The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-20
TIE WAR INQUIRY LAGS.
,,oK or VOLUNTEER WTTTHsSRs
sURrRIsES CONFUSION.

epnin-One Witness says more bolulors
MED Of ovcreatinE Than for Lack Of Food.
uben the War Investigating Commission
,,,,bsd It's second days session N this city at
n.rlrb IyenueHotel yesterday afternoon, after
ling wasted half an hour in waiting for wit
s.,.ss who had promised to appear but failed
- do 40, the members were unanimous In
.,nrsssiug their disappointment at the small
,rmber Of persons who had thus far offered to
-Ir, estimony adverse to the War Depart
n,rrs conduct OF the war with Spain.
AFTER all that we read In the New York
..rsnapers about this horrors OF camp life and
~. nj .trcatment OF soldiers" said Col. James
s,,,on OF Illinois. Commander OF the Grand
INV Of the Republic, I'VE had q right to ex-
80, that when we reached this city in our tour
- Investigation there would be hundreds OF
w,,oessea rcady TO testify Us to what they
hrow Bat although we have been here two
d.,s and our coming was announced in all the
r,r4rs. we have thus far been able to get be-
,ors Ma only a handful Of Witnesses. Most OF
,h.,s We have been able to obtain only by
,,suipr s%uhpunas. Every time we saw In the
r.v,papers that persons had made any COM
slant we took note OF the fact, and since we
s,ra been here we have been busy sending
ont notices to them. asking them to com be-
,ora us and tell us all they know OF their own
Knowledge. In many.cases we felt so sure that
the persons whom we supposed had complaints
IA make would come that we did not subpoena
them, but merely sent them a telegram. 1t
NAV have been that the rainy weather has kept
,ome OF them away. At any rate. we shall re-
anne our sessions at $3.50 o'clock on Monday
morning. and will continue to hold them
each day until everybody who has a complaint
ii. ~ . p,turastipn nf i'm nrnyenaDf m
offer. has been heard. We wish to get at the
full truth Of the condition of the army in the
last war, and il there is blame we wish to fix
the responsibility where it belongs"
Gen. Grenville NJ. Dodge OF Iowa, President
NJ the commission, said that the commission
had the right to subpoena any person to come
hefore il, although II had no right to make
the person swear to his statements. He had
hoped that It would not be necessary In this
city TO subpoena anybody. because he had been
led to believe that there were plenty Of persons
here who would volunteer to tell what they
knew. but many OF the witnesses to whom the
commission hadlistened In It's two days sos
,ion had been secured only upon subpoena or
by urgent request. He hoped that there
would BE- more volunteers next week.
Mrs. Edwin c. Allis OF 20 East Twenty-lrst
street was the first witness whom the Com
missioner could get to testify yesterday morn
Ing. Mrs. Allis. in response to questions asked
BY former GOV. Urban A. Woodbury. of Yer
mont. said: Il made my first visit to Camp
Wikoff on Sept. 8. l went there to do what I
could with the other volunteer women to as
sist the patients in the hospitals. ] don't think
that the food which the Government provided
for the convalescents was the kind they could
eat. ! don't know anything about the food for
the soldiers who we're we'll"
What was your experience or observation
with reference to the medical department at
the camp"
Ny experience" said Mrs. Allis. was that
the medical arrangements were not sufficient
to take care of all the sick. Some Of the SOL
diers who were 30 i'll that they should have
been in the hospital would not go to the hos
pital for fear OF being improperly treated"
Had you ever seen military hospitals in tents
ID war times before?"
NO. sir. ] don't pretend to be able to say
That things were not as good as they should
have been in the circumstances. / didn't 60
there to find fault. II I had 1 should have
taken.the names Of some men who wore Shout
der straps. although l must say that as a gen
eal rule the treatment Of the relief women by
the commanding officers was most courteous.
We we're merely trying to do what we could to
help the sick
Cant. Edward II. Plummer. who was in
charge of Major-Gen. Skaters Quartermas-
ters Department throughout the Santiago
campaign. was the next witness. He testified
that at the outbreak of the war he was a Cap
tain in the Tenth Infantry. then stationed at
Fort Sill, Oklahoma. and that he was soon sent
10 Mobile and thence to Tampa to take charge
ot the emharkation OF wagons and army trains
for Gen, Shafter. His duties in Cuba. he said.
were merely to keep the means Of transporta-
tion intact. TO sec to the moving of the ra-
tons and medical supplies. and to provide
enough mules for the Ordnance Department.
He did not attend 10 the moving OF ordnance.
hut did attend to the moving OF food and medi-
cine.
Did your wagons refuse to take the neces-
try rations and medical supplies to the
trenches at Santiago?" asked Gen. Wilson.
We never refused to send all the wagons or
pack mules We could. The roads were so poor
that sometimes we could not send wagons and
mules fast enough. There were times when
we worked all night. But l can't say that we
could have used more wagons. because the
roads we're so poor, and from motives OF pru-
dence Gen. Shafter ordered that the wagons
should not 60 too close to the trenches"
lou think. then. that there were enough
wagons and mules landed at ~Siboney?" asked
Gen. Dodge.
l think so. 1t might have been possible to
use more II the roads had been better. but. In
ue circumstance. / think We had about as
much as We could handle TO advantage"
Was there any serious distress among the
men In the trenches on account OF their inabil-
hy to get supplies?"
l did not hear OF any. On the night OF
'uy ! met some men of my own regiment
ana asked them II they needed anything. They
ud me that they had eaten all they wanted
mat daV and did not need anything. Capt.
daggart OF the sixth Infantry told me on July
D. alter the fight. that he had accumulated a
uals rations ahead for Gen. Kent's division"
Da you hear that the Seventy-frst Regi-
meht OF New York went three days without ra-
'ons" asked Gen. Dodge.
! heard that one volunteer regiment a
.n'o"I away its haversacks. containing ra-
"oas' and that they wished more. heard no
spec'ne complaints either from the Seventy
n's New York or the First Illinois. | know
,HA' no request for rations was ever refused.
X mace no difference whether regiments had
bot" "-''' 'OOu y Uheif ho'oieachs VI
ycMe!pr George 4. Lorigan OF the Ninth New
H." '"..hleers appeared before the commits
~ .eAl IL response TO q telegram from The
uniaS'l' winch stated that tho commission