The evening times., 1898-08-26
STARVED on THE MOHAWK.
Famished Men Resent Treat
ment ON a Troopship.
SAD STORY OF SUFFERING
Men of the Eighth Ohio Resiment
Allege That They Were Not Sap
piled With the Barest Necessities
of Life ON Their Voyage From
Cuba-An Incipient Mutiny.

Camp Wikon, Montauk Point, Aug. 26-
The transport Mohawk has arrived with
| nearly 1900 men Of the Eighth Ohio Reg
| iment, The Presidents Own" aboard.
| Col Hart is In command.
The ship is still in quarantine. but from
| stories that have come ashore the Mo-
| hawks voyage. barring suspected cases Of
yellow fever, will be written in as many
chapters of horrors as that of the Mobile.
The Mohawk reported 12o sick when she
arrived last night. DIR. Magruder found
$40 men fit for the hospital when he board
ed the transport yesterday afternoon. All
the ambulances in camp were sent to
carry them to the general hospital.
When Major Brown was apprised OF
| this tremendous influx Of patients he was
visibly worried. "All right" he said, af-
ter minute. Let them come. We are
pretty full here, but with what vacant
tents We have in the detention hospital,
We can accommodate them."
All the afternoon long train of ambu-
lances bearing the sick toiled up the hill
to the hospital. The well men will not
be landed till today. Starvation and over
crowding, entire lack of suitable food
scarcity of medical supplies. incipient
mutiny-that is the story that comes from
Mohawk by soldier who smuggled him.
self ashore yesterday. He is a regular
not one of the Ohio troops. His name is
withheld for obvious reasons.
THE voyage was terrible one for the
men of the Eighth Ohio said this SOL
dier. Though they got to Cuba too late
for the fighting, they had n hard time
there. They only got fresh meat three
times between July II, when they arrived,
and August IS, when they sailed. Their
medical corps was taken from them as
soon as they arrived, and they got all the
guard duty going because they were the
freshest regiment at the front.
They had no blankets. and when they
boarded the Mohawk they were a sorry
lot. We regulars found it hard to live
on travelling rations. but that was moth
ing to the way these men Jared on the
way home. On August 20 they only had
soup and hardtack. l saw that soup
made. Ten cans of beef and thirty-four
cans of tomatoes were dumped into the
caldrons to supply 100 men. Each got
less than quarter of a pint of the wa
terry stuff.
THE next day a large number of pris-
oners in the guardhouse were set to
scrubbing decks. They revolted and said
they were too weak to work until they
were fed. a special meal was gotten up
for them, and they went back to work.
On August % the whole regiment crawl
ed up to the main deck and assembled in
front Of the quarters of Col. Hart. The
whole affair was arranged.
"'Who Is It that Is starving the Eighth!
shouted the spokesman.
"'Col. Hart and the quartermaster.'
yelled the whole regiment as one man.
THE colonel ran out of the cabin white
with rage and shook his fist at the nea.
You are lot of towards he shouted.
to make such a kick about the rations.
You'll get no more soup this trip
They did get the soup. despite the
threat, but the rations were wholly in
adequate and the sick fairly starved.
Ruse and Eddy. who died. were victims
of starvation as surely as I stand here
The officers Jared well. They had three
square meals a day. and good grub it
was. The men are going to wire charges
to the President as soon as they land"