Middletown transcript., 1898-05-14
CARE OF SOLDIERS IN CUBA.
IMPORTANCE OF THE OUTFIT II
Avorn1Nn s1nRNEss

| the turret which protects the guns and
gun crews Of monitor. Unless the
| War Department officers sre careful re-
garding all details, the men are liable
to be landed in Cuba lacking many
things they should have. Experience,
when extracted from the raw material,
always comes high, and often it comes
too late to be Of any use.
| The Surgeon-General and Adjutant-
General have received mnch valuable
information from the Cubans now in
this country. The conditions under
which the Cuban Army exists are
well known, but if the equipment
and care Of those hardly and thorough
ly acclimatized native Cubans are
taken as the criterion for Judging the
wants Of our cold-weather men-drawn
chiefly from offices and factories-it
may easily result In much unnecessary
hardship and sickness, while extra at
tention to the wants of American
soldiers in Cuba will enable them to
hold their own. Many Americans in
the tropics have never had the slight
est difficulty in undergoing as much
exertion and hardship as native COM
panions, but they have lived on diff
ferent basis.
In every campaign like that now be-
ginning the private soldier relies upon
those above him to provide for his ma
terial wants and for the means by
which be may keep himself alive and
well. He must take whatever of cloth
ing, food and camp equipage happens
to be issued to him, aid il anything is
wrong his comfort, his health orhis life
will be the forfeit. For campaign in
Cuba the responsibility OF the man
who dictates as to the soldiers cloth
ing, food and sleeping arrangements is
much greater than that Of the officer
who leads them into actual battle.
For successful campaigning in Cuba
several important changes are neces-
sary In the field equipment of .the sea-
soned Regulars, but this applies to the
volunteers with four-fold force. Any
one who camps on the ground in Cuba
during alweek of rainy weather will be
convinced of this.
The idea seems to be gaining ground
that the volunteer soldiers will require
six months of seasoning" before they
can be considered tit for campaign in
Cuba. On the contrary, it is main
tanned that if they are properly fitted
and cared for the quicker they land in
Cuba the better. A man who is fit for
soldier can 60 TO any climate on
earth, and in two weeks after land
| ing be ready to do his best work in the
field. II he is properly fitted out, the
s'Northern energy" of good, sJund
Au erican will carry him through cold,
through humidity or through dryness,
for number Of months of hard CAM
paigning.
THE FOES WHICH THREATEN TROOPS.
When the warships left Key West for
Cuban waters they we're stripped for
action" Even their color was changed
to meet the requirements of new con.
ditioDs. In like manner, the basis on
which the Army enters Cuba should be
totally different from the requirements
of campaigning in the United States.
The English are wide-awake to the re-
quirements of soldering in the tropics.
The soldier who renders three years. SER
vice on the West Coast of Africa is cred
tied with five. In Ashanti he was sup
piled with a hammock so compact and
30 light that he could carry it easily.
II the soldiers are put through
Cuban campaign improperly equipped,
Ethese are some OF he foes they viii
have 10 battle with every hour Of their
stay on the island: Intermittent.
fever. typhoid fever, disrrho.-a, dysen-
terry, sunstroke. Surgeon-G General Stern
berg's knowledge of yellow fever is 80
thorough that the troops will success
fully be protected from it. The chief
concern is regarding the other ills.
The clothing, the camp OUTFIT, the
food and the rules of hygiene which
have carried men through many jun
gle campaigns would probably carry
our soldiers safe through years CAM
yaign in any part of Cubs.
1t is mistake to suppose that the
climate Of Cuba is certain to prove
particularly unhe ,lIhful t. American
troops. Even in this country such epi-
demic diseases as smallpox and yellow
fever can and do break out and COM
NIT ravages until checked and CONTROL
led. If properly equipped and provis-
ioned, any man Of sound constitr-
tiunand temperate habits should
be able to go thro ugh u years hard
campaigning in e Iba with no more
serious diseases than fever angue and
diarrhoea. The-s,ldier who is properly
equipped should go confidently expect
ing to preserve his health. The man
who is constantly expecting to become
i'll, and when i'll believes that he is go-
ing to die, is always the one most liable
to be attacked. A determination not
to become i'll is half the battle; the rest
is mere detail.
d THE IMPORTANCE OF HA1fMoCKs.
In Cuba, except in cases of great
emergency, such a. short forced
marches and actual engagement, OFF,
GERS should see 10 it that their men do
not sleep on the ground. This for the
reason that in the tropics the malar-
iona exhalstions from the earth and
from stagnant wafer are densest and
most dangerous. at the surface of the