The evening times., 1898-06-18
FOUR new CAMP SITES
Charleston, Jacksonville, Fer
nandina and Brunswick.
SOLDIERS FOR PtRTO ri 0
The Paints Chosen Meet All the Re-
quirements Of Good Camping
GrOunds-They Have Plenty of
Water and Ample Transportation
Facilities.

There have been many complaints
following the mobilization of great num-
bers of troops at one point that the Gov
ernment has decided on a change of poll
cy. Hereafter no more soldiers will be
massed at given center than can be
readily and perfectly cared for.
Thorough inspection has been made by
Government officials of towns which had
been suggested for Army headquarters,
and upon their reports Secretary of War
Alger has based a selection. In their in
vestigations the officials paid particular
attention to the health of suggested locali-
ties. Where there was the slightest sus-
picion that disease might invade the mil
itary camps as a result of local condi-
tions consideration of the proposed head
quarters was dropped Immediately.
Strict application to this test greatly
reduced the number of places in the South
still left to choose from and the further
requirements that there should be an
abundant supply of water and good trans
portation facilities shut out many other
towns that aspired for camp honors.
Finally it was decided to locate troops
in the South principally at Charleston
.. a
and Brunswick. Ca. These four places
meet all the requirements of good camps
and are in convenient situations in case
troops are called upon for service IN
Cuba or Porto Rico.
Port Tampa will probably be retained
as a military camp by the Government
for reasons which are set forth in a let
ter written by a gentleman who saw
the sailing of Gen. Skaters expedition.
He says:
III shows the extraordinary facilities
of Port Tampa as port of embarkation
and debarkation when the entire fleet OF
thirty-siX transport steamers, some OF
them drawing twenty-one feet OF water
left Port Tampa promptly when the Gov
ernment was ready for its departure, and
without detention or an accident OF any
KIND barring the one that occurred some
DAYS previous 20 the sailing of the fleet
by the Miami running down the Florida
while the latter steamer was lying at the
dock The Florida is now undergoing
temporary repairs to fit her for sea duty,
and 1t is reported will be ready for SER
vice on June Il.
The second "re-enforCing expedition
to Santiago will not be hurried. unless
Gen. Shafter considers the need of re-
endorsements immediate, in which case
the troops from Tampa will be in readi-
ness. The conferences held today be-
tween Secretary Alger, Gen. Miles and
Assistant Secretary of War Meiklejohn
turned, however, almost exclusively up
on the projected expedition to Porto Rico,
but especially upon their question of
transportation of this expedition.
Gen. Miles informed that the
transports in sight now, besides the
th;rty-five which had gone with the San
tiago expedition, consisted only of four
boats at Norfolk. three in the Gulf and
four at Fernandina. Then there were
seven British steamers under eNamina-
tiOn by experts as to their bottoms. for
the War Department did not wish the
experiment Of the Centennial to be re-
peated
In addition to the discussion. of the
problem of the transports for Porto Rico
the further decision reached to ask
Congress for American registry for these
seven British ships.
II is said that General Miles did not
press himself in favor especially of the
precedence of Porto Rico over the re-en-
forcement of Shafter, though he was not
by any word discouraging toward the
Porto Rico expedition The main thing
was the procuring of transports, and this
afternoon Assistant Secretary Meiklejohn
frankly admitted that the outlook now
was far from encOura ging. Mr. Meikle-
John at the same time said that he could
find no foult with the lines which had
thus far offered transports.
a prominent railroad man was today in
conference with the officials looking to the
tracking of the points liable to be chosen
for embarkation of the troops. There are
now in Tampa and Jacksonville respec-
lively 1O.O0O and 1900 troops, with 400
ordered from Mobile and 1900 from
ChiCkamauEa making 5000 in all. 1t is
quite possible that these troops will be
massed at Fernandina and Miami, with
Miami as almost certainly the final point
of enbarkation.
Camp Thomas.
A high officer of a New York regiment
talked plainly and to the point today on
the needless red tape that is retard-
ing the work of getting the volunteers in
condition for service.
There are any number of useless head
quarters he said, ''and it is impossible
to get anything done with dispatch. l
have many acquisitions that could have
been filed in a few days, but it has been
three weeks now and l haven't received
them yet The trouble is. there is too
much supervision of everything and not
enough action. Again, our regiment is all
broken to pieces, owing to our men held
for all kinds of duties at headquarters
and other places which are not at all
necessary to the service.
why, in one of our companies this
morning we had only twenty-eight men
for drilling. The rest were scattered over
the field"
Hard service will be performed by the
First Ohio next week. The regiment, with
its entire paraphernalia, will march from
the park to Rome, Ga, and return
through a rough, mountainous country.
The distance to be covered is about $50
miles.
The disgraceful occurrences near Lytle
Station, on what is known as THE Mid
way, will not be repeated. The keepers
of the Illicit liuuOr ShoDS and gambling
dens have become frightened and have