The state herald., 1898-09-02
WHY SOLDIERS DIE.
MANY OF THEM ARE STARVED.
Sick Men Had Nothing That They Could
Eat-Aiger Rip, up Lot of Red Tape
to Save Lives.

to Save Lives.
Chicago, Aug. 29.-The correspond
ent of the Record sends the following
dispatch from Montauk Point, Long
Island:
DIR. Mott, who has witnessed almost
every landing since Camp Wikof was
established, says the Second Massa
chusetts was In the most distressing
condition of any that had returned
! from Santiago. 1t came on the Mo
bile and had over 700 sick, many OF
them actually starving because they
could not eat the food that was served
| TO them.
Upon all these transports the re-
turning troops, sick and well, have
been served the regular army field rn'
tions-that is, SO many pounds pei
day of salt pork. salt beef, beans. po'
tatoes and hardtack. No provision
was made for those who were sick
| with typhoid and malarial fevers or
dysentery, which are the diseases
most common and from which nine
tenths of the men on the sick list are
suffering. and there is where the
| wickedness and the criminal neglect
of the medical and commissary corps
comes in.
| A surgeon must be either vicious OF
mean who will place 700 typhoid OF
| dyscntery patients upon n diet of salt
| meat and harltnck. If lie tried u In
an ordinary hospital he would be sent
TO n lunatlc asylum. 1t was only n
few months ago that an army surgeon
i was court-martialcd and placed on the
retired list as non compos mentis be-
cause he wrote an article for n medi-
cal Journal to prove that the use of
salt was injurious instead of beneficial
to the human system.
But when the salt meat Is putrid
and the hardtack moldy, like that
which was fed TO the Massachusetts
soldiers on the Mobile. II becomes n
crime for which somebody should be
punished. for several men from that
rcglment-among others the Colonel
Began of whom | wrote from Boston
actually died of starvation. They
had been sick of the fever in the San
tiago hospitals. and being discharged
as convalesccnt We're sent home and
were fed upon putrid meat and moldy
lardtack. which their stomachs re-
jected. one of the soldiers of the See
ond Massachusetts told me that he
used 10 rub the green mold off his
hardtack with his sleeve and then
crumble II into his coffee. The coffee
was SO strong that he didn't taste the
mold and he got along very well. But
lots of the boys couldn't drink the cof-
fee. Nothing would stay on their
stomachs.
Lieutenant Wade of the Rough Rid
ers said this morning that his troop
was given moldy hardtack several
times. What did you do;" asked.
I'VE raised merry HI" replied the
gentle dragoon.
Those who know tell me that n
dozen or more deaths in the Second
Massachusetts regiment alone may he
attributed directly to this cause, and.
rs the truth Is spreading In the state.
the people Will call the secretary Of
war or some OF his assistants TO ac-
count for II. A congressional investi-
cation Is certain. The facts. as near
MS can learn them. are that either
the medical or the commissary officers
who ordered the supplies for the trans
ports provided no dciicncics or other
food for the sick. and the only food
provided was that which had been
placed In the hold OF the transports at
Tampa when the expedition TO San
iingo was originally fitted out. and
had been exposed TO two months OF
tropical weather In the rainy season.
which would ruin kcg OF nails.
II Is n timc-honored rule In the reg
ular army, not only with MS. hut In
Europe. that all the rations on hand
must be issued and eaten before fresh
ones can be furnished. A commissary
officer receipts for so many rations
upon the blanks provided for that
purpose and Is held pecuninrlly re-
sponsiblc for them. The only way he
cnn escape liability is to ask for a
board Of survey. which IL appointed
10 Inspect any provisions reported mn.
III for food. II II condemns them they
can he destroyed: otherwise he must
make the soldiers eat them or pay for
them out Of his own pocket. or get
Congress to pass u hill authorizing the
auditors OF the treasury To settle his
accounts. This arbitrary provision of
law, which Is n terror To lunrtcrmas.
iers, commlssarics and other officers
who have. To do with government
property, explains why so much mis-.
cradle stun has been crowded down
the throais OF the army.
People who have suppressed their tx.
nspcratlon ut the acknowledgement Of M.
fairs NJ Camp Wikofr are beamlng with
qualification nt the beautiful manner
In which Secretary Alger l. ripping I'M
the red tape nnd trnmpllng down the
army regulations. Since his arrival
here the condition OF affairs has i'm.
proved IN the most extraordinary man.
ner. lie has done honor to himself ns
well as good to others. hut has horrI.
fled the mnrilncts of the army and has
set mn example of what they call "in.
sub0rdlnntinn" ana irrcgulnrliy that
they fear viii ruin the service. While
General Algcr has been NJ work In
shaking things M IN the hospitals aud
In the commlssnry nnd uuartcrmnstcr'
departments, Colonel Frank uockei
has been raging like n cyclone through
other portions of the camp and In.
made n reputation Tor energy aud .x
ccntiyr ability that win never bc for
gotten by some NJ the old fossils he hn,
coilided with. II would have been 4
blessing, I, would hnvc saved man,
| lives, II the secretary of war had mad,
his visit ten days ~ two weeks ago
hut. like every other good thing. h,
was better lnto thnn never. Hnd tho re-
forms h. hns Introduced dcmonsirui.
| III. truth of the complaints which Il,
| pronounced unfnundcd before he Ief
| Washington. Secretary Algor hnl
learned good many things since h,
came here. nnd onc of them II that th,
| hgnds uf ,nrng la his ,lpnnftm,nf mn,