New-York tribune., 1898-07-02
AS SEEN BY GEN. CARROLL
HE RETURNS FROM HIS INSPECTION w
NETWORK TROOPS.

rrrc<c HE THINKS THE ii'i-9'N--->-
e,,owrD GREAT WISDOM IN De
LAYING THE WAR
..,... General Howard Carroll returned to
...,. ,..e.erday from his tour OF Inspection
"'' '''' ,,,. oo,,,ps AZ which troops from New
~ ','' ... oro cuartered General Carroll was
.,a H., Governor Black 20 visit the camps
-, on .he condition OF the men. as ne
..,,.od many complaints from the diner
.,,s ouerinc that the soldiers were hot
=, oo,od for and had insuf1clent 1000.
-, ,o~ Theodore l.. Poole OF syracuse a'coi'-
,.a the General. Major Poole IS an eN-Ooh-
o, from the Syracuse district ana Is
,,i,ont member of the G. a. H. lie served
1 ,,ears during the Rebellion Generai CarroN
,,a Major Poole. accompanied oY an o'oer'!'
r hore on June IS and went directly 10 camp
,,aor At Falls Church. Va. From there they
wen, to Tampa. and later visited the troops at
Chickamauga
ceneral Carroll has not yet made his oinciai
o,ort hut he will send II TO Governor bIacK
arlv next week. When Tripune reporter
,ho General yesterday afternoon he de-
clinea 10 say what his report would De- anu
,ro,,,d only discuss the situation as he found 1t
T., oaneral way II is probable, however. that
when the report Is made public II VIII contain
FIRST TO CAMP ALGER.
In speaking OF his trip, General Carroii SAID:
Eve first went to Camp Aiger. where some
sixteen thousand men were encomped FROM
there We went TO Tampa. where there were
twenty thousand men. our last stop was at
rhic,.an,oura. where fully sixty thousand men
were located. We had proper credentials from
tho War Department. and had ample oppor-
tha nf
men. I must decline to go into details as TO
what we saw as those things are matters when
will have to be reported to the Governor first.
I Will saw however that every condition oD-
served at the three great camps showed the
vsdorn and sagacity OF President Mckinley and
his advisers in delaying the actual war We
had grand material for an army. but even now 1t
needs lots Of licking into shape before 1t Is
roadv 70 fight The New-York troops are more
nearly ready than those Of any other State.
Most Of the troops from the South and South
west form a willing, well-ntentioncd mob,
which has no idea OF military movements. Many
of the men d!d not know what 'fours right or
.fours left meant when they arrived at the
camp, and still others do not know how TO IRE
q gun, and probably never handled one.
III the people who have been clamorous for
an immediate movement to the front OF the
troops which are now at thesc camps could only
visit the camps and see what Is still necessary
10 be accomplished before the men are ready
for active work. they would stop their clamor
and complaining at the delay. and thank God
that President Mckinley is holcing the men al
the camps until they are more fully prepared
The men are rapidly getting into shape. and VIII
soon be fully equipped and ready for WORK.
AS General Carroll's chief mission was to in
vestigate the food supply OF the New -lorK
troops he was asked by the reporter: Dld you
find the New-York men actually suffering from
insufficient food. and was the food furnished OF
inferior quality?
STORIES NOT WARRANTED.
General Carroll said in reply: "Of course that
will form part of my report and must decline
10 give any details. 1 will say, however. that
the stories of the Ill treatment of the troops are
rJt warranted. on the whole. the troops were
well provided for, possibly as we'll as could ne
expected in the conditions which existed
In speaking of the volunteers. General carroll
said that he believed the NewYork troops were
more nearly prepared for active service than
those Of any other State although the Massa-
chusetts men were close second ana the troops
from PENNSYLVANIA ranked third. Many OF the
States had sent the men to the camp without
their equipment. keeping everything AT nome
This necessarily hampered the men, Pennsyi-
vana had sent the majority OF her men with
out arms and they had been compelled 10 wait
until supplied by the Government. The New
York State troops had gone to the front with
cili,ated tn work Of getting the men In shape
FOR active duty.
General Carroll also talkod about the delays
in sending the men 10 their destinations when
once ordered to move. 1T seems TO me. ne
said that when there are hundreds Of mon III
this city who almost single handed can takc
care of a crowd # thirty thousand 10 iorty
thousand troops could be moved much faster
than thcy have been. We have in ms city
number Of excursion lines which on sunday can
and VIII handle AT last thirty thousand men,
women ana chiidTcn-fake them out OF IN" cty
In the moruih- and bring them back all safe at
night This w'r6 is often done by ON" man.
and ir that could be done here surely the work
of handling the soldiers, especially when only
oue or $50 regiments are 10 BE- consld"ied
should bo carried On more rapidly THrn IL IS Il
poor manager a.! a freight department "hp mas
Il linc Yt caI- extending over nine miles ana
c.ru1t ino.c than. The same freight manager
would also har" tr0Hulc II he did not Know IN
which car nc Lsd placed a certain class u goods
and could not tud what he wanted until ne had
unloaded nearly all Of the long nne-nle string.