The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-09
Rare Collection OF CuriOs, Animate
and Inanimate, Collected by the
Boys for Their Northern Friends.
INCIDENTS OF OTHER CHMPS
LIST OF MEN SELECTED TO RECRUIT
COLONEL SMITHS REGIMENT.
Barnett's Deputies ON the Way to In
to Complete Maximum Quotas.
Special to the indianapolis Journal.

| Special to the indianapolis Journal.
| PORT TAMPA, Fla, June SIT is possible
a few Indiana soldier boys from the One
hundred-and-ff d-ffty-seventh Regiment will be
seen in Indiana, as few of them have been
deputized as recruiting officers They will
be Lieutenant Glazebrook and a man from
each company. There is nothing new in the
situation here so far as the immediate In
diana camp is concerned. The health of the
men continues to improve. as we'll as their
| spirits There is no sickness.
| 1t was expected that the "Studebaker
| tigers would be among the first troops to
| embark for Cuba, but they are still here,
and it is not known when they will move.
| Your correspondent is not permitted
| to even make guess for the
| public on the subject. The long
wharf at Port Tampa has sheltered for over
week the greatest line of troop ships ever
| gathered in American waters huge black
| hulls more formidable in appearance than
| in construction. Day and night clouds OF
| black smoke have crept away from the fun
nels, and not an hour has there been in that
| time when these ships were not ready for
| sailing within remarkably short time. On
the port forward side of each vessel gigan-
| tic figure in white has been painted to des-
ignate the number by which the transport
| will be known and the name by which the
| vessel has been previously advertised will
| evidently show up very little in the official
| report of the voyage to Cuba. Names
| familiar in shipping lists are painted on the
| sterns of these boats.
| The Studebaker men thought their pred1c-
ament a most unhappy one when their nu-
merous kilograms sent to home folks, bid
| ding them goodbye, were mutilated by the
| censor. mot word about Cuba" was the
| order. The only remaining thing to be done
| was to communicate by letter, and the
| epistles to Indiana have been going out by
| scores each day. No doubt hundreds of In
| diana families are talking now of troop
movements which the government does not
| permit to be published in newspapers
! The fine fettle in which the Studebaker
| men find themselves constrains me to be-
| lieve they will not suffer much as other
volunteer troops in the Cuban campaign
There is no attempt whatever to suppress
| facts pertaining to sickness in camp, and
| whatever statements have been made in
| these columns were candid. To be sure, the
| trihing cases have been unnoticed. John
| Jones may have a headache or camp all
| ment this morning, and he may think from
! the extent of his pain that the world is
| surely coming to an immediate end, but If
| the doctors, on looking at his tongue, tell
| him he is in no danger, it is probable Jones
will be tramping around with his mates in
| few hours, forgetting the illness which he
| had just described in a letter home.
The first Sunday in camp at Tampa found
| some OF the boys wistfully turning their
| thoughts homeward, and in each instance
| this resulted in a long letter scribbled with
| pencil Others, obtaining leave from camp
went over to the port and surveyed the
transports so full of novelty to inland
boys. Not few braved the hot sun. which
broiled naked backs to lobster color, and
| spent an hour in the sea. In the morning
| a pine tree fire gave little excitement to
| camp routine 1t started few yards away
| from the Indiana tents, spreading to the
| dry palm growth and threatening for a
| while to lick up the outfit of the entire regi-
! ment Volunteers fought the flames with
! sticks and blankets, water being too pre-
| cious to waste in quenching blaze. The
| water for drinking purposes is now piped by
| the Government to the very door OF the regi-
| ment and all that is necessary to get a
| supply is to turn on faucet. This is what
the boys call living like princes. Ginger
ale is no darker than this queer looking
water which the government insists is good
for human insides, and the dminution in
cases usually attributable to bad water
seems to substantiate this opinion.
If the regiment could ship home all the
tronhios of which it has robbed the sea, and
sell them at prevailing Northern prices, it
would have enough to provide extra mess
for weeks to come Only the tents of the
slothful fail to show decorations of star
fish keIu and all the strange vegetation
cast up by the tide. The purple and red
back crabs, which amble sideways by the
million along the beach, are finding their
way to strings kept like many beads.
Soft-shelled crabs have ceased to be a
luxury, and many a kettle in the brigade
was boiling with these crustacea yesterday.
1t would take a student of natural history
to classify this remarkable collection in
the one Observation-Disclosures Indiana.
Small alligators are to be had at any price
one may choose to pay, or the soldier can |
go out and catch them if he is willing to
tramp a few miles for the sport. Fifty
cents will buy a saurian large enough to |
make a respectable showing in an AQUARIUM. |
But. alas. they cannot be sent home in the |
mail. Sea gus and long-limbed cranes fly |
near the camp, and now and then the hid |
eous buzzard casts his shadow down on the |
white sand.
The officers of the regiment are making |
arrangements to cut down their baggage for |
the Cuban expedition. Lieutenant Colonel /
MAY. for one. will leave behind his trunk |
ana chest and travel with one valtsa ana !