The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-07

The men threw themselves under the trees
and sang songs from the variety stage
songs of the freside and songs of the
quiet Sabbath in the little white churches
in northern Indiana. 1t was a night of mot
ley song. At last the Earring rumble of a
| long freight train up to the station. and
the sharp whistle blast of a departing pas
senger train told Colonel Studebaker that
the Ohioans were off and his wagons and
baggage could now be put on board the
first section of new train. The colonel
himself took charge of this work. Instead
of merely supervising it, he shouted out the
orders. prodding the men here and encour-
aging them there. Mules baked and wagons
stalled, untutored drivers whipped and beat
the dumb animals, men added their shouts
to the curses of the drivers and for an
hour a pandemonium unknown in that quiet
Georgian village since the days of Grant
and Sherman prevailed. The admirable
order which came out of confusion made one
marvel at the native talent of the colonel
for this sort of work. Quiet. unassuming
man he is. few of his officers thought
| he could boss a job of this kind. which is
really no part of ii commanding
Officers or Ger duties with such snap and such
it had taken seven for the Ohio men to ac-
| compish.
At midnight tf1e-Indianians were bowling
| towards the tropics. Sleep fell heavily on
| their eyelids. No careenng of tourist car
could VeX the precious Slumber so dearly
earned that day. Light in baggage and light
| In rationS they went on. careless of the
| morrow. White-socked feet poked out of
| half the berths of each car. and the rattle
of the bayonets and accoutrements swinging
| 10 the ceiling hooks was the accompani-
| ment to the sonorous voice with which the
| nose of a very sleepy man speaks. Morn
| ing found the regiment in Atlanta where
| It's presence hardly caused a stir among
| these people, to whom the passing of troops
| is now an embarrassing story. After coffee
ceeded to Macon. Men who had nibbIed at
| their hard tack, throwing the bulk of it
away began to see the ie error of their prod
| for the journey-that is, sufficient according
10 the regular army standard-and had
every man consumed his supply there would
| road. However it is a lesson every soldier
| regular or volunteer has to learn at the
beginning. and the experience of the last
| get back from Cuba. At Valadosta, Ga, a
lew miles north of the Florida line. coffee
was served. Through some carelessness or
pan1es were given the bulk of the quantity
ordered, and other companies suffered
"COFFINS" INSTEAD OF COFFEE"
An incident during this period of the trip
gave the colonel and his staff a great fright
| The quartermaster in the rear section tele-
graphed ahead to the first passenger section.
employing, in effect these words: 1--WE must
have twenty-five coffees," meaning to saw
that so many gallons would be required at
the next stopping place. The intelligent oper-
| ator managed to convey the information to
| Colonel Studebaker thus: I'VE must have
twenty-five collins" The commanding Off
| Ger paled when the tenor of this message
| dawned OIL him. Nothing less than fright
ful wreck of the rear section was apparent
Inquiry promptly went up the road to as
| certain further particulars of the catas-
| trophe Nothing had been heard of an acct
| dent and not till the operator called UP the
sender, discovering how ludicrous had been
| the error in transmission, was the extreme
tension lifted from the mind of Colonel
| Studebaker.
THE Suwanee River Route" displaved
| on the sides of the engines which drew the
| trains over the Florida border put the men
| on the qui We've as they approached this
| stream, whose name conveys the essence of
| humble pathos in the ballad line. They con-
]ured up pictures of old log cabins and
white-haired mammes. droves of pickan-
ninnies and moss-draped trees all far, far
away. but they were destined to catch only
moonlight glimpses of a small stream slug
| gishly moving itself between banks covered
with rank vegetation. The romance of the
SuWanee river is a thing of the past evil
IDENTIFY. Captain Dennison. of Waterloo, and
| mis- second lieutenant, both droWsy to the
point of tumbling over, had set up for hours
to feast their eyes on this celebrated folk
lore song stream. Just before the train
reached the bridge they both fell asleep and
when they awoke the Suwanee river was
far far away" in their wake. Old history
ana geography pictures of war and ante
bellum days were brought to mind when
the soldiers glanced at the old-fashioned To-
comotives which drew the trains. With wide,
tenders piled high with pine sticks, these en-
glnes suggested the dilatoriness with which
the far South keeps abreast of the times
Looking at the miles and miles of pine for
ests on either side of the track, available
so cheaply for fuel, with coal leagues away
lmpresses one, however, with the consider
aDle economy of using od-burning en-
gines. Besides, Florida has no steep grades
to make sick the heart of the engineer The
ri ocSieTs rSf spied the palms with the giee
| in the forest. Miles of these stunted trees
were passed; then came the full-grown or
ange trees, those not destroyed by the frost
and now loaded down with the green fruit
Watermelon rinds along the track gave
further evidence of the far advance of the
warm season here over that in the North.
A QUAINT TOWN
| Tampa at last-quaint, cosmopolitan town.
tropical in its heat and busting with a re-
markabe life incidental to war. The trains
bearing the One-hundred- and fifty-seyenth
pulled into the heart of it, where Jackies,
cavalrymen. volunteers, Cubans jet-back
negroes 'jostled with each other. The officers
took dinner at a nearby hotel while many
of the men, after eating their bareback and
canned beans, bolted to saloons that lined
the track, for glasses of Florida beer In
these saloons the same cosmopolitan gath
erings that characterized the streets were
to be found. Nearly every saloon had its
monte games, patronized by Cubans and me-
groes and occasional soldiers. 1t was the ex-
pectation that disembarka ton would begin
| in Tampa. Contrary to this the trains were
pulled out to Port Tampa, over nine miles
out, where ships ride at anchor. The men
were told that they would probably be
marched directly abroad, but this proved to
be misnformation.
In the eyes of the army officers here ''the
| Queen of Spain has no legs in other words
| there isn't gun boat, transport or anything
| else in the offing. And if you do not believe
| this, just go up to the telegraph office and
! there the press censors will convince you of
| this fact.
But 1 saw in the northern papers. before
| leaving, that the transports were here" in
| sisted one correspondent to-day.
'Oh, they just guessed at it" remarked
| the imperturbable officer, who never reasons
| with the impatient scribblers but replies
aye and nay and no further, as the
| Bible would have him do
When the observation-disclosures ifty-seventh
! Indiana reached Port Tampa the sun was
| very hot and binding glare was on the
| white sands 1t was well the men did not
| have far to march else there would have
been serious cases to report. A mile to the
| rear of their camp is the sea, and a few hun
| dred feet in front of them is the salt water
| so at night they get the benefit of what
| breezes sweep across the narrow peninsula
| from which all the shipping to and from this
| point is done. A telegraph station is NOT AT
| where they deign to sell two cents worth
| FOR dime, are also accessible. The officers
who tried to rush messages off to home folks
| notifying them of safe arrival here and in
addition specifying the probable time of de-
parture for Cuba, encountered the censor
| who coolly scratched out all reference to the
| Cuban voyage.
The Tampa streets are TANNED with peo-
| pie day and night. Nearly everyone wear RS a
| uniform and every type of government SER
he god 1f-I,