The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-12-05
ON BOARD THE
TRANSPORT CHESTER
INTERESTING LETTER FROM r.
c. CoLBoRN.
He Left This City with a Party Of
Recruits and Went to Huntsville,
Alabama-He Is Now on Trans
port en- Route for Cuba Where the
Regiment of Regulars to Which
He Is Now Attached Will Do Gar
rison Duty.

rison Duty.
The following interesting letter has
been received by The Tribune from r.
c. Colborn, brother of Attorney A. j.
Colborn, who recently enlisted in the
regular army and is now en- route for
Cuba.
On Board L. $. Transport Chester, q
Company Fifteenth L. S. Infantry, Nov.
29,-1Iaving so many Lackawanna and
Luzerlo county boys with our regiment 1
Thought perhaps IL letter from one of
them would be Of interest to many of
your large number of subscribers. Alto
gether there are over two hundred men
ir the rtEmelt from the northeastern
part of the old keystone state, and L
havo great faith in their ability TO be-
come thorough soldiers and credit to
the community from whence they came.
The discipline in the regular army Is
Il schooling in itself and VIII prove a
lasting blessing to many of the boys. who
| heretofore have never felt the hand of
restriction ever them.
Those boys who enlisted with the eXpec-
| tation of having feather beds to sleep
on with down" pillows and all home COM
| forts tand there are someD will suffer
great disappointment and had better have
| remained at home. The true life of q
| soldier in the United States army has
| been grossly misrepresCnted by all cor
| respondents after whom | have ever read,
and the boys in blue" placed in a false
| light before the publicA | was never so
| agreeably disappointed in my life as with
the regular army boys, and army life in
general, and feel that at the expiration
of my enlistment l will be much wiser
and better man.
FINE BODY OF MEN.
Instead of finding a rough, uncouth, sell
| fish crowd | found a crowd of big heart
cd, honest, generous fellows always will
| ing to assist and instruct a recruit with
| out pretCnse towards domneering over
| them. True, it affords amusemct to most
| of them to wctCh the actions of the
Rockies" (as they term recruits, but
never an uEknd word is spoken. our
regiment Is offiCered by educated, talent
| ed gentlemen, who seem to be always
solicitous of the welfare and comfort Of
the men under them. No complaint can
be made of the character and quantity
| of the food, but, of course, those who en-
pect "Hotcl Jermyn" fare will have to
bring it with them.
| The trip south to Huntsville Alabama,
was a pleasant one, with the exception
of shortage Of rations, six sandwiches
| only being given each man upon leaving
Scranton for a forty-hour trip. and when
it, declared 1t an outrage and 1t is evil
dent that some one is making a good
thing" at the expense of the recruits.
| The boys all think the sunny South
a myth for We encountered more severe
weather here than any experienced be-
fore leaving home. Alabama and Georgia
are the most barren looking states ! ever
visited; nothing but corn and cotton
fields, with old brokcn-down shanties 70
live in Their Is no spark of progress
| iveness or enterprise here. only that
which comes from the Yankee and
| their railway service is fully ten years
behind the north. The attention from
conductors and trainmen generally is
anything but courteous, and information
given as though it were d great effort
land condescensOn.
| The wages paid at one Of the large cog
ton mills would scarcely be believed un-
less a personal visit ana inquiry be made
Goys receive II cents per day, Iahorers
from 30 to SO cents per day, and the
highest price paid any cmploye is $50
which is paid ths engineer. LaborerS on
the railroads receive 80 cents per day,
etc, most of the vmrk is done by colOrcd
people as a majority of the whites are
too lazy to work.
HELP Is SCARCE.
The planters find difficulty in getting
help to pick cotton, as the darkies tind
1t more profitable to hang about the
camps doing chores for the soldiers
selling pies, cakes, etc, and doing their
washing. Altogether there are lJ,0Gj
troops encamped here, and some terrible
crimes have been committed by the sol
diers who INDUCED too freely in corr
whiskey."
All of the serious crimes and murders
have been traced to the volunteer reSi,
ments. who lack the severe discipline al
the regulars" and do not punnish as
severely, nor place the same restraint
upon their men. Friday morning orders
to pack up" were received, and I never
witnessed such a scene of activity. Ev'
cry man had a duty to perform and nc
one allowed to shirk. At $50 p. m. the
regiment started, leaving in three sectiont
of Pullman sleepers, reaching Savannah
Ga, at a. m. Sunday morning We re
mained aboard the cars until p. m
when the entire regiment, headed by tht
lregimental band marched to the trans
port Chester lying at the dock in waiting
for us.
Here the trouble began to brew" NJ
words are severe enough, no censur,
| strong enough to apply to the govern
ment transportation department for thu
accommodations given the men. Imagine
If possible, $50 men living and sleeping II
a space 40 by GO feet and eight feet high
Sleeping in hammocks placed one abov
the other with space of one foot he
tween, with no sign of ventilation, an,
sanitary conditions ignored entirely. Onl.
one toilet room for 1900 men, with n,
place to wash. The deck OF the ship 4
occupied by 250 mules and horses whicl
shuts off all possibility of breathing pur
air or having exercise.
Talk of war Investigations, why, righ
! here is a chance for some noble hearte'
philanthropist to immortalze himself b!
starting inquiries and Investigations int
the outrages perpetrated on the men be
ing sent to foreign lands for garrison
duty There is absolutely no excuse 70
1t on the part of the government official
connected with the war department. Ou