Rocky Ford enterprise., 1898-09-01
WHY SOLDIERS DIE.
MANY OF THEM ARE STARVED.
Sick Men Had Nothing That They Gould
E.t-Aigsr Rips up Lot of Red Tapo
to Save Lives

Island:
DIR. Mott. who has witnessed almost
every landing since Camp Wikoff was
established, says the Second Mnssa-
chusetts was In the most distressing
condition of any that had returned
from Santiago. 1t came on the Mo-
lille 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 ra-
tions-thnt is, so many pounds per
day of salt pork. salt beef, beams, po-
tatoes and hardtack. No provision
was made for those who were sick
with typhoid and malnrial 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 or
mean who will place 700 typhoid or
dysentery patients upon n diet of snlt
meat and bareback. II he tried 1t In
an ordinary hospital he would be sent
few months ago that an army surgeon
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 bareback mO1dy. like that
which was fed to the Massachusetts,
soldiers on the Mobile. 1t becomes n
crime for which somebody should be
punished. for several men from that
regiment-among others the Colonel
Began of whom l wrote from Boston
actually died of starvation. They
had been sick of the fever In the Sam
tingo hospitals. and being discharged
rs convalesccnt We're sent home and
We're fed upon putrid meat and moldy
bareback. which their stomachs re-
jcctcd. One of the soldiers of the Sec
ond Massachusetts told me that he
used TO rub the green mold Off his
hnrdtaci with his sleeve and then
crumblc 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 molhy hnrdtack 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 be
attributed directly to this cause. and.
Lao t,, linz In, CT n ~
the people will call the secretary of
war or some of his assistants to ac-
count for 1t. a congressional investi-
cation is certain. The facts, rs near
as l can learn them. are that either
the medical or the commissary officers
who ordered the supplies for the trans
ports provided no dclicacics or other
food for the sick. and the only food
provided was that which had been
placed In the hold of the transports nj
Tampa when the expedition to San.
tiago was originally fitted out. and
had been exposed to two months Of
tropical weather in the rainy season,
which would ruin n kcg of nails.
1t is a time honored rule In the reg.
ular army. not only with us. but in
Europe. that all the rations on hand
must he issued and eaten before fresh
officer receipts for so many rntions
upon the blanks provided for tina,
purpose and is held pecuniarily re.
sponsiblc for them. The only way he
can escape liability IL to ask for n
board of survey. which Is appointed
to inspect any provisions reported un.
fit for food. If II condemns them they
can be destroyed; otherwise he must
make the soldiers eat them or pay for
them out of his own pocket. or get
Congress to pass n bill authorizing the
auditors of the treasury to settle his
accounts. This arbitrary provision of
law. which Is terror to uuartermas.
fers. commissarics and other officers
who have to do with government
property. explains why so much mis-.
cradle stun has been crowded down
the throats of the army.
People who have suppressed their ex.
ASPIRATION mt the mismanngemcnt of NJ.
fairs ut Camp Wikofr are bcaming will
qualification at the beautiful manner
in which Secretary Alger is ripping NJ
the red tape and trampling down the
army regulations. Since his arrival
here the condition of affairs has i'm.
proved in the most extraordinary man
ncr. He has done honor TO himself ms
well rs good to others. hut has horri
fled the martincts of the army and has
set an example of what they call .in
subordination" and lrregularity that
they fear will ruin the service. While
General Algcr has been ut work In
shaking things up in the hospitals and
in the commissary and quartermastcr's
departments. Colonel Frank Heckci
has been raging like n cyclone through
other portions of the camp and has
made reputation for energy and ex,
ecutivc ability that will never be for.
gotten by some of the old fossils he has
collided with. 1t would have been Il
blessing, it would have saved many
lives. If the secretary of war had made
his visit ten days of TWO weeks ago
but. like every other good thing, liz
was better late than never, and the re-
forms he has introduced demonstrate