The age-herald., 1898-09-22
M'K|NLEY WILL
 DECIDE TODAY Re is Extremely Anxious to Visit
 the South,
 WILL UNDOUBTEDLY DO 50 If Possible for Him to Absent Himself From Washington. HAS LOCKED HORNS WITH MILES Disagreed as to the Advisabiity of
 Sending Troops to Cuba.
Disagreed as to the Advisabiiity of
 Sending Troops to Cuba.
DELEGATION OF ROUGH RIDERS
Informally Received by the Presiden Who Complimented Them for the Bravery Displayed on the
 Battlefields.
BY ARCHIBALD W. BUTT.

Washington, September 21.-(Special)- The president has not definitely decided upon the details of his trip further than to accept the invitations to Omaha and Chi cago.
 The official invitation to the peace ju- bilee is now upon his desk.- Secretary Por- ter said today that he would certainly de- eide tomorrow. The president is very anx- ious to go south and MT. Porter says he will do so if it be possible He took up the matter of his tour today, but came to no definite conclusion.
 President Mckinley and General Miles have locked horns over the question of when troops should be sent to Cuba aud Porto Rico for garrison duty. The presi- dent still adheres to his original intention of establishing garrisons of American troops in both islands as early as next month. General Miles opposes this plan. The presidents proposition is to send from 60,O00 to 10000 soldiers to Cuba, the force to be composed of both regulars and volun- teers. Miles opposition to the scheme is emphatic He believes that the establish ment of garrison force in Cuba in the near future would invite an epidemic of chronic and fatal diseases in the army such as was not realized even in the Santiago campaign.
 Rainy Season Not Over
 The rainy season will last for many weeks longer and the condition will con- tinue unhealthful for some time. General Miles says that the whole army of regu- lars is in a bad condition for beginning a campaign Hardly a soldier who was in Cuba is in sound health, and in the opin- ion of the commanding general, the health of the entire army is in such state as would induce widespread disease upon the first establishment of the troops in Cuban garrisons. There is little possibility that General Miles proposition will be adopted. Orders have already been sent to several regiments directing them to proceed to southern camps and some of the organiZa- tions have already reached their destina tiS S. General Lawton has recommended to the war department that Cubans be em- ployed in the army in Cuba, provided they relinquish all claim to connection with the native Cuban military service. The pres ent law does not permit of the recruiting of more than fifty Cubans in each of our own regiments, but if General Lawton's request is complied with, congress will make the law broader in effect
 President Mckinley today informally re- ceved a delegation of about a dozen mem bers of the Roosevelt Rough Rider regi- ment. Each of the callers was presented individually to the president, who after greeting them personally, talked with them and to them as a body in an informal man. ner. He spoke with earnest enthusiasm of the regiment in the Santiago campaign, saying that he was pleased to have the opportunity in his own behalf and in behalf of the country at large to thank the regi- ment for the work it had done.
 Your record" he said lis one of which the entire nation Is proud. I tell people who talk with me about the Rough Riders that you left the boats in squads of twenty or thirty, inquiring the way to Santiago and that you hardly stopped until you ar- rived there. You have not only done well. but have no doubt you would all be will ing to again serve your country in an emer- gency."
 The response was that they would to a man.
 Competent Officer
 The president also congratulated the sol diers upon their good fortune in receiving competent officers to lead them and met with hearty response to all that he said about Colonel Roosevelt and Generals Wood and Young.
 The navy department has not seen the end of the complications resulting from the refusal of the equipment bureau to accept at extortionate prices heavy consignment of coal purchased at St. Thomas during the war. It was said that United States Consul Van Horne had pledged the govern ment to take this coal from local merch- ant and his draft had been allowed to go to protest, and the naval pay officials on ships in the West Indies are feeling the effects in the refusal of native merchants to accept their drafts, causing them em- barrassment. If is reported to the depart ment that at St. Thomas the merchants seem ieagued together to extort double prices for all goods and supplies furnished to the United States warships and the de- partment is about to meet this conduct by keeping our ships away from the inhos- pitable port.