The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1898-06-24
GEN. MILES TALKS.
he Thinks the Moving of the Troops
Has Been Fairly Successful.
QUARTERMASTERS ARE INCOMPETENT
Prominent Railroad oficiaI Scores the
Quartermaster's Department-CarIoads
of Provisions Allow ed TO spoil and
Then Dumped into tho sea.

| Miles, general-in-chie of the army,
accompanied by Col. Maus, Maj Davis
and Col. Greenleaf, of his staff, arrived
in Washington yesterday, after having
directed the departure of the first army
of invasion to Cuba. II had been his
intention to remain in the field, di-
recting the succeeding expeditions
which will follow rapidly from this
time forward all of them, it can be
stated part of we'll matured often
sive campaign. He conferred with
Secretary Alger for half an hour be-
fore the cabinet meeting. and then had
a long talk with Gen. Luddington,
quartermastet general, on the condi-
ton of the quartermaster's supplies.
lie came in response to Geographic
summons from the secretary of war,
who desires to go over certain phases
of the campaign with him. Speaking
in general way of hIs observations,
Gen. Miles said:
Having spent some time with the troops
during trying period Of hurried preparations
am glad to say that they are a splendid body
! OF men, OF which the country may well be
proud. As to the regulars, they are the finest
corps In the world, without any exception, In
| physical development, efficiency experience
discipline, craftsmanship, equipment and all
that goes to make up tirst-class soldiers.
or course the volunteer army Is not as well
equipped. Some Of the states sent men into
| the field In very good condition. notably Mas
! sachusetts and New York. Others sent their
| quotas without arms, equipment or clothing.
| They were not soldiers at ali. only employed
! men. II takes time to make soldiers of the
men. There must be uniforms, arms. ammuni-
! ton, equipment camp equplge. tent
| age transportation and hospital supplies
| Then, In addition they have to
! have ordnance, artillery siege trains,
| entrenching tools, horse equipments, engineer
! Ing appliances OF all kinds. balloon appliances
etc After that comes the great question Of
moving an army across the sea, with all the
! dangers and vicissitudes OF an ocean voyage.
| The work, with It's infinite detail. has been
carried out am glad to say, with fair de-
| gree OF success and the command OF 1000 men
| under Gen Shatter moved away with an out
burst OF patriotism which overcame the trials
! they had passed through
Gen. Miles does not apprehend any
long or serions delay in disc N barking
the troops on Cuban soil. The trans
ports have a large number of small
boats to assist in this work. The en-
gineering corps has large barges and
pontoon train, by which they can
put together a floating pier, so that,
uhiSoS bhtit 10 Il NCi TouRu sea OF Jtlt
men are compelled to disembark in the
surf, which is not anticipa ted, the dis
embarkation is expected to proceed
rapidly. When Gen. Miles was asked
II he expected an early fight, he an
swered, laconically: THAT'S what
they've gone for"
GNCoMPETENCY OF QUARTERMAsTERs.
CHICAGO, June IS. "A prominent rail-
road official who returned from Tampa
yesterday said that the health OF the
troops there was excellent. DR.. Ged-
dinRs, of the United States marine
hospital service, had stated that the
history of army camps in the past did
not show so low a percentage of sick
ness, and he was corroborated by
other army medical officers. The rail-
road official himself said he had visited
all the camps and was surprised at the
small number of sick soldiers. He
then said:
The delays attending the transportation OF
troops from Tampa were caused by the lack OF
ability on the part OF army Quartermasters,
who seemed to be utterly unable TO properly
discharge their duties Many car loads of pro-
visions for the troops were not handled prompt
ly and their contents, In consequence spoiled
ullh ibu w NC tuTONn iniO Lnt seiL Inc mag
niheent military system OF the United States
Is defective In the quartz masters depart
ment There Is apparently lack OF quarter
masters who have thorough knowledge OF
up-to-date rail us well as ship transportation
II seems TO me that the remedy for IL Is TO give
instructions ut West Point in tran sportatlon.
so that army officers can supervise the work OF
this most important department and see that
1t Is properly done
THE EXPEDITION no Pukro RICO.
WAsHINGToN. June 10. The Porto
Rican expedition is to be started with
out delay. Orders were issued yester-
day which will put $4,000 soldiers
marching toward the sea within the
next three days. OF this mum Der 10.
900 will go from Camp Thomas at
Chickamauga, while 1000 will go from
Camp Alger over in Virginia. There
are now at Tampa and camp near Jack
sonville 10, 00O troops. oue-half of whom
are regulars. These will form the nu-
cleus of the invasion army. In the or
ders issued the precise destination of
the troops was not made clear, but il
is said to be Fernandina, Fla. This
point possesses decided advantages
over Tampa or Key West, and will
doubtless DE used almost exclusively
hereafter. Missouri and Kansas regi-
ments at Camp Thomas and Camp
Alger ill now have chance to go to
the front. They will be sent under
Gen. Coppinger to assist in capturing
Porto Rico. Secretary Alger told Gen.
Graham, the commanding officer at
Camp Alger, to have in readiness every
company which was provided with
guns and rations, tents being unnec-
essary. The same instructions apply
to Camp Thomas and from reports re-
ceived by the adjutant generals office
two-thirds of the troops at both camps
are ready for service.
Reason for Refusing to Exchange.
LONDON. June 2l.-The Madrid cor
respondent OF the Times says: "Spain's
refusal To exchange Lieut., Hobson and
his companions of the Merrimac is
easily explained and justified. With
H. -