The times., 1898-08-01
GEN. CoRBIN's TRIALS.
The War Department Contends
With Many Annoyances

With Many Annoyances
Every petty grievance arising out of
the sometimes annoying details of war
finds is way to the adjutant generals
office which is by far the busiest place
in the entire War Department.
Upon Gen. Corbins desk there is a
ceaseless, pitiless rain of kilograms from
every conceivable source and some of
them will make interesting reading when
dug up from official files after the war
is ended
AS many as five hundred yellow mes
sages have been received at this office in
one day. 10 say nothing of immense guam
titles of mail matter, and all this cores
pondence must be gone through promptly
and answered when necessary, else there
are subsequent complaints against the de-
partment for its neglec;
Frequently 1t happens that Gen. Corbin
sits up until / and o'clock at night ex-
planning the necessity for certain mill
tary movements which have elected ex-
pressions of dissatisfaction.
The grievances that are lodged against
the War Department are widely diversi-
of some State who wants to know In a
hurry why the regiments from his particu-
lar commonwealth have besn left in peaca-
ful camp. while others have been hurried
away to the front. and again 1t is a
mother who has suddenly discovered that
her boy, off in the war somewhere, is
under age and wants him sent home at
once, and a. the expense of the War De-
partment, or she will know the reason
why.
When a senator or representative
visits a camp he falls into the hands of
his home regiment, and the boys who
helped elect him-every man in the regi-
ment voted his straight ticket-pour tales
of trouble into his ears and exact all sorts
of promises from him. Straightway the
| legislator sits down and writes a sting
ing rebuke TO the unsympathetic War De-
partment something like this:
"Why is the blank regiment from my
State not sent to the front? 1t is the besi
equipped organization you have in the
army Why don't you give the boys q
| chance? They are the best fighters you
| have?"
| All of which is immensely satisfactory
| to the boys" but does not move the
regiment and when this fact is duly ap.
| preciated after two weeks or more have
| elapsed and still no orders to move have
| been received the colonel and the cap
tains take a fling at the much-abused
! department, in the shape of collect mes
! sages to the adjutant general wherein
| expense is sacrificed to vigorous English
| befitting the occasion and properly ex.
! pressing the deep dissatisfaction of those
! concerned.
/ Last week the dignifed State of Hi
! nois worked itself into a frenzy over the
| inactivity of its pet regiment in spite OF
| the fact that two organizations from thai
| State have already gone to the front
! and from the depths of his gubernatoria
| chair at Springfield the governor las
Saturday indited dispatch of exceeding
great bitterness, demanding to know why
| an unknown regiment from his riva
State, Indiana had been ordered to Porte
| Rico instead of the best equipped military
| organization in the entire army, viz.
! the Seventeenth Illinois Infantry
This is the sort of thing the adjutan
| general has TO deal with every day cl
| the war. and as the hours wear away
! into early morning and the stack oi
| kilograms seems to grow higher eacf
minute, the language of Gen. Corbin i:
| frequently more picturesque than classic