Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-08-05
Roosevelt Takes a Leading Part and Pleads With Shafter to Have
 Them Returned.
OTHER OFFICERS ARE
 EQUALLY AS POSITIVE.
They Say the Men Are In nc Condition to Fight, and In q Worse Fix to Stand the RaYages of
 Yellow Fever.
copyriehted. ls8s. by the Associated Press.

Copyrighted. 1SsS by tl9 Associated Press.
 Santiago de Cuba, Aug Summoned by Major General shafter 10 meeting held here at headquarters and in the presence of every commanding and med ical officer of the Fifth army corps, Gen. Shafter read a cablegram from Secretary Alger ordering him, at the recommend ation of Surgeon General Sternberg, to move the army into the interior at San Luis, where it is healthier. As result of the conference, General Shafter will insist upon the immediate withdrawal of the army within two weeks. As an explanation of the situation the follow ing letter from Colonel Roosevelt, con- manding the First volunteer cavalry. to Shafter, was handed q correspondent of the Associated Press for publication
 Major General Shafter; Sir-In meeting the generals and medical of ficers, called by you at the palace VIC were all, as you know, unanimous i'll our view as to what should be done with the army 10 keep Us here, iii the opinion of every officer commanding division or q brigade, simply involved the destruction of thousands. There is no possible reason for not shipping prac- tically the entire command north at once. Yellow fever cases are very few in the cavalry division, where 1 con- mand, and ill one or two brigades, and not one true case of yellow fever has oc- cured in this division, except among men sent to the hospital at Siboney, where they have, I believe, con- tracted it. But in this division there has been 1900 cases of malarial fever. Not man died from 1t but the whole command Is so weakened arS shattered as to be ripe for dying like rot, ten sheep when real yellow fever cpl demie, instead of the fake epidemic, like the present, strikes us, as it is bound to do if we stay here at the height of the sickness season, August and the begin ming of September. All Of us are cer- tain, as soon as the authorities at Wash ington fully appreciate the condition of the army will be sent home If we are kept here, it will, in all human possibil- ity, mean appalling disaster, for the sur geons here estimate that over half the men, if kept here during the sickly sea- son will die
 1.-The four immune regiments ordered here are sufficient to garrison the city and surrounding towns, and there is absolutely nothing for us to do here, and has not been since the city surrendered. It is impossible to move into the interi- or. Every shifting of camp doubles the sick rate i'll our present weakened con- dition and anyhow the interior is rath- CT worse than the coast.
 ssI write only because cannot see our men who fought so bravely and who en- dured extreme hardships and danger so uncomplainingly to go to destruction without striving, so far as lies i'll me, to avert doom as fearful as it is unnecessa- " and undeseryed. J
 After Colonel Roosevelt had taken the 1nlt1dItNB t4l l4G A4lSIiGfln bllCSIS lltlb- ed in ''round robin" addressed to Gen. Shafter. They say yellow fever is not epidemic, but the army is disabled to the extent that it's efficiency is destroyed and in a condition to be practically destroyed by an epidemic of yellow fever sure to come in the near future. He says this army must be moved at once or perish. As the army can safely be moved now, the persons responsible for preventing this will be held to account for the un- necessary loss of many thousand lives.
 Major w M. Wood, chief surgeon of the First division, said the army must be moved north, ttiding with emphasis, or it will be unable to move itself.
 General Ames sent the following mes sage to Washington:
 'sHon. Charles H. Allen, assistant sec retary of war.-This army is incapable because of sickness of marching any where except to transports. If 1t is ever to return to the United States it must do so at once.
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