The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-24

officer In camp. He Is a dandy The
Minnesota men are the best drilled and
best behaved there. No other state can
show such troops
lillian should have been transferred
at La Crosse, but the railway conduc-
tor forgot to notify him when the train
reached that station yesterday morn
Ing, and he was brought to this city.
Two men from GrigsbY's rough rid
ers We're also at the union depot yes
terday. They went out ON the North
ern Pacific coast train to Miles City
Their names were George Smiley and
Harvey S. Hussey. Both belong to
Troop 1. The statements of the rough
riders who were interviewed the pre-
vious day by a reporter for The
6 o b respecting the condition of af-
fairs at Camp Thomas were fully in
dorsed by the two men,
The ground at Chickamauga is lit
orally alive with creeping vermin,"
said Hussey. only twelve men were
fit for duty In Troop I when we left
camp and by this time I don't believe
any are fit for service. A short time
ago Troops I and L consolidated for
drill, because there were not enough
men In either troop for q showing All
the others We're sick. 1t is the same
with all the regiments in Chickamauga.
The weather there is hot and it rains
every day. The ground is very muddy
and the men have to walk in the wet
ard their feet become soaked The
robust men are the first to get sick.
Jack Dempsey, a former pugilist, who
held the middleweight championship
at one time, was in Troop L and died
of fever last Friday. He was buried
beside our man Foster in the national
cemetery. Dempsey enlisted in Butte,
Mont.
There is a feeling among the men
in camp that some one is making
lot of money from the soldiers rations,
The men have been on half rations a
long time. The sick men get nothing
to eat, because it is claimed that food
feeds the disease. Two Or three spoons
ful of milk three times day was all
we received In hospital. The doctors
would not allow us more. One man
who ate an orange died. His father
visited him. and was told not to give
him anything to eat. He begged per-
mission to give his son an orange and
the doctors told him not to let his son
have anything but the juice of the
fruit. The old man disobeyed orders
and gave the man the whole orange
He swallowed the pulp and turned over
on his cot and died
Out Of 10000 men In the camp only
10000 are fit for duty and no more could
respond to an order to march. A large
party of Grigsibys men Is coming
north in a few days. All that can are
getting sick leave and are coming back
to their homes to recuperate"
Another passenger on the coast train
was Corporal Andrew Kirchner of the
Sixteenth infantry. He was wounded
at Santiago and his right arm was In
a. sling. He Is going to Fort Harrison.
II belong to Company c." he said
to a reporter for The G o b e, land
was with my regiment in Gen. Haw-
kins' brigade when the charge upon
Santiago was ordered. We had Just
received orders to charge the block
house on San Juan hill when I was
shot. The bullet went through nv
arm and passed through my body,
making it's exit at the base of my
spine. I was paralyzed and fell. I was
picked UP and carried to the rear and
placed on a hospital ship.
THE Seventy-first New York regi-
rent was with us and would have
charged the hill with the regulars had
not Gen. Hawkins ordered 1t to the
rear and out of the firing line. We
were concealed in a thick foliage and
We're comparatively safe from danger
when the Seventy first opened fire with
their Springfelds. The smoke from
their rifles showed the Spaniards our
exact location and drew their fire upon
us, and the result was many of US
were wounded The Seventy-f1rst was
ordered back and it retreated because
1t was commanded to do So"