Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-08-30
AT M0NTAUK POINT
Our Soldiers Camping on Their Ma
tive Soil.
NEARLY ALL SICK OR WEAKENED
Big Wagon Filled With Letters
From Home.
Special From STAFF Correspondent.
CAMP WIkOFF, MONTAUK POINT, L

Special From Staff Correspondent.
CAMP WIKOFF', MONTAUK POINT, l.. T..
August IS 1898.
Those who have visited this camp and
have seen the thousands of emaciated SOL
diers who took part in the Cuban campaign
will never have the sight effaced from their
memory. Strong, athletic men who en-
barked for Santiago short time ago have
come off the transports mere wrecks of
what they formerly were. Your CORES
pendent saw the 9Th Cavalry going down
Pennsylvania avenue, in Washington,
about four months ago. They were on
their way from Fort Myer to the depot,
where they toek train for the south.
They were picked men. Every one of them
was an athlete trained to horsemanship
and given to performing feats requiring
strength and skill. They were the rough
est of rough riders, and they went down
the avenue on their spirited horses they sat
erect their faces showing the pride they
felt in going forth to a contest at arms
They are now in camp here, but no one
would ever recognize in the broken men
those magnificent fellows of four months
ago. They came ashore from the transport
which brought them home walking I'M
steadily and slowly, many of them leaning
on their stronger comrades for support and
all showing great change wrought by hard
ships.
Appear Physically Broken.
So 1t is with the District of Columbia
Volunteers. The strong, manly fellows who
left nome in high spirits now appear to be
physically broken. Partial starvation has
done more than anything else to weaken
them, and In thr9e-fourthS of their cases a
few weeks of a life of ease, together with
good diet, will produce as great a change
as that which has taken place during the
past two months. In many instances 1t
Will require months of careful nursing to
restore these men to the health they for
nerly enjoyed.
The sick reports are very deceptive docu-
ments. When the District of Columbia
troops came ashore your correspondent
vas told that there were ninety-five cases
of sickness among 514 men. 1t is true that
but ninety-fve men were brought ashore
and taken directly to the hospital in the
ambulances, but there wers as many more
called convalescents, who, at home, would
have been under the doctors care, many
of them suffering from fever, while nearly
all of the 514 men we're more or less ser
iously troubled with bowel complaints 1t
vas only here and there that a man could
be seen to move along as if he We're COM
raratively well. They We're thin of person
and thoroughly tagged out WHEN they were
not actually sick.
Work of Red Cross Society.
The ninety-five men recorded as being
sick Were brought ashore first, and were
soon followed by the balance of the two
battalions. AS the latter were brought
ashore they were given sandwiches and
coffee by Red Cross Society agents. The
light bread, buttered and encasing slice
of sweet ham, was devoured eagerly by
nearly all the men, for even sick men who
had been living on musty bareback, canned
roast beef in a questionable condition, and
sour canned tomatoes had their appetites
tempted by the food of kind they had not
known for many weeks.
As they came ashore those who were too
weak to march to the detention camp a
mile away We're told to step aside and wait
for the army wagons to come for them. The
balance proceeded up the sandy road and
ever the hills to their camp.
After visiting the men in their camp and
in the hospital your correspondent returned
to Montauk and there found forty of the
District volunteers, most of them laying on
H.
up by the side of tent were two men
wrapped in their blankets from head TO
feet They were shivering with a chill as
they lay out in the sun during the warmest
part of very warm day. Other men were
sick, and the eyes of one of them presented
a fixed stare that alarmed his comrades,
and he was taken to the hospital in an am
bu;ance.
What Are Recorded az Well Men.
1t must be remembered that these were
the well men of the regiment, though they
did not feel strong enough to walk
mile and carry their blankets, cartridge
belts and rifles. There were forty of them,
and they had waited there in the hot sun
from two to three hours; but the wagons
had not come. That, however was merely
one of the constantly occurring incidents to
which every one in Camp Wikoff is becom-
ing accustomed. The men would probably
have remained there two or three hours
longer but, acting The Stars instruc-
lions TO lend all possible aid in caring for
the soldier boys, your correspondent hired
carriages in which the sick men were driv-
en- to camp and wagons in which the equip
ments of the entire party were carried
Then buckets of cold, sweet milk were
IUlNIs-Seu ana all Tiied their tin with
the white fluid until they could drink no
more refreshed and relieved of the
heavy burdens, the men who felt able to
walk marched TO camp, the others taking
carriages. They were all soon under can
vas roofs, where they could lie down in
comfort.
All Get Letters.
Before supper was ready for the men a
big express wagon filled with mail sacks.
all containing letters for the District of
Columbia troops, arrived in camp from the
station and there was general rejoicing
But there was scarcely a sheet of writing
paper. an envelope or a lead pencil in camp
Il was practically impossible for the men
to write home, but early this morning q
mammoth package containing stationery
enough for the entire regiment to write to