The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-09-02
He HAS HAD ENOUGH
Lieut.. Haskins Hopes the Troop
Will Be Mustered Out.
GUARDED IN HIS REMARKS
He Says Chickamauga Is One of the IN
healthiest Places Im~a glnable-De-
clines to Talk About the Disaf-
lection Among the Men.

Lieutenant Frank Haskins, second
lieutenant of the Butte troop of Grigs-
by's cavalry regiment, got home yester-
day from Chickamauga. He is on fur
Tough, but expects to remain in Butte,
as it is his understanding tina the troop
is TO come home to be mustered out.
The young lieutenant was sent away on
furlough to recuperate after a bad at
tack of malarial fever and has been at
Camp Thomas but very little for the
past month. He is consequently much
improved and does not show the effects
of his sickness. but is still very weak.
Lieutenant Haskins is among those who
are d~evoutly thankful the troop is to be
mustered out as he says very frankly
he has had enough.
Lieutenant Haskins is very guarded in
his statements relative to the ill-treat-
ment the soldiers are said to have re-
ceived at Camp Thomas, the disaffection
among them. etc, for obvious reasons.
He is still under the restraint of the
articles of war, but it is quite evident
he feels a great deal more than he says,
for he makes no bones about saying he
hopes very sincerely the troop will be
mustered out here and that he will not
have to return.
When asked about the conditions at
Camp Thomas, Lieutenant Haskins was
SuoibNh III HS reply anu tN lltItlY NiSn-
ed to avoid a statement of the real
facts, for the present. He said:
Il can't say much about how the boys
have Jared recently, for l have been
away for some time. / was taken with
malaria and was sent away to Chatta-
nooga some time ago, and up on Look
out mountains, to recuperate, and two
weeks g / was informed that Colonel
Lloyd n Major Monteath had decided
10 send me North Gn I Rnmp
The boys did not fare any too we'll.
AT first there were not nearly enough
%rations, but j suppose there was a rea-
son for il. There were so many men
there that | suppose they could not get
supplies in fast enough. hen the camp
was very unhealthy, naturally. l was
told by several veterans of the civil
war that C~hickamauga was one of the
unhealthiest camps during the war. 1t
rained a great deal at night and there
was a kind of mist that dampened ev-
erything. ones clothes would all be
moist and ones shoes and stockings
would be so damp in the morning one
could hardly get them on. Then in the
daytime the sun would come out so
hot one could hardly live. The water
was very bad also. 1t was so dirty /
would not even battle in it when I could
get leave to go to town and get a bath.
The boys had to drink it. So, under all
the circumstances. you can see why
there was so much sickness. l see by
the morning papers that General Boyn-
ton has reported that much of the sick
ness was due to the uncleanliness of the
soldiers, particularly with reference TO
the Sth New York. That was not true
with regard to our regiment. Our camp
was swept with brOoms and kept as
clean as any floor and I know that in
our camp the sickness was not due to
any uncleanliness. One thing that made
it hard on the boys was the peculiar eff
feet the malaria they have there has on
a man. 1t leaves him so weak and ener-
waited he can hardly walk, while he does
not look bad. | 10 that from my
own experience. | don't look bad now,
but | am still awfully weak. From the
fact hat a man did not look bad he
would be sent back to duty, when, in
fact, he was not fit for it, and frequently
a man would be ordered back and in a
little while fall in the street.
There were 3S men sick in our troop
when | left. Some had malaria, some
typhoid and some had developed spinal
meningitis. Jack Gillespie and Sergeant
Collins were very low. / don't think
there were any other very serious cases"
Lieutenant Haskins declined to talk
about the reported disaffection among
the men with regard to their officers,
u says lIltit VIII ll' h'upl NC a llSlu
investigation. He says that whatever
the soldiers have to complain of with
regard to camp life, they cannot COM
plain of the treatment they receive
from the people. On the way home he
stopped in Chicago two weeks and was
given a continual ovation.
They wouldn't let me pay a fare on
the street cars" he said. and when l
intended going to a hotel ! was not al
lowed TO do so. Friends of Captain
Stivers learned I was coming and in
sisted on my staying with them. Then,
when | had invitations to visit others.
they would not let me leave and | re-
ceived as much attention as a king. I
was pretty sick when | reached Chi
cago, and when | heard people talk of
the heat | wondered. for it seemed | had
come to the polar regions. The cool
breezes soon braced me up and i now
feel quite Well"
Lieutenant Haskins said he thought
the troop would he home i'm about a