Evening star., 1898-12-07
ON THE FIRING LINE
Gen. Breokinridge Discusses the Bat
tie of Santiago.
POLICY OF CONGRESS TOWARD ARMY
Praise Of the Rough Riders and the
Regulars.
MAJOR FECHET'S ADDRESS

The Mems Club OF the New York Avenue
Presbyterian Church met last evening ana
hstened to addresses by two men distin-
sushed IN military circles. Gen. Joseph c
brecKlnrldge' inspector general OF tha
army talked about the firing line at sam
tiago. and Maj. Eugene Fechet, dlsbursine,
officer of the United States signal corps.
told OF his experiences during three years
just after the close of the civil war. v-Lsu
he was connected with the milltar, service
of the Egyptian government
Gen. Breckenridge compared the rot.5f,t,u,
Of the army and navy at the breaking ON,
or hostilities, showing that the navy ~.
prepared In every detail for the clash that
was to come, while the army was In no
way prepared for war because OF the course
that had been pursued by Congress toward
that branch of the armed service He said
IL the country is 10 have a citizen soldt4ry
ana Congress, representing these citizens.
refuses to make proper provision for war.
theh there must be unnecessary SUFFERING.
when the country is forced into armed con-
flct, The dash Of Dewey's feet at AIaniI.
was the result of thorough preparedn, =,
~hich could never be approached hy land
I"rces until an entirely different policy to-
ward the army is adopted by Congress
Errors of LegisIatIop.
Continuing, Gen. Breckenridge said,
i was sent out 10 inspect the volunteer
camps of the army. I could tell OF scenes.
that would harrow your feelings. and 1
could tell of some places where ther, Wa,
suffering. due not alone TO ignorance. hut
also to inattention TO the proper equipment
of the army branch Of the government.
There is no doubt that every one was ini
earnest tif1 IN endeaNors TO meet the difffeul-
ueS that had to be overcome, but there.
We're new problems presenting themse{y,st
problems which long since had been met
and provided against by other nations Be
SIDES the corrections it was the duty of my
Office to make, there were errors OF legis-
Iation which could not be corrected or
changed. One instance of this was the
sight that presented itself at the heds OF
some of the typhoid fever patients. At one
stage of the disease, when the patteuts
We're unconscious or even worse. swarms
OF flies gathered about their mouths and
on some of the patients these flies would
settle and remain. This was to be seen
until the arrival OF the trained nurses. Ii
was urged upon Congress that provision M
made for the employment of trained nurses
IN our army. and it is time that Congress
was made to know that the American sod
der must have the same attention that t.
shown any other soldier Of the world
Marvel of Rockies. Dash,
The speaker gave the highest praise 10
said the country would be still more proud
of these men as the years go by. The
charge at La Quasina he spoke Of as Il
marvel of reckless dash, and although 81
might be questioned whether il was ncces-
sary. no one who saw IT could repress adj
miration for the remarkable courage dis
played there. He said the Rough Riders
didn't know anything about the driH books
but they knew when the enemy fired on
ygrh to Ffa
them, and those simple habits had gained
the great renown ttlat-%a tia ched to that
remarkable organization Still he did NOT
regard the charge of the Rough RIDERS rs
superior to that of the other twoaregiments
which went to Cuba with them. one a white
and the other a coiored regular regiment
The speaker complimented General Mics
who, he said. had the complete confidence
OF the army, and told of some incidents at
Santiago illustrating the love of the soldiers
for the commanding general
General Breckenridge exhibited some rel
les of Santiago. among them being small
whistle worn by General Del Rey just be-
rore his death. Z. .-r,s
Service i'm Egyptian Army.
At the conclusion Of General Breckin-
ridges address. Maj Eugene Fechet who
was in the Egyptian army three years
read from his diary kept during that period
and told many interesting incidents of his
life in Egypt.
Preceding the addresses of the evening
the club held a short business meeting, pre-
sided over by Mr.. Geo. c. Gorham, the
president. The annual election of officers
resulted in the selection of the present Of
ncerS for the coming year, as follows
President Geo c. Gorham: vice president.
VIM. b. Gurley; treasurer, Philip f. Lar
ner; secretary, Walter c. Clephane
During the evening Mr.. Frank p Reeside
sang couple of selections with exec lent
execution, being accompanied on the piano
by Prof j. Porter Lawrence