the
United states government, under its
army rules. can only pay for services
from the time of volunteering. 1t is
likely, though, that the question, if it
has been officially raised was only
raised with an ultimate view of hav-
ing the United States pay the whole
bill, and when it is seen that the
scheme will not succeed the state will
come to the front with what is the
soldiers due-and the due" might be
printed in capital letters.
The question of taking the Thir-
teenth's ambulance into the volunteer
army service has been virtually de-
cided in the negative, but the oppo-
sition to the proposed move by many
of the most influential officers may
bring about a reconsideration. What
ever Colonel Coursen decides to do will
be accepted, no doubt, as the best
course. by the friends of the regiment
the donors of the mountaineering in
view OF the fact that the gift was made
with the expectation that it was to be
used in the active service upon which
the Thirteenth is about to enter it may,
in the event OF the ambulance being
left behind for future purposes, cause
many of the contributors to feel that
there was a misconception of their pur-
pose in subscribing to the fund with
which the ambulance was bought. The
doubt as to the probability of taking
the ambulance into the field was re-
moved beyond all question yesterday
when the train bearing the Ninth
steamed out, yesterday afternoon, with
one Of the cars of the baggage section
bearing the Luzernites' new ambu-
lance, which was delivered here the
same day that the Thirteenth's ar
rived.
The army rules provide that there
shall be an ambulance for every two
hundred men in a regiment. This
would give the Thirteenth three am
balances. The government, upon be-
ing notified that the regiment had an
ambulance of its own which it would
like to retain. would buy II for the
price that regular army ambulances
former private owners. so the regular
army officers here stated yesterday,
when interviewed by your correspond
ent. There is the possibility, as Lieu
tenant Byron, L. S. A., told Colonel
Coursen, that some division or brigade
headquarters would seize upon such n
SURPRISINGLY fine ambulance for its
own use and give the regiment one Of
the less handsome and convenient ones
in it's place
This possibility and the remote pos
sibility that the regiment would not
be able to buy back the ambulance at
the end of the war are the only two
cogent arguments advanced by those
who favor leaving the ambulance be-
hind and renting the horses to some
drayman until the regiment returns
from its campaign.
Quartermaster Cox has made requisi-
tion for the new caps that the state
started out to equip its National Guard
with and which were to be distributed
among the Thirteenth's companies, so
1t was promised, upon their arrival at
Gretna. Company b, through a stroke
OF enterprise, secured it's allotment of
the new equipment, but the state, il
appears, would ignore the other com