The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-20

CPC&An6 VI ulNISlDn hospitals would leave
put one surgeon and one hospital steward
TO each regiment. He was not alone I'M this
view at the time. In one of his letters the
lack OF rain. facetiousy wishing that the
indianapolis "rain-Tnakers" as a bali team
WAS once called. might appear at Camp
Ihomas. We did not need the service OF
the rain-making ball players after ALL" he
continues. 1 wrote my last letter in
thunderstorm, and ii has rained every day
since. There IS no moro dust and life is
better wo-th living Lieutenant Poland is a
success as a pipe-layer. and, thanks TO him.
We now have better water and more of IL.
The rations are coming regularly and
bountifully, and the men are being equipped
by degrees He closes with a reference to
his former complaint about no keys for
mail bags. with "P. s. in which he says
postoflice has bean established at Lvtle
and the mail service will be much better
hereafter" Day by day things about which
he found cause to complain were remedied
in spite of the inexperience of volunteers
and regulars alike. There is more about
the weather in letter dated June Is and
published June %. He says that weather
prophets thereabouts say when rain begins
its falls ten days continuously. The dry
spell, from the Both of May to the 18th OF
June" said his letter, was broken by the
for seven consecutive days 1t has rained
just enough to cool the air and keep the
dust settled. The very worst grumblers
have to keep their mouths closed now, for
with the improved weather conditions has
come better and more abundant supply
of food and water, and we are also APP
guns and ammunition. As soon as we are
fully equipped we shall be ready for orders
TO move ana, as we We're one OF the nrst
regiments TO come TO Camp Thomas II
seems likely that we shall he among the
first sent away under the second call. Con-
ditions are now suitable for the proper care
and drilling of 80 900 men. excep. that in
brigade formations and in extended order
drills the different commands sometimes
encroach upon each others territory and
confusion and crowding ensue. There was
an inspection of quarters yesterday morn
ing and camp ever presented a cleaner
and more orderly appearance"
This is the camp. with conditions suit
able to the proper care and drilling of 5000
men," of which he now says: Bah. IL
makes me sick to think of Camp Thomas.
This is the letter that ended with the state
ment above about the fin1condiiti,ons OF the
II went through the division hospital last
night" etc, as quoted at the outset, Then
June %. containing the warning against
fake stories of yellow journals. Concern
ing the conditions of the hospital he wrote
June "a Thanks to the generosity or nome
friends, the pressing wants of the hospital
have now been supplied, and some of the
things sent to us have been turned over to
the division hospital. where the soldiers OF
other regiments share the benefits with our
own. The most serious trouble now is from
az well as to comfort" A 'laZarreto" so
well provided for that there was enough and
to spare-something to turn over to other
July 17-''Yesterday was the most oppres-
lively warm day since we came TO Chick
amauga. A candle which stood in a shady
corner of Captain Clingers tent bent al
most double. The thermometer registered
SO degrees and everybody was uncomfort-
able but no one was overcome at drill or
fatigue duty. which demonstrates how we'll
the men are becoming seasoned. The hor-
rible, typhoid-bree water is the one
great difficulty here now: 1t seems that
the springs of "cool, wholesome water"
about which he wrote earlier were proving
deceptive, as well as the water which Lieut.
nj I,I k1o., 20 10 - min
A later letter, written July %, proved that
everything possible was being done to pre-
pare the men for warfare. the letter of this
date telling how they were being instructed
In emergency relief work, in anticipation of
wounds in battle. 1.-THE advance in surgery
since our civil war is something marvel
GUS" he begins, and then goes on TO state
that it is not now considered necessary for
a wound to suppurate before healing. The
men, he said were to be provided with anti
septic bandages and were being Instructed
about their use. While they would not be-
come surgeons, their knowledge woulu place
them. in q position TO make much ordinary
surgical work unnecessary.
IN BEST PHYSICAL CONDITION.
AS late as Aug. l, concerning the condi-
tons of a camp the thought of which now
makes him sick. in discussing the probable
ity of moving to the south, he said con-
corning the One-hundred -and-fifty-eigh
Regiment: None is better Differed or bet
ter manned. There are now 1,264 enlisted
men, all but very few in the best physical
condition and capable Of rendering any
service required of them" That does not
sound like a story of men who objected to
being put down there Cat Camp Thomas)
and weakened, debilltated and invaded for
life. all on account of the, criminal incom-
petence of certain brigade and division
QuartermaSterS and cOmmSSarieS."
Concerning the probable change of loca-
ton of the camp on Aug. he wrote: I'VE
shall not be able to find as eligible site
as the one now occupied, but sanitary fea-
sons seem to make a change to fresh
ground necessary" And yet going hence
was going from hell to paradise" accord
ing to the interview.
In the early weeks of his experience in
army life the chaplain realized. as every
one else did who had given the subject any
serious thought. that the great trouble was
that the Nation had been unprepared for
war. letter written June 3 was in as
sane a vein as any unbiased man might
have written. 1t ran:
Still we are here and no one knows how
much longer we shall stay. The talk about
an army of invasion for Cuba or Porto
Rico is all nonsense until we are equipped.
The War Department knows how suicidal
1t would be to send soldiers to the West In
dies without guns or clothing. 1T is not
pleasant to be barefoot at Chickamauga,
but it would be great deal worse in Cuba
With the danger of treading upon scorpions
or centipedes at every step. 1t is well for
the United States that in our present condi-
ton of unpreparednesS we have only a
fifth-rate power for foe. There is no
doubt as to the ultimate issue, but with
resources ought to make shorter work
of Spain than we seem likely to do. Eng
land could have settled her in about twenty
days. We could have done it also il we had
been in a position to command our re-
sources" He went on to say that there
are available for military service in this
country, more than half the populatsn OF
Spain" But, he continued, our present
force of regulars is pitifully and rldicu-
lousy small" He suggested that IL the
United States were to each year take
100, 900 men for two years drilling and mill
itary teaching, paying them meantime a
fair wage, afterward holding them as Il
sort of reserve force, in times OF emergency
an adequate trained force could be called
on. After their training, he observed,
these men would return to their ploWS,
their shops and their offices all the better
for the training and discipline of military
service, and in emergency the moboliz-
ing of half a million to q million men would
be easier than the handling of the present
force Of 125. 900 under existing conditions.
Where there should be the most complete
organization. 1t is good that the lesson We
are learning is to cost no more. IL Eng
land had forced a war over the Venezuelan
question, he asked, would the cost of learn
ing have been so small? But perhaps he
continued. ii was better after all that war
else the jingoes would lave It as pretext
for war on every occasion Continuing, ne
wrote: ,","he hottest headed of them the
jingoes) will realize now that men and
money are not enough for war unless the
men can be turned into soldiers and the
money into supplies.
Here was no carping criticism of incon-
veniences that were the direct result of the
very conditions he was picturing, the dif-
ficulty of turning raw recruits into soldiers
and of turning money into supplies, whether
of clothing, rations. ammunition, medicines,
fvtFr.a al