The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-25

New York, Sept. 24.-General W. R.
Shafter, who arrived last night from
Michigan, said in an interview with
representative Of the Press: My re
marks about the volunteers in a speech
at Constantine have been misquoted. L
was speaking at a reunion of the Nine
teenth regiment. I went to the front
with it 80 years ago. 1t happened that
some Michigan volunteers got mixed up
in the Santiago fight. l merely SAID
that they had not been intended Tor
active fighting that day. They had been
sent off toward Aguadoras to make
feint. They got into cut and Il shell
was sent into them, killing and wound
ing some.
They had no business in the cut,
and regulars would not have been
caught there. The volunteers were all
right at Santiago, handicapped as they
were. They had black powder rifles,
for one thing, and they had not learned
what comes only from the longest
drilling, and what constitutes the ideal
soldier-that is, to stand with other
men without knowing it.
1T has been said there were 10000
Krag- Jorgensens in the arsenal during
the Santiago campaign that were never
issued said a reporter.
We'll, l am not the head of the ord
nance department, but the increased
number of companies raised the regu-
lar army by 50, 600 men, and these had
to get Krags Immediately, as they were
expected to do the bulk of the fight
ing. How many of the small stock of
KragS were left after $4,000 were
equipped 1 cannot say.
mo one who has not seen it can
know the effectiveness of the smokeless
powder gun. Our batteries had black
powder; the Spaniards smokeless. One
day, the 10th or 18th OF July, ! was
standing in the trenches, trying to
make out with my glasses the location
of Spanish battery. Our battery was
several hundred yards to our left. We
tried to locate the guns by following
the sound, but it was impossible. La
ter we found that it was more than a
mile away, behind a fringe of bushes
just thick enough to hide the move
mentS of the men. 1t aStonlshed me
and other veterans who saw the work
of smokeless powder"
The scandals of the camps" struck
General Shafter as the natural product
of inexperience among the soldiers.
There has been gross carelessness on
the part of new men in sanitary mat
terS," he said. You cannot make
them understand the necessity of care
They resent being talked to by their
officers for not picking up cigar stumps,
fruit Feelings and such trivial things.
In the civil war we often started out
with 1000 men and in six months lost
500 of them through sickness.
What has befallen the men who re-
ieved me at Santiago? They had no.
such conflict with Indictment weather
as we had. They have had plenty of
food and complete tentage, but they
have 1900 sick out of 5000. So L don't
think we did so badly
AS to his coming to New York to.
take charge of the department of the
east, General Shafter said: Il don't
know where l will go finally. l have
expressed a wish to go to the Pacific
coast, where l expect to live when I
am retired, but before going 1 should
not object to taking the department of
the east for several months. until Cen
eral MerrittS return. My wife is from
Vermont and I hail from Michigan. and
stay of a short time in New York
would give me a chance to meet many
persons L have long wished to see and
whom may never again have occasion
to meet
What do I think of the territorial
expansion? Well, 1 don't think nv
views are of much Importance, but they
are very brief. Hold on to all we get
We had TO work hard to get it; let's
keep 1t. We are rising into the posi-
ton of leader among nations, and we
must accept the responsibilities that
come from that leadership"
General Shafter said he would 90 az
once to MOntauk Point to take com
mand there.