The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1898-08-11
WROTE A ROUND ROBIN.
Yellow Fever Threatened to XIII Thou-
sands and They Are Being Tr2ns-
ferred to Montauk Point.

From Santiago-Colonel Roosevelt De-
clares Ninety Per Cent. of the Army
is Incapacitated and That Men VIII
Pie Like Sheep if Left in Cuba-Shaf-
ter and Roosevelt Hebuked.
SANTIAGO DE CUBA (SpeciaD D.-Summoned
by Major General Shafter, a meeting was
held here at headquarters, and in the
| presence Of every commanding and medi-
cal officer OF the Fifth Army Corps General
| Shafter read cable message from Secre-
tary Alger ordering him, at the recommen-
dation Of Surgeon-General Sternberg, to
move the army into the interior, to San
| Luis, where it is healthier.
AS a result Of the conference General
shafter will insist upon the immediate
withdrawal of the army North within two
weeks.
Colonel Roosevelt's Letter.
As an explanation OF the situation the
| following letter from Colonel Theodore
| Roosevelt, commanding the First Cavalry,
to General Shafter, was handed by the lat
| ter to the newspaper correspondents here
for publication:
"Major-General Shafter:
"Sir-In a meeting OF the general and
medical officers called by you ar the palace
this morning we were all, as you know,
| uvanimous in view OF what should be done
with the army. To keep US here, in the
opinion Of every officer commanding
| division or brigade, will simply involve
the destruction ofthousands.
"There Is no possible reason for not ship
| ping practically the entire command North
at once. Yellow fever cases are very few
| In the cavalry division, where | command
| one OF the two brigades, and not one true
| case OF yellow fever has occurred in this
! division, except among men sent to the
| hospital at Siboney, where they have, be-
lieye, contracted it.
"But in this division there have been ilf-
| teen hundred cases Of malaria fever. Not
man has died from it, but the whole COM
mand is so weakened and shattered as to be
| ripe for dying like rotten sheep when real
| yellow fever epidemic. instead OF a fake
| epidemic. like the present, strikes us, as it
| Is bound to IL we stay here at the height OF
| the sickness season, August and the begin
! ming of September. Quarantine against
| malqrial fever is much like quarantininS
| against the toothache. All OF US are GER
| tain, us soon rs the authorities at Wash
| ington fully appreciate the conditions OF
| the army, TO be sent home.
Half the Troops May Die.
"If we are kept here it will in all human
possibility mean an appalling disaster, for
| the surgeons here estimate that over half
| the army, if kept here during the sickly
season, will die. This IS not only terrible
| from the standpoint of the individual lives
! lost but it means ruin from the standpoint
i OF the military efficiency Of the flower OF
| the American army, for the great bulk OF
/ the regulars are here with you.
"The sick list, large though it is, exceed
/ ing 1000, affords but faint index OF the de-
| bilitation of the army. Not ten per cent.
are fit for active work. Six weeks on the
Maine coast. for instance, or elsewhere,
where the yellow fever germ cannot posi-
! BIZ propagate, would mako Us all as It is
| fghting cocks. able as We are and eager 10
take q leading part in the great campaign
against Havana in the fall, even If We are
| not allowed to try Porto Rico.
Kept There without object.
! eve caa be moved North, if moved At
| once. with absolute safety to the country,
although, Of course, it would have been in
| fnitely better if We had been moved North
! or TO Porto Rico two weeks ago. Iftaere
were any object in keeping US here We
would face yellow fever with rs
| much Indifference as we face bullets.
! But there is no object in it. The
| four immune regiments ordered here
are sufficient to garrison the city and sur
rounding towns, and there is absolutely
| nothing for US to do here, and there has
J not been since the city surrendered. It is
impossible 10 move into the interior. Every
shifting OF camp doubles the sick rate in
| our present weakened condition, and, any
how, the interior is rather worse than the
coast. as 1 have found by actual recon-
| noissance. Our present camps are as
|, healthy as any camps at this end OF the
| island can be.
81 write only because I cannot see our
| men, who have fought so bravely and who
have endured extreme hardship and dan
ger so uncomplainingly, go to destruction
| without striving, so far as lies in me, to
avert doom as fearful as it is unnecessary
and undeserved. Yours respectfully,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
Colonel Commanding First Brigade"
After Colonel Roosevelt had taken the in
itiative all the American general officers
united in a round robin addrested to Gen
eral Shafter.
The Ground Robin"
1t read:
eve, the undersigned officers, command
inc the various brigades, divisions, etc., Of
the army of occupation in Cuba. are OF the
unanimous opinion that this army should be
at once taken out Of the island OF Cuba and
sent to some point on the northern seacoast
OF the United States; that, it can be done
without danger TO the people OF the United
States: that yellow fever in the army at
present is not epidemic; that there are