The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-25
RoosEYELrs nEEF STEW.
How the Colonel Chesrad His Men, at His
Own Expense, at . Critical Time.

How the Colonel Cheered His Men, ut His
Own Expense, at y Critical Time.
An incident illustrating Col. Roosevelt's devo-
tion to the men OF his regiment was told by
Trooper Burkholder OF the rough rideva. who.
before returning TO his home In Phoenix. Ariz,.
spent a few days at the home OF his friend.
John Palmer, on Thfoop avenue. near Middle
ton street,sWilliamsburg. Burkholdor was all
through the active campaign with the rough
riders and returned with them to Camp Wiko6.
He was ava on furlouRh on account Of a slight
attack OF swamp fever when the rough riders
were mustered out. and thus missed, las he puts
it. e an opportunity to say good-by to the most
gallant commander and the truest man that q
soldier was ever privileged to fight under"
Only us few men who were with him" said
Burkholder. know how cousiderate he was Of
us at all times. There was one case In par
ticular that illustrates this better than any 1
can recall 1t happened after the fight at La
Quasimas. The men were tired with the hard
march and the fighting. and hunger wac gnaw-
ing at every stomach. Besides. we had our
first mon killed there. and. taking 1t all In all.
we were in an ugly humor. Tho usual shout
ing. cracking OF Jokes. and snatches. OF song
were missing, and everybody appeared 70 be IN
1 poof pfHM HAM Fish sa aPI tSe we Tes We ef ts ~, ponr fe1ioS q.
who had been dropped in the short scrap.
when the Colonel began to move about among
the men, speaking encouragingly to each
no doubt he made up his mind then and there
TO improve at least the humor Of the men.
There's an old saying that q man can best be
reached through his stomach. and l guess he
believes In that maxim, Shortly afterward We
saw the Colonel. his Gook and two Of the troop.
was up, Il was probably an hour Or So after
little campiike. that the savory and almost for
through the clearing ing Men who We're o. Working
stopped short and began to sniff. and those who
70 aa' b ssSRPs1 fP 4 i seg 3 96t'esS Soon they sSf joined rSFf IN
Rsw. was on sHif bas d "a hard F6at as sm he f dss!
We weret, sure that 1t was for us.
but we had 9 smell Of it anyway. Quickly
the boiling stew became stronger the humor Of
the men improved. We all jumped to our work
piled in. race horse fashion. while the. men
would stop now and then to raise their heads
and draw a long breath and eXclaim:
Wow but that smells good
We were finally summoned to feed. and
then you can imagine our surprise. There was
n m eIs G dIsRin sn9 out pfSi resl II beef e sF0 stew II % Ne eo 5Snf
hardly believe our eyes. and | had to taste
should have seen the expressions. on the faces
OF the men as they gulped down that stew. and
"""And It's got real onions In it, tooH ''''U
After we had loaded up we began to wonder
where it all came from and then the two Troop
l men told how the Colonel had purchased the
potatoes and onions while his own cook secured
the meat from Siboney.
You probably won't believe 1t, but the
$50 and he had to pay thirty-odd good Ameri-
can dollars to get the onions. but then he knew
men first with. him. There was u rush to his
tent when we learned this. and II you ever heard
the cheering I'm sure. you wouldn't wonder
why the rough riders all love their Colonel.
see said Burkh9!der ~thati n his address
how he had to hurry at the San Juan Hill fight
TO save himself from being run oyer by the
men. That's Just like him to say that: but he
men never ran 50 fast before and never will
again. as they had to run to keep up with him.
II Col. Roosevelt lived in Arizona we would
give him any office he wanted without any
election nonsense"