The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-03
THEY FEEL VERY BITTER
Members of Troop l. Complain
About Captain Stivers.
MANY BUTTE MEN I'LL
The Captain Has Reduced FOUR Corporals
to the Ranks. Without, Sc 1t Is AL
legged, Just Cause or P~rovocation.
Talk OF a Court Martial.

Several letters were received in Butte
Yesterday from members of Troop l. a;
Chickamauga the tenor of which indi-
Gates that everything Is not strictly
harmonious in the troop. 1t is also
stated that there is considerable sick
ness among the boys from Butte and
that one. c. S. O'Connor, aged 25, died
a week ago Monday and was buried in
the national cemetery at Chattanooga.
One of the letters. dated July %. says:
Twenty men in our troop are re-
ported sick this morning and two more
deaths are expected. There are 500
cases of typhoid. The extreme heat
makes the camp filthy and of bad
odor. Colonel Grigsby has made APP
plication to move our regiment ID
Huntsville, Ala, in the mountains,
where il is healthy and where there Is
good water, but We do not believe they
will pay much attention to his re-
quest"
Four 2orporals were reduced to the
ranks by Captain Stivers without.
they claim, cause or explanation, and
they have petitioned for an investiga-
ton. The men who were reduced are
Thomas J. Walker. formerly timekeep-
er at the Green Mountain for the An
aconda company; II. G. Bryant, Jack
Wrath and Dick Post, the photograph
er. The action of the captain seems ID
have caused a great deal of dissatis-
faction n one of the letters received
yesterday, from a private in the troop,
complains rather bitterly. For some
time" says the letter, the manage
ment of our troop has been rather poor
on account of the incompetent captain
or lack of discipline. He has shown
such gross favoritism toward some in
so many ways that the troop has lost
all respect for him. He VAS lacked
up by Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd about
the appearance and handing of the
troop on parade and review, and ~
shield himself ne laid the blame on his
non-commissioned officers in general.
A sacrifice, or show, had to be mad,
so yesterday, without any warning or
hearing, he had the four corporals re-
duced to the ranks, without any cause
whatever and without a chance to be
heard i'm their own behalf. They feel
that they nave been treated with the
greatest injustice, and this belief IS
shared by seven-tenths of the troop,
who have signed a request for a thor
ough investigation and exonsration IF
the four men from the humiliation and
disgrace of being reduced without any
specified charges against them. They
tdlleu LOT ali tADldihAlbH ll'Ii wv
J and he said he thought it was for the
1 best interests of the troop, but would
{ not state i'm what way or how. He
tried to tell them that there was ne
disgrace, or humiliation, or degrade
, ton attached to il, and further told
q them that their appointments had only
I, been temporary anyway, when. as d
|, matter of fact, they were as permanent
as any in any troop i'm the regiment
Others i'm the troop ave been shielde.
: from court martial from one to three
times by the caStain. They have beer
expected to be reduced and to lose thei
A stripes on more than one occasion, bu
are still holding their places. The in
Il Justice is so plain that II is painful
o and no one but an ignorant upstdr
would attempt to manage "A troop am
n show such feelings of favoritism. Ac
q cording to Article of War No. 80, an,
d enlisted man, thinking himself wronge'
by his superior officer may complain
IS to the commanding officer of the regl
s ment, who shall order a court martil
and thorough investigation into tn
> case. and either party not satisfied b.
J. the finding may appeal the case to
Is general court martial, which VIII try II
but it is hard TO get justice for a sol
der or petty officer. as there is so niue
policy used by the commissioned OH
e GERS. The boys are anxious to be rein
d stated so that they may resign an
request a transfer to another troop q
a battery of light artillery which is &c
: ing to Porto Rico.
Y I'VE don't know how long we wi
II stay here. Sixty days longer probabl
IS until we go to Cuba"