The Dickinson press., 1898-11-26
FOOD ! VEls l SCARCE.

FOOD VV'Els ! SCAR CiEs
coLoNEl ROOSEVELT TEsT,FtEs sE-
FORE THE WAR COMMISSION.
At Tampa and Also in Cuba He Was
Forced &, Purchase Needed Supplies.
Is Hungry Men at santiago-snys volun-e
tsers From Illinois Ate the Remnnnts
Left by His Colnnnand Lack Of Trans-s
portatlon Facilities tho Main Cause Of
the Privations.
/: NEW YORK, Nov. %. - Theodore
Roosevelt, governor-elect of New York
and late colonel of the Rough Riders,
testified before the war investigation
commission during the day. After de-,
failing the organization and equipment
of the Rough Riders Colonel Roosevelt
said:
when we reached Tampa there was
condition of utter confusion. We,
were dumped outside, mile away from
our camp No one knew where the
camp was. There was no one to tell
where to go or what to do.
''After waiting "a hours / took the
law into my own hands and bought
food for the men and hospitals. Fur
thermore, when we found our camp we.
were all right"
ECsox 1,1v Ca, TN, r,,.. .Sr,,
Colonel Roosevelt said great condi-
ton of confusion existed at Tampa.
Nobody seemed to know anything and
no arrangements were evident as to
what transports were to be used. His
own regiment was assigned to the Yuca-
tan. incidentally he heard that the.
Seventy first New York volunteers and
Second infantry were also assigned to
the Yucatan. As soon as he heard that
he hurried on the Rough Riders and
took possession of the ship and held it
against other regiments. His men had
decided to get to Cuba and they got
there. az
Replying to other questions Colonel
Roosevelt said the food was sample and,
with the exception of the canned roast
beef, good. The beef was very bad.
The Landing at Gaiqairl.
Colonel Roosevelt told of the voyage
to Cuba and of the Decentralization of
the regiment at Daiquir. The regi-
ment was one of the first to land.
Colonel Shaw, who was associated
with Colonel Roosevelt in the navy Ge-
partment, sent Cuban pilot on board
the Yucatan and he took the transport
mile and half nearer shore than any of
the other transports. There was great
scarcity of material for landing men,
hospitals and supplies.
Colonel Roosevelt told in detail the
march to the camping place and the
first fight with the Spaniarls, especially
condemning the black powder used by
Americans, which, he said, made them
easy targets for the enemy. The latter
used smokeless powder and were hard
to locate. Asked about the rations he
said:
bought Beans for His Men.
1--WE had the regulation rations Of
salt pork, hard tack, coffee and sugar,
but the men wanted vegetables and I
wanted to get some for them. took 40
men with the officers horses to Siboney
and tried to buy them. The depart
ment refused to sell me beans and toma-
toes unless could certify that they
were for officers consumption. /
stretched my conscience as far as I
could and then boarded a transport and
purchased about 500 pounds of beans.
The change did the men good. It was
too hot to eat nothing but the regular
rations.''
WAS your command fully supplied
with food and ammunition asked Gen
eral Wilson.
Food supply Insufficient.
1.-THE ammunition supply was excel
lent. The food was insufficient. There
was plenty of food back at Siboney. I
suppose it was lack of transportation
facilities that kept us without good
food. Had we had the mule trains that
we were forced to leave behind at camps
there would have been no lack of sup
plies.''
Replying to questions Colonel Roose-
velt said other regiments at the front
suffered from lack of supplies. One
man of the First Illinois regiment Wis
tied the Rough Riders camp and offered
81 for seven hardtacks. Two hundred
men of the regiment came to the Rough
Riders camp and ate the broken hard
tacks. The Rough Riders had enough
to eat, but it was the result of in
dividual effort and individual expendi-
ture.
Experience at Camp Wikoh.
With reference to Camp Wikoff
Colonel Roosevelt said there was great
confusion for the first few days, after
the arrival OF the troops.
During those days." he continued,
Il do not think our men were treated as
well as they should have been SO near
home, but after that there was nothing
/ could find fault with"
Were the privations greater than
you expectedy
81 think that nearly all the privations
might have been avoided if the trans
portation facilities had been been better
arranged"
TRAFFIC SUFFERED MUCH
Late Storm Was One Of the Worst in
Dozen Years.
ST. PAUL, Nov. 23.-The storm of
Monday and Tuesday, general through
out the Northwest, is conceded to be one
of the worst that has visited this sec
ion cf the country for probably 10
years. The fall of snow was less than d
foot, but the high wind accompanying
it caused the trouble. The storm was
expensive in so far as it interfered with