The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-08-24
N DETENTION CAMP
How Matters Were MiSman-
aged at Camp Wikof.
WAS NO YELLOW FEVER
And Lucky For the Country
That There Wasn't.

passengers who aligtlt from the trains
at Montauk station-and, curiously. the
one section of the camp that is indefinite
ly localized in the minds Of the officers
one may find on the platform-covers an
expanse Of sand dunes and stunted shrubs
of little less than two square miles area.
It lies just over the long elevation that
screens the whole camp from sight at
thebusy station; and its limits. for more
than a week left to the guesswork OF
strolers in the vicinity are marked, OBJ
scurely. by yellow flags. flying from short
stats stuck in the ground al long inter-
walls of distance II is nearer the landing
places than any other point in the camp
a consideration that chiefly determined
its site; but the road to it is steep so diff
fcult OF ascent that the best conditioned
men of the troops have nearly 10 exhaust
their little store of strength to make il
| and the weakest drop out Of the ranks
and lie down on the roadside until the am
! balances came TO take them on. The
quarantine regulations are 10 the effect
that no person shall have access or exit
without the written permission of Sur
| geon-General Forwood land. to enforce
| them, line of pickets is stationed at the
limits, and mounted cavalrymen guard
the approaches.
| The quarters Of the quarantined regi-
ments are scattered as widely as possible
and the men are under orders to keep
| close to them. AS a matter of fact, how
ever, free intercourse between, for in
stance, the troops from the infected La
Grande Duchesse and those from the
Miami, which arrived in good condition
has ben at all times possible without dan
| ger Of arrest or reproof; it must be said.
| though that the regiments have but
| scant interest in one another and live
pretty well to themselves. Only work of
| an imperative kind is done, suchas that
required TO keep quarters in good SAM
| tary condition-no drills, none of the
made-up duties which troops that are I'M
| dergoing the hardening process" in
| times of peace are given as practice or
for the mere sake of keeping them en-
| ployed and thus out of mischief The men
| play cards and lose and win the recently
! drawn pay that is burning holes in their
! pockets; and they play baseball and kick
a football around. The regimental bands
play for time in the afternoon on fine
days, and the men gather round to listen
! But most oft hem do nothing but rest,
! lying in the sun, If they are convalascet
and finding the warmth grateful, and in
! the shade of their tents if the sun gets
too not They have as full liberty to fol-
low their inclinations as the leisurely con-
duct of the camp will permit. The assem-
| bly, is significantly absent from the bugle
calls one hears from the top of the hill.
81 %l,A +frrr
aptly expressed to the reporter the other
day by "a cavalryman, who was walking
slowly up and down near the picket line
inhaling in deep breaths the cool sea
breaze that was blowing across the
plateau.
How does it feel to get back" he re-
! piled to a casual question. How do We
like 1t here? You have no doubt often
been in a hot, crowded room on crisp
winters night-say when they were re-
| ceivng election returns in small town,
and all the men were smoking, and the
stove was red hot, and the windows were
| shut; and you have gone from there sud
denly into the cold, pure winter air. Well
that is just the difference between here
and-down there. The feeling of relief
is just like that"
The violations of quarantine regula-
tons. before General Wheeler gave orders
to double the pickets. was more general
than supposed. The men were straying all
| about the camp-coming TO the station
few hours after landing, talking with
their friends, and doing about as they
! pleased General Young ordered that they
| should be put under arrest when they
! could be caught; out, for some reason or
other, the men had not much trouble in
| escaping observation. One Of them said
| that he had escaped" because there
| we're sentries. and there were ways Of
| dealing with both kinds" Another
said simply that he had walked out; no
one had stopped him" Some others
! laughed and said something tot ne ef-
feet that they weren't going TO give a
1 good thing away" Neneof tnem took the
1 trouble 10 conceal his uentfty as a quar-
antIned man: and at any rate it would
/ have been easy enough 10 tell that ''he
had been in Cuba" Their pallid faces
and unkempt persons are bad givea-
WAYS" as one OF them said. But, not
wirhstanding this. officers who had au-
thority 10 order them back, II they cared
10 exert it, ignored their violation OF a
regulation that was supposed 10 be neces-
sa-y and rigiGIy lived up 70. Occasionally.
AMI more frequently after some com
plants were made. a man would be or
dered TO his quarters IL voice Of an
ger He might obey. and re might pre-
tend TO: Il depended solely on the fellow 5
inclination. Il was easy 10 walk OF
toward the detention camp. 70 take a
sharp turn. and hide behind a shed until
-r- = -
return. Men went through this method
OF evasion three and four times on q
single morning. And. as i IS not known
20 civilians. who were watching the
course OF events closely. that even one
arrest was made, CT that one man was
escorted back 70 MS quarters
TIE man VINO was. perhaps. the most
persistent ofIender-was a Rough Rider,
J and lad been a newspaper writer before
ne euiste7-excused himself By saying
that RE regulations wer an rot. any
way and man wasn't bound \ honor
( % obey them Z re could avoid Il" Re
"poo-hoohed the fear % contag-on call
ing i "driyeT' and SO tortA. and said.
with ire utmost candor and coEh6ezcs,
tSzt ne thought Re knew wat he was
taking soout'--ne had seen yellow fever
II nis time and hzd handed yellow fever
patients and had come OCT a. right"
Why" he concluded. - yellow Fewer
germ w0aid commit suicide y coming 50
far north as this-2nd they're TOO cute
for ta4;-"
Another private remarked. n excuse.
chat me officers were breaking he guar
anime. 80 why shouldn't ne DO it7-' This
recalled al incident q .eE days ago