davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04


That the present clamor about the mortal
ity and disease in the armies is absurd Of
fetal statistics regarding the armies en-
gagged in the war r~Ehe Union will show.
On the basis of three years service. the
names of 2143,855 individuals were on the
muster rolls of that war. Those armies
fought some of the bloodiest battles in mod
ern times, yet the killed : and MORALLY
wounded numbered but H007O, while those
who died from all other. causes numbered
249,45S That is, the loss by battle was
81 per cent, or a little more than five men
to each one hundred, while the loss by other
causes was 11.6 per cent. or more than
eleven and half men to each hundred.
The total loss by battle disease, ETC., was
1867 per cent, or more than sixteen and a
half men of every one. hundred individuals
in the Union armies The deaths by dis
ease were 1929. to which should be added
the 24,866 who died in Confederate prisons.
and the 1854 who died of other causes than
battle, making the total number of deaths
by disease 240 45O. Thus, 11.2 per cent. died
of disease, while 81 per cent died In battle.
uted 15O,17 men to the Union armies. The
total number of deaths was 26.672, of which
1922 were killed or mortally wounded, and
1929 died of other causes than battle. In
other words, 4S men of every one hundred
sent by this State died of battle and 1873
men of every one hundred of disease, includ-
ing accidents. These figures show that in
Of
bloody fields and almost incessant fighting,
disease was equal to more than two rebel
armies for the destruction of Union troops.
1t may be asked how many of these men
who died of disease died because of army
privations. Let us turn to the tables of in
surance actuaries to find basis of COM
parison. The average age of men in the
army was twenty-three years. In selecting
risks, the insurance actuaries proceed up
on the basis of eight deaths to each 900
healthy men of that age. Assuming the
strength of the army to have been 1000 600
men for four years, it appears that 80, 900 of
those deaths would have occurred in time
of peace. The loss from other causes than
battle being 240,4O0, it appears that the vi
cisstudes of soldiers life increased the
deaths from disease seven and half times
There are no figures at hand to show the
number of men discharged from the army
because of disability incurred by disease. 1t
is known that over 100000 men were dis
charged for disability, and from other fig
ures it is fair to assume that two-thirds of
the discharges had their cause in disease.
AS matter of fact, 3 large part of the
armies were absent from their commands,
as the following figures, representing the
combined strength of the Union armies at
different periods will show:
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

be caught on steel gratings. pulverized.
passed TO the bottom of the shaft in a
12-inch tube. and then washed away in a
stream from centrifugal pumps Before
making blast the chamber would be rolled
to the other side of the shaft.
The idea of Admiral Makaroff the Rus
sian explorer, that powerful steamer can
be forced directly to the North Pole is rath-
er startling, yet 1t has basis of experience.
Ice-breakers have been used since 1854 in
Russia. and in their improved American
form, with two screws at the stern and one
at the stem, have been made very power
full, so that the Ste Marie. of 5000 horse
power, easily sails through ice two and one
half feet thick. piercing ice-walls fifteen
rect nigh. Even more powerful vessels have
been made lately Considering Nansen's
observation that Arctic ice-walls seldom
reach height of twenty-five feet and
that all ice not melted is greatly weakened
in summer. Admiral Makaroff believes that
an ice-breaker of 10000 horsepower should
penetrate to the pole in twelve days from
latitude Is degrees north. forcing passage
through ice from four to seven feet thick
In practice he would use two smaller spe-
clal lce-breakers, as their power can be
combined when necessary
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

Not long since New York paper selated
a story to the effect that of ten men who
were asked what character in fiction they
would prefer to take out to dinner nine of
the ten responded Becky Sharp. When the
same question was put to ten women nine
of them answered Vernon Whitford. This
paragraph, which was reprinted in the Jour
nal. brought at once shower of inquiries.
The questioners. all of them well read and
intelligent, confessed frankly that they did
not have the pleasure of Vernon Whitfords
acquaintance and asked where he might
be found Some hazarded the theory that
he figured in one of the recent popular
novels, else nine out of ten women would
not so readily recall his name. Others sus-
pected that he might be character in one
OF the not invariably entertaining works
known as standard novels which they
had long felt 1t a duty to read some day
when nothing more agreeable offered, and
acknowledged lurking sense Of suit over
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

These figures are suggestive in that they
show the rapid increase of. the number of
absentees the months of the war length
ened into years. which indicates, in spite of
the constantly increasing number of desert
ers and malingerers, that the number
broken by disease in the hospitals and in
homes was constantly increasing and must
have constituted large percentage Of the
absentees.
The percentage Of absentees in the corps
which fought the battles of the war was
even much larger than the foregoing figures
indicate. This fact appears in the History
of the Second Corps" one of the best, com.
manded by Major General Hancock, who
looked after matters. Aug. 81, 1863 after
the severe campaign eliminating at Gettys-
burg, 57.75 per cent. of the corps was
absent. OF 1873 men present" LA, or
more than 10 per cent, were present sick, -
and ,7SS were absent-largely broken down
by the severity of the campaign. In April,
1864. after the most strenuous efforts to get
men into their commands for the Grant
campaign, 1916 per cent. of the corps was
absent, and a year later, when the cam
paign which ended at Appomattox was
begun, only 46.10 per cent of the men were
present for duty" The statistics of all the
fighting corps of the war showed similar
absenteeism. At no time during the great
campaigns of 1854 and 1865 were over one
third of the men enrolled with the armies
which fought the battles Many men were
doing duty, equally useful, in holding lines
of railway. conquered country or defend
ing cities. Scarcely an Indiana regiment
engaged in the battle of Chickamauga had
five hundred men in battle. the others on
their rolls being disabled and absent chiefly
because of disease. If any of the fighting
regiments of Indiana had returned home at
any period of the war after six months or a
years service, bringing every living man on
its rolls, as did Colonel S,udebaker's regi-
ment, one-third of the number would have
been reported present sick
| In view of these facts, which, in a real
war, caused no clamor beyond the columns
of copperhead papers and the tongues of
copperhead demagogues is it not time that
sensible people should refuse to be the vic
| Tins of the sensational falsehoods of yellow
NEWSPAPERS?
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

Editor Box, of the Ladies' Home Journal,
kindly approves of womens clubs if they
keep within proper limits. so long," he
says, las a womans club keeps within its
sphere-that of the social, mental and edu-
cational improvement of the sex and the
children-and does not extend and take up
political questions and go into maelstrom
Of purely municipal matters, the conduct
of which it is not given women to rightly
understand, and in which they can do TO
good. but, on the contrary, effect much
harm, it serves a purpose high and
mighty" Hevings! How ashamed the
women's municipal leagues and local coun-
ellis. The members of college settlements
and individual women in every city and
town of the country who have interested
themselves in municipal housekeeping will
feel when they find that they have been
nseddling in what is not given them to I'M
derStand
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

Why Is 1t that but few married men ever
pity old Observation-Disclosures Breeze
The almighty dollar has no hypocritical
worshippers at its shrine--Rams Horn.
The microbe never bothers the man who
is unaware of its existence.-Chicago News.
man cannot leave a better legacy to the
world than well-educated family-Thomas
Scott.
Invalids outlive healthy people because in-
valids take care of themselves.-Chicago
Record
If everybody had a sense of humor stupid
people couldn't make a living-Chicago
Record
Many waters cannot quench love: 1t takes
something strong enough to scent up the
breath.-Puck.
Some people have weak eyes simply be-
cause they are located in d weak place.
Chicago News.
Handsome men gifted with good sense are
equally as scarce as clever pretty women.
Chicago News.
The man who wants the earth probably
never stopped to think what the taxes
would be.-Puck.
When a great man dies, for years the
light he leaves behind him lies on the paths
Of men.-Longfelow
Why is there always bargain sale of gas
stoves when you are seeking drapery nets?
Feminine Observer.
We are always complaining that our days
are few. and acting as though there would
be no end of them.-Seneca.
If husbands had to buy their wives new
trousseau every six months there would be
fewer divorces--The Bachelor.
There are some things that money cannot
buy. but how many of us care anything
about them?-Philadelphia Times.
A mans greatest misfortune. perhaps. Is
to be outclassed by the greatness that is
thrust upon him.-Detroit Journal.
Yo can always tai ven yo see couple goin
down street hand in hand Diet dey hat not
bane marry very long.-Denver Times.
A girl never thinks that three is a crowd
If the two consists of two masculine adj
mirers and herself.-Feminine Observer.
None of us ever feel that we are really
ignorant until we are under the hot fire of
child's Observation-Disclosures Times.
Lots of men join a secret society because
they think its emblem will show up we'll on
their watch chains.-Detroit Free Press.
The widower who mourns the loss of his
first wife sometimes has the period of his
mourning extended by taking a second.
Denver Times.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

The appointment of General Lawton to
the command of the Department of San
tiago is regarded as a singularly fortunate
one on account of his popularity with the
Cubans. A Santiago dispatch says:
In establishing the civil government here
General Lawton has decided to employ
Cuban officers as far as. poSsiole. General
Castillo will have an important place. He
will act as adviser to. General Lawton in
making the appointments General Castillo
enjoys General Lawtons confidence, and his
extensive acquaintance among the Cubans
makes his services valuable. General Law
ton believes that the selection of Cuban of
ficers for important places will have good
effect and will accomplish the disbanding of
the Cuban forces quicker than any other
scheme.
General Lawton seems to be somewhat of
a. diplomatist as well as a good soldier. AS
the Americans are masters. of the situation
in Cuba, it will be perfectly safe and good
policy to recognize r'thet better class of
Cubans as far as possible in establishing
local government. If the island can be paci-
fed by tact and diplomacy that will be
much better and cheaper than doing it by
war.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04
PARIsIANs ARE QUEER.
Their Wild Farewell to s.The TOmbsr
of France.
Pail Mall Gazette,


For some time past it has been decided
cept La Saute conducted on the most
approved mod Urn lines), and to rebuild
them somewhere in the provinces. MaZas
prison-that gloomy structure just opposite
the Care de Lyon--has of late been utilized
solely for the confinement of persons on re-
mand. Its numerous cells, arranged on the
circular system, were in most cases empty,
and as remanded prisoners cannot be sub
Jected to the same stringent discipline as
convicted criminals they had fallen into a
have made the final bluDder of throwing the
prison open to those members of the pubic
who might wish to visit IT from curiosity.
The consequences have heen deplorable.
prison for the purpose Of showing visitors
around. and doubtless they counted upon
plentiful harvest of tips. But Of the four
hundred odd persons who presented them
selves at the prison door in the guise of vssi-
tors on the day that the ancient building
was thrown open all except two or three
were ex-convicts and malef Ictors whose OBJ
ject 1t was to make hay amid the sur
roundngs of their former confinement. as
They rushed in a body along the corri-
and breaking everything they could lay
their hands on. Doors were reduced to
splnterS windows were smashed. the few
trees planted in the prisoners exercise yard
were torn up, and finally the mob divided
into two armies and fought a playful bat.
tie with Drickbats and stones. The con-.
demned cell in particular was wrecked and
Its walls covered with bizarre inscriptions
A terrible fear seized the two or three re-
spectacle visitors who had been admitted
with the mob, and they made complaint TO
the nearest police commissary lthe ward
ers had been overpowered). and ultimately
the prison was cieared by a strong body
Of police 1t will be kept closed in future.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

years. has become the tool of the War De-
partment. and as such has turned HARP The
horror-makers must do something to Gen.
eral Wheeler. now that he has charged them
with creating agonizing anxiety in the minds
of parents all over the country by their
falsehoods of privation and starvation. They
must make answer to his charge that they
have caused parents with little money to
spend it in Fastening to Montauk Point to
look after furnishing sons who are abundant
ly provided for. The horror-makers thus ar
Wheeler's arraignment. because silence is
confession.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

out of Mrs Druce's purpose. AS a plot for
novel this would SAVIOR of the cheapest
sensationalism. and any seIf-respecting nov
eIist would scorn it as material but. not
outstanding, its offers great opportunities.
and the further developments may be yet
more strange than the. most ingenious fic-
ton.
Some very remarkable things are hap
pening, too, in Zola's field-events so large
and far reaching that even he would hardly
have dared to set them forth as possibilities.
Certainly it is not necessary in these days
for the novelist with feeble imagination to
do without ,ts of the mostselaborate and
complicated sort. All he needs to do is to
read the papers.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04
GENERAL WHEELER'S DAUGHTER.
She Was a Nurse in Cuba, and Is Now
at MOntauk.


Miss Wheeler is one Of the busiest nurses in
the camp. She went to Cuba volunteer
nurse on the transport Lampasas and when she
came here on the Olivette she again offered her
services as a nurse and was accepted.
When reached Cuba said Miss Wheeler, In
speaking Of her experience there, we heard
we were not allowed to land for some time There
were thirty immune nurses on board and they
off, but appealed to General Miles and he gave
me permit to go on shore at once. ! was the
only nurse not immune who left the ship
II put boat hospital, where the men
had no beds and only army food could be got
for them to eat. The Red Cross supplied them
with cots, linen pyjamas. mosquito nets and all
the food and medicine that they needed. re-
manned there for month, and in that short time
/ saw more misery than l ever imagined could
exist. Men in ali stages of yellow fever and
swamp fever were brought in. One of the cases
was that of Captain Federle. of the Eighth Ohio,
who was very i'll. and was among number Of
sick who were ordered to be sent to the hospital
across the bay, where most of the yellow fever
were He asAed me to write a letter to his
wife and children telling them that he just
little i'll and that he would be well soon. We
did not think that he would live but when left
he was better.
81 never allowed myself to think Of the danger
of staying there. and besides. ! worked from day
break until late at night. When came home
intended to take short rest but felt like
a fire horse out Of harness that here.
Miss Wheeler is disinclined to talk very much
Of what she has done. A friend who wes with
her on the Oivette, however, says that she toiled
necessarily day and night, and that there not
a the ship who was not Indebted to the
quiet little woman for many comforts and acts of
kindness When the patients died on the ship on
the voyage and had to be buried, there was no
chaplain there to read the prayers. and Miss
Wheeler volunteered to perform the Office. At
the service.
sOne by which Miss Wheeler won the
affection of the soldiers her declaration:
II here to help the privates. Every one
helps the officers, but the private, who does the
work and Is as brave as anycne, is too often for.
to join her in the hospital this week.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

the fact that they had neglected the duty
The number of these, frankly ignorant per-
sons led the Journal to- suspect that others
less ready to betray themselves might be
equally in the dark. and thereupon a num-
Der of men and women of intellectual pro-
clivities and pretensions-mem of high
standing in literary clubs. literary editors
ctc..-were put to the test, with a result
that confirmed the suspicion. They did not
know Vernon Whitford and intimated a
conviction, based, evidently, on the ground
that they did not know him. that he could
not be a parsonage of consequence.
Nevertheless, as Whitford is a char
acter in George Meredith's 'Egoist. p
and as no club member or literary editor is
so daring as TO publicly whistle Meredith
down the wind, whatever his private pref
udice toward that author, it must be adj
mitted that the case is against the so-called
literary persons. They should not take the
discovery of their ignorance hard, however
1t is no disgrace. even to a club member
not to have read all the standard novels;
It is no disgrace to confess a lack of ac-
quaintance with even more serious literature
in these days of many books; in particular
there is no cause for humiliation in not
being familiar with Meredith. Merediths
works it is true, rank high among those ap
preciated only by the elect. but there is am
pie room fer the belief that they are pretty
sure to be found on the shelves set apart
even by the elect, for books to be carefully
read some time in the vague future. And
why, indeed, should they not be? If one
takes no pleasure in Merediths involved
and laborious style and finds the delving for
his nuggets of wit and wisdom a wearisome
occupation and his philosophical disquisi-
tons heavy, why spend time on them mere
ly for the empty satisfaction of having per-
formed task that admits them to ex
elusive intellectual cult? 1t is a false and
superficial idea of what constitutes literary
culture that leads men and women to de-
vote themselves to Meredith, to Ibsen, to
Maeterlinck. to Browning to any writer in
whom they have no genuine enjoyment, for
the sake of saying that they know" such
authors. That there may be real intellec-
tual pleasure in reading these authors no
one will deny. but that 1t is not felt by all
certain.
AS for Vernon Whitford. it can hardly be
believed that of any ten reading women
taken at random nine would express pref
erence for him. In the first place, so large
a proportion would not be acquainted with
the character. and. secondly, if they were,
who so credulous as to believe that nine out
Of ten women would admire the same man?
Moreover. Vernon Whitford is an impossibly
perfect being, and it is unfortunately the
case that in real life men whose virtues APP
preach his even remotely are not always
favorites with women. IF men enjoy the
society of the witty but wicked Becky Sharp
women may as humanity prefer a spice of
wickedness in a partner at dinner. 1t seems
just possible, at least, that the women who
chose Whitford deceived themselves. and if
they had been put to a test would have
passed that immaculate gentleman by.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04
Boston Transcrint.

Boston transcript.
Mrs. Atwood, of Denver and Kansas CITY.
is engaged in a work of which ordinary
phiEanthropists may learn some practical
lessons She is tramp hrer and has been
in the employ of the Union Pacific road for
a dozen years. hiring hoboes TO go to work
on the road. Naturally the railroad corpo-
ration is hiring men because il needs their
labors on the road, which I'm one place
stretches over the famous thousand miles
without a tree. And If Mrs. Atwood en-
joys aiding In the transforming OF ioafers
into honest sons OF toll. she also works for
her living in travelling about engaging them.
It is no wonder that her services have be-
come Indispensable TO the road She has an
intuitive faculty of perceiving whether or
not a man has any power to work i'm him
or whether he is born incurably lazy. When
big brawny men sitting idly about see a
little curly-headed woman come up with
smile and ask IL they wouldn't like good
steady job at so much day. almost every
mothers son of EN- is ashamed to tell her
he won't try IL. Laborers are very scarce
now from Kansas City TO Oregon. and Mrs.
Atwood has to travel a good deal to fulfill
the requests of her employers. but IL Is
mighty useful work she is doing. il she
could be appointed hobo-hustleF- in-general.
for the United States, and II all the tramps
could be got at work and kept al work we
should be even nearer that mlllennial hour
in our history which optlmistS think that
they see drawing nearer IN these latter
days.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

TIE hospital records of the late war show
that 6,O49,64S cases were treated. This is
equivalent to treating every soldier in that
four years war about three times. During
the war 2S5,245 menswer discharged for
disability, only 1920 being for gunshot
wounds, which leaves PSI ,O36 as being dis
charged for disease. TO this number add
the 24O. 400 dying of disease. and we have
z91 900 as the victims of disease. For every
man discharged for gunshot wounds seven
were discharged for disabling disease.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

Those papers which are devoting them
selves to the free and unlimited coinage Of
war horrors disposed of the report OF Gen.
Boynton in a most summary manner. He is
not only friend of the administration, these
papers shout, but he selected Chickamauga
as the site OF camp. While he might have
= matter OF record that 1t was fixed by army
officers But what will these horror-manu-
1aeturers 40 with Gen. Joseph Wheeler, who
has given them such a singing arraign-
ment2 Will they charge that this man. who
has been in the front lighting rank Of Dem
oorats IN canaress for more than dozen
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04

The Spanish government has published a
decree calling out 10000 troops, of which
10000 are said to be for the colonies" The
press censor at Madrid permits no explana-
ton of the call to be sent out, except that
the troops designated for the colonies are
presumably for the Philippines" Some
persons may construe this as threatening a
renewal of hostilities with the United
States, but that is not at all probable 1t is
more likely sort of bluff for home effect,
to create the impression that the govern
ment still has some vitality.