The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-30

day or two, however, the quality of the
food supply has greatly improved. Fresh
meat, fresh bread and canned vegetables.
Injuries not enjoyed by the men for near
ly month, have been supplied and the
men are consequently in much better spir-
us, and better able to do their duties
Many of them have experienced the panss
Of hunger since coming to Chickau1auea
and We're without means to appease H.
Lined up IN single file at meal time before
the COOK tent. the men play the hungry
soldiers serenade by rafting together
their tin cups and plates. 1t sounds like
the overture in a Chinese theater. After
getting their allotment of food they 30 off
IN squads or singly, and squattlng on the
ground do their eating. Every soldier
washes his own dishes. This is usually
accomplished by scrubbing the tins with
sand picked up at random. While this
method might not meet the approval of
t .i tidy housewife, it serves to keep the
unWare bright, If not over clean.
Inc SICK men in the hospital tents were
gwen the same rations furnished the well
ones Ihey were forced to eat them or
go hungry Nowhere more than in the
hospltal tent was the blessing of the ar
rival OF a box from home appreciated
Far from home and loved ones The SOL
diers heart seems to grow as tender as
a woman's, and selfshneSs gives way to
noble generosity. The first thought of
the well soldier on the arrival of a box
was of his sick comrade under the flaps
OF the hospital tent. Half the contents
OF many box finds its way to the hos
pltal tent before the recipient has eaten a
mouthful himself. Male nurses may be
efficient but if the soldier boys ever go to
Cuba the loving tenderness of a woman's
touch and sympathy viii be sadly missed.
Most of the patients are suffering from
pneumonia, mild touches of fever and
Gods, the illness in nearly every case be-
ing due to exposure and the sudden
cnanSe from a cold to semi-tropical eli
mate
Nearly all the regiments in camp seem
to be well equipped, and very few men are
seen who are not already provided with
uniforms. Each soldier is allowed to draw
$9l worth of clothing per annum from the
government. Everything he draws is
charged against the allowance If at the
end of the year. he has not drawn up to
the full amount, he is paid the difference
In cash. II is related that during the civil
war men in whose pocket money burned
hole would repenish their exchequer by
drawing articles of clothing and selling
them to thrifty comrades for far less than
they cost.
The sending of the troops to Chicka-
manga has proven bonanza to Chatta-
nooga. It follows as a matter of course
that every line of business gets some por-
lion of the money which is bound to be ex-
pended by the soldiers themselves or the
government in buying certain lines of sup
plies for them. The army has also
brought large number of strangers to the
city, and the hotels are doing a thriving
business. Their lobbies and dining rooms
are swarmng with officers of every rank,
from major general TO corporal The
streets and stores are fun Of private sol
diers, giving che town the appearance of a
garrison city.
The troops are remarkably well behaved
The stories sent out to some papers Great
ing the impression that they We're lawless
had their origin in the drunken escapade
of couple of country boys from a New
England state, whose exuberance of alco-
holic spirits found vent in going along
the main street tickling women under the
chin. They served a short term on the
convict gang for their lark. There is a
sprnkling of toughs in the army, as is
always the case, but more than nine
tenths of the soldiers are well behaved
and well disposed There was talk of
sending the Fourth Ohio Reg lment TO
town 10 do provost guard duty, but at last
accounts this had not been found neces-
sary. ~------.-
IT is believed in the camp that President
Mckinley and Secretary of War Alger
Will visit the camp within the next three
weeks to review the troops. Should such
a review take place it will be the great
est military spectacle since the civil war;
More than $4,000 men would march past
the reviewing stand, representing every
branch of tho army.
The volunteer force is of splendid phys
ique 1t looks like an army of fighters
not of dudes. They are stolidly built and
muscular Having a large sprinkling Of
raw recruits in their ranks, nearly all the
regiments show lack of drilling. once
drilled and disciplined 10 the fighting
standard, there need be no fear of the out
come If they are sent to meet the Span
iards in Cuba. One who saw the nine regl-
ments coming back from the sham battle
Wednesday morning could not help MOTTO
ing the fact. They were crossing the
roads in every direction as far as the eye
could reach. Covered with dust and per-
spiration after five hours campaigning
over hills and dales, and through UNDER
brush, which was, in some places, almost
impenetrable, songsters In several of the
companies sang familiar airs and their
comrades joined in the chorus, making a
merry roundelay TO keep up the spirits of
the Tired ones on their homeward march.
The regiments now here come from
every section of the country. The boys
from New England are fraternizing with
those from Dixie; those from the West
with those from the East. 1t is a monster
army of Americans. They are preparing
to fight shoulder to shoulder and heart
to heart against a foreign foe, TO shed
their ife's blood in defense of each other
If emergency demands. 1t means that
this is one nation in heart as well as in
name.
Austin R. Myres.