The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-06-22
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4 GALLANT lNEWARKER.
Captain William L. Hazen
Shows the Spirit Of a
Soldier.
--
INTERESTING LETTER FROM TAMPA
Writer'S Experience With the
Seventy-frst- Hardships
Exaggerated.
LETTER FROM TAMPA

SaktN}f AZ LII klnZCNs - IA 0CS-
enty-frst Regiment. New York volun-
teers, sent to the Newark Sunday Cali
last week an interesting letter about sol
der life down in Tampa. It shows thai
he has the spirit Of a true soldier. To &c
to the front he made considerable sacri-
flee, for he Is the head master Of the Bar
nard School for Boys, and the Barnard
Schooi for Girls, both in New York City.
The fact that his first assistant in the
schools also went to war made 1t the
more difficult for Captain Hazen to dror
his work. The latter is a Newarker, re-
siding at 81 Mt Pleasant avenue, and is
well known here, have been president OF
the First Presidential Voters in 1854: pres
ident of the Republican Club in 1888. and
secretary of the Republican League, OF
New Jersey in the latter year. Today he
is probably on the south coast of Cuba,
Here is his letter.
On Board the Vigilancia, Port Tampa,
Fla, June u, 1895.
To the Editor of the Sunday CALI
As we lie in Port Tampa it is very anus
ing to read in the New York papers the
different accounts concerning US. They
have had US anded on Cuban shores
more h once: some of them have ever
pictured US as we looked while landing
under fire. Many were killed, but still
we are lying peacefully this beautiful
morning in the harbor of Tampa "al
present or accounted for" The one thing
that concerns us more than anything else
is the Misrepresentation made by the press
regarding our rations. We read in bis
head lines
sSeventy-frst often is hungryv' "Fol
thirty hours without any food!'' "Sinc
May 2 men assert they have not beer
properly fed during any forty-eighi
hours.
This would be a terrible condition 81
things if it were true, and to read it as Z
bit Of news would not be the least anus
ing yer to us. We are now about to sal
to foreign shores q don't know wheret
and shall not be in communication wits
home for some days In order to allay
the feelings of any who might rave in the
expedition those in whom they are inter
ested, / can say that such a condition Of
things does not generally exist as far as
the boys OF the Seventy-first are con
cerned, and probably not in the other regi-
ments. Many of these newspaper re
ports emanat from some members of tht
regiment who write letters to friends Oh
relatives-men who, when they enlisted II
ed to continue to enjoy all the comforts
of home. including feather beds. Even yeI
they fail to realize that a soldiers life j.
one of more or less hardship, that hard
tack and hard pillows are things that car
not On occasions be well avoided. Hap
PLY such men form only a small part 81
the volunteer organizations. The great
majority accommodate themselves to the
new conditions that have arisen, endure
the harships as they come without grumb-
ling, are anxious to perform the duty for
which they have been called, and Their
to return to their homes and their busl-
ness.
The volunteers, as far as T can observe.
have been bountifully supplied with pro-
visions and clothing sucn as they are
and, Of course they are those of a sol
der. It may be interesting to know
what the daily rations Of a man include;
We are now ON what are called travel
rations., They differ somewhat from
field rations'' in hat they require little
preparation. One can get a fair idea,
however. of how a soldier lives while Ell
route from the following schedule
A mans trave rations for one day.
Twelve ounces corned beef or roast beef.
one pound hard bread, n pound toma-
fifth ounces coffee, two and two-fifth
ounces sugar, one can three pounds)
beans to seven men.
If a man is given a of beans
his allowance of meat for the next two
meals must be six ounces per meal. If
any other variation in the meals is made
it must be so arranged that the man gets
his full allowance.
A great deal depends upon the prepara-
ton of the food whether general salts
faction in the company is given or not.
Some companies stand head and should
ers above others. simply because the of
fieers Of those companies exercise care
full supervision over the feeding of their
men. 1t is a common occurrence for one
company to give points to al>the others
Of the regiment in this matter. The Gus
tom IL to have two or three men OF the
cOmpany detailed to act as cooks under
the direction of the quartermaster ser
geant. and the works consists in prepar-
ing the meals for he whole company,
being excused from all other duties. Be-
ing volunteers, we at first found hat we
vuarp flQuf0aS in manV thinrS that nprtaiD
to a soldiers life. Our cooks, for instance,
we found were not professional; but ex-
perience soon got in its fine work., and
now they can tickle the palate Of the most
particular
There have been times, I must admit,
when the men of Company b, have been
hungry1such times as we experienced on
the bleak plains of Hampstead, L. l., when
burn. Such an experience goes along
with the h~ardships that a soldier is
bound to meet On our way South by rail
we felt the need of milk for our coffee,
but 1t simply arose from the fact that we
couldn't find any cows along the line over
which we went. Under the hot rays of
the Florida sun the fresh meat has be-
come tainted once or twice. but We have
now remedied this by cooking the meat,
in part at least. as soon as 1t is issued to
us. In army life as we'll as in any other
common sense on the part Of everybody
plays an important part.
I am not surprised at everybody being
interested In the manner in which the
volunteers are fed. One of the most i'm
portant factors that enter into the maxi
ing of a successful company is the way
in which that company Is fed. A we'll
fed person is apt to be a cheerful per-
son. Just so with a company. A we'll
fed ompan is apt to be q contented
company. 1t is more subservient to dis
eipline; it enters upon its work with more
alacrity, whether that work is in connec-
ton with ordinary camp duties or in the
face of an enemy.
WILLIAM L. HAZEN.
CAPTAIN Company B. Se~venty-nrst NV.