The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1898-11-30
ROOSEVELT TEsTIFIEs.
There Was an inefficient supply Of Food for the
Rough Rlders-Beef Was Bsd-The coionsi's
Efforts in Securing Food for His Men.

Col. Theodore Roosevelt was before
the war department investigators last
Wednesday. He took the stand and,
IN reply to request from Gen. Wilson
told of the equipment and mastering
In of the First volunteer cavalry,
known as the Rough Riders.
when we reached Tampa" Col.
Roosevelt said, there was a condition
of utter confusion. We were dumped
outside. "a mile away from our camp.
No one knew where the camp was.
There was no one to tell us where to
go or what to do. After waiting twen-
ty-four hours / took the law into my
own hands and bought food for the
men and horses. Later, when we
found our camp. we were all right"
Were you reimbursed for your OUT
iayr"
Il never asked 1t. II was a personal
matter entirely"
DO you attribute all the confusion
asked Gen. Wilson. ito lack Of intelli-
gence on the part of the men In charge
or to the natural overcrowdlng OF
work."
II was only a lieutenant colonel and
l could not know whose the fault
was"
Replying to other questions Colonel
Roosevelt said the food was ample
and with the exception OF the canned
roast beef. good. The beef was very
bad
Col. Roosevelt told of the voyage to
Cuba and of the disembarkment OF the
regiment at Baiquiri. The regiment
vas one of the first to land. Capt.
| Shaw. who was associated with Col.
| Roosevelt in the navy department..
| sent Cuban pilot on board the Yucca
| tan and he took the transport mile
and a half nearer the shore than any
| OF the other transports. There was
| great scarcity of material for landing
men. horses and supplies.
Col Roosevelt told in detail of the
| march of his regiment to its first
| camping place.
After supper" he continued, "Col.
| Wood told us that we were to start
| next morning to take the Spaniards.
| THE next mornings march was a
hard one. especially for the men.
| There were no opportunities for flank
| ers. 1t was so hot that about 100 men
| dropped out for a rest. and when the
| first Spanish outpost was discovered
Col. Wood ordered silence, and / was
sent to the right 20 deploy with the
| right wing
when the spaniards began firing
did not know what was up. 1t was
| my first experience. They were using
| smokeless powder, and could not see
| where they WERE
When I located the Spaniards with
| my glasses I did not know what to do,
but / knew IL was a good rule II In
| doubt to go ahead, and so went
| ahead"
Col. Roosevelt CLOSED over the fur
tler details of the fighting. He paid
a warm tribute to the gallantry OF AS
sistant Surgeon James w. Church. a
former Princeton football player. who.
he said. more than once ran to the
| firing line and carried wounded men
| division hO4nftAI.
Asked about the rations, he said:
1--WE had the regulation rations Of
| salt pork. hard tack, coffee and sugar,
but the men wanted vegetables, and I
| wanted to get some for them. l took
40 men with the officers horses to
Siboney and tried to buy them. The
| department refused to sell me beans
and tomatoes unless I could certify
that they were for officers consump-
tion. | stretched my conscience as far
as 1 could, and then boarded trans
pert and purchased about 500 pounds
Of beans" The change did the men
good. 1t was too hot to eat nothing
but the regular rations."
| Was your command fully supplied
with food and ammunition" asked
Gen. Wilson.
THE ammunition supply was excel
lent. The food was insufficient. There
was plenty of food back at Siboney.
suppose it was lack OF transportation
facilities that kept us without good
portation corps with the officers
horses and went to Siboney and got
food for the men. Then. later. got
into Santiago and bought rice and
! milk. If we had had the mule trains
that we were forced to leave behind
at Tampa there would have been no
lack OF supplies"
|