Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-08-04
TEDDY TELLS TRUTH
Conditions at Santiago Placed Before
General Shafter in Unmistakable
Terms by Roosevelt.
WHOLE COMMAND WEAKENED
Quarantine Against Malaria Fever Much
Like Quarantine Against Toothache-
Army Must Be Sent North-of-
Gcers Bound Robin.

Copyright by Associated Press, San
tiago de Cuba, Aug. 3.-Summoned b,
Major General Shafter, a meeting wa
held here this morning at headquarters
in the presence of every commanding
and medical officer of the 5th arm,
corps, General Shafter read the cable
message from Secretary Alger, ordering
him, at the recommendation of Surgeon
General Sternberg,to to move the army into
the interior to San Luis, where it is
healthier. As result of the conference
General Shafter will insist upon the
immediate withdrawal of the army tt
the north within two weeks. AS an ex
PLANTATION of the situation, the following
letter from Colonel Theodore Roosevelt
commanding the 1st volunteer cavalry
to General Shafter, was handed by the
latter to a correspondent of the AS
sociated Press:
'sIn the meeting of the general and
medical officers, called by you in the
Palace this morning, we were, as you
know. unanimous in the 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 of
thousands. There is no possible reason
for not shipping practically the entire
command north at once. Yellow fever
cases are very few in the cavalry divis-
ion, where | command one of the two
brigades, and not one true case OF yell
low fever has occurred in this division,
except among the men sent to the hos
pital at Siboney, where they have. l
believe, contracted it. But in this di-
vision there have been l,50O cases of
malarial fever. Not a man has died
from it, but the whole command is so
weakened and shattered as to be ripe
for dying like rotten sheep, when a real
yellow fever epidemic, instead of a fake
epidemic like the present, strikes us as
it is bound to do, If we stay here at the
height of the sickly season during Aug
ust and the beginning of September. A
quarantine against malarial fever is
much like quarantinng against the
toothache.
''All of us are certain, so soon as the
authorities at Washington fully appreci-
ate the condition of the army, to be sent
home. If we are kept here, it will, in
all human possibility, mean an appall-
ing disaster, for the surgeons here est-
mate that over half of the army, If kept
here during the sickly season, will die.
This is not only terrible from the stand
point of individual lives lost, but it
means ruin from standpoint of the
MT itor off ltoin pf fha Anwpp nf th n
American army, for great bulk of the
regulars are here with you. The sick
list, large though it is exceeding 1000,
affords but faint index of the debilita-
tion of the army.
"Not 10 per cent are fit for active work.
Six weeks on the north Maine coast
for instance or elsewhere, where yellow
fever cannot possibly propagate, would
make us all fit as fighting cocks, able as
we are eager, to take leading part
in the great campaign against Havana
in the fall, even if we are not allowed
to try Puerto Rico. We can be moved
north, If moved at once, with absolute
safety to the country, although of course
it would have been infinitely betterf we
had been moved north, or to Puerto Rico,
two weeks ago.
If there were any object in keeping
us here, we would face yellow fever with
as much indifference as we faced tn e
bullets, but there is no object in it. The
four immune regiments ordered here
are sufficient to garrison the city and
the surrounding towns, and there is
absolutely nothing for us to do here,
and there has not been since the sur
render. 1t is impossible to move into
the interior. Every shifting of the
camp doubles the sick rate in our pres
ent weakened condition, and anyhow
the interior is rather worse than the
coast, as found by actual reconnais-
sance. Our present camps are as healthy
as any of the camps at this end Of the
island can be. write only because
cannot see our men who fought SO
bravely and endured extreme hardships
and danger 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, Col.
onel Commanding 1st Brigade
After Colonel Roosevelt had taken the
initiative, all the American general Of
ficers united in round robin addressed
to General Shafter, 1t reads: ''We, the
undersigned, officers commanding 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 coast of the United States
that it can be done without danger to
the people; that the yellow fever in the
army at present is not epidemic; that
there are only few sporadic cases; but
that the army is disabled by malarial
fever to the extent that its efficiency Is
destroyed, and it is in a condition to be
practically destroyed by an epidemic Of
yellow fever which is sure to come in
the near future.
"We know from reports of competen,
officers and from personal observations
that the army is unable to move into the
interior, and that there are no facilities
for such move If attempted, and tina,
it could not be attempted until too late
Moreover, the best medical authorities
in the island say that with our presen
equipment we could not live in thu
interior during the rainy season without
losses from malarial fever, which il
almost as deadly as yellow fever.
This army must be moved at once O
perish. AS the army can safely b.
moved now, all persons responsible TO
preventing such move will be res
p0nsible for the unnecessary loss o
M anv thO,io0 ndo ~ 1iyoc