The evening times., 1898-09-19
Bible History Repeated.

When the complaints of incompet-
ence and careIessness in the War De-
partment began to be so numerous as
to be troublesome, various propositions
were evolved in hurry TO prove that
the Department was all right and the
volunteers, thousands of them, were all
wrong. One of the arguments suggest
ed by some bright individual and
promptly seized upon by other apollo
gists, was that the soldiers themselves
complained. This argument was elab-
Grated. 1t was said that none of the SOL
diers was seriously i'll, they only imag-
ined they were, or were homesick, or
anxious to get out of the service OF
something.
The trouble with that argument was
that it was not borne out by the facts.
The very day after some voluble gen.
tleman had explained that he had seen
| troops hale and hearty, with enough to
eat and spirits as cheerful as crickets,
some wan, wasted volunteer would
drag himself off the platform OF the
cars. with evident difficulty in moving,
and the moral effect of the thing de-
stroyed the argument completely.
Worse than that, there would some
times be no soldier on the platform al
all, only a long wooden box borne on
the shoulders of men, with the mes
sage Died of typhoid fever in camp"
But the argument persisted in coming
to life and one after another, plump
officeholders of middle age would ex-
plain that the soldiers really had not
had a hard time at all, compared to
the experiences of troops in the Civil
War, and that there was nothing the
matter except that these unseasoned
men had complained and made a noise
when they should have kept still and
had faith in their superiors. They were
homesick and irresolute that was ALL
There is a beautiful opportunity for
the defenders of the War Department
to show their skill in explaining a lit
tie piece of news which appeared lately
in the press dispatches. II was TO the
effect that the thousand horses provid-
ed by the Government for the Rough
Riders are to be sold, but that they
probably will not bring very high
prices. as their sojourn in Tampa and
| the long trip to Camp Wikoff has left
them in pretty bad shape"
What is the reason of this? Have
the horses begun to complain? Are
they homesick and irresolute, or have
they been drinking sarsaparilla, and
eating bananas and mince pie sold by
irresponsible yenders? These animals
were Kentucky thoroughbreds, the best
horses in the country for all-around
good work, and they have not been to
Cuba, so that the trouble cannot be at
tributed to the Cuban climate Do the
horses kick against the strict discipline
of the army? Have any reporters been
interviewing them, and listening to
their ill-grounded complaints? Why
do these horses not have faith in their
superior officers, and understand that
hardships are the inevitable accom-
paniment of war, instead of behaving
in this spiritless and unpatriotic way2
There is a story in the Bible about
an ass owned Dy one bdlaam the
prophet, which animal knew consid-
erably more than his master. When
it came to an emergency he even talk
ed. 1t may be that the days of mira
cles are not over, and that the horses
of the Rough Riders have something
to say to the War Department If
Secretary Alger can get a signed state
ment from one of these intelligent ami
mails to the effect that he has been
we'll treated and had all that any horse
should ask, during his sojourn in the
camps at Tampa and Montauk Point, it
will help the cause of the War Depart
ment very much