The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-07-17
RIVALS OAATE'S INFERNO
Horrors Encountered by the Sick
and Wounded Soldiers.
MAKES THE BLOOD BOIL
John Mcguire Recalls the Fiendish Rob-
berries Perpetrated by Government
Contractors n the War of
the Rebellion.
To the Editor of the Standard:

To h Editor OF the Standard:
1T is to be regretted that the provisions
for caring for the sick and wounded at the
front have been so inadequate as to
amount to q serious reflection upon the
government-or at least upon thase hsv-
ing the matter in charge. Wound
Cd men taken from our operating tatIes
are laid on the ground, often without
blankets or shelter from the rain CT sun.
As others die. the clothing Is taken to
put on the naked to get them Dc wn to
Siboney. 10 miles distant . Many CT
the wounded were without shelter and ley
IN the scorching sun during the day. while
at night they were exposed to the drench-
ing rains. . Through the Inefficiency
Of the commissary departmental is in
this department that many of the sons of
prominent men are serving. while
one regiment would be plentifully supplied
with food, another regiment would b. suf-
ferfns for II, as a result of somebody's in
competency. "-Anaconda Standard, July
Is.
There's nothing the matter With our
soldfers-history doesn't furnish examples
of greater fortitude or of more exalted
personal courage than have been brought
TO view in this past fortnight of fighting.
And these intrepid soldiers on Cuban soil
are entitled to the greater honor by rea-
son of the fact that they realize that they
have not been backed with reinforcements
and ammunition and supplies as they
ought to have been and as was faithfully
promised by the war department they
would be. Dissatisfaction among our
troops under Shafter would be the more
excusable, since they realize that the lack
at Washington is not of money, but of
management. Yet there is no denying
that the time is not very far distant when
the public will be more willing than II is
to-day to lend an ear to those who are in
sisting, on the basis of the showing al
ready made by our land forces, that the
war department Is bungling. 1t took rear
~ a year to bring about the change that
retired Cameron as secretary of war from
Lincoln's first cabinet and gave the place
to Stanton-it was an eminently wise
change. That lesson deals not so
much In criticism of Secretary Alger. or of
anybody. as in the pointing of the impress
sive truth that unless we propose to turn
all our traditions and al lour long-cher-
ished convictions completely upside down,
we must stop this advocacy of imperialism
and colonizing and militarism. Amazon
da Standard, July IA.
In perusing h above extracts from
the Standards editorials of the present
week. and knowing that more than one
hundred n fifty million of dollars has
been by the people generously placed at
the disposal of the government for the
proper carrying out of the war for the
liberation of Cuba, ii makes ones blood
boil With Indignation that our brave
boys in a foreign land, fighting for the
honor CT our country, should be thu
hruta,ly treated when there is no justi-
fication. but a rapacious and greedy
crew Of co.morants who, may helven
guard this country from such, under
the guise Of American citizenship lis
honor the country at home. No ade-
quate provis,ons made for the caring OF
the sick-some regiments suffering for
want of food, while that which others
subsisted on was of the poorest quality.
Stripping the dead to provide daaan:
covering for the living. Just go down
in Imagination to Cuba and to the ap1ve
horrible condition add the drenching
tropical rains, the poisonous miasmaTjc
and fetid atmosphere, the searching
sun, the fever germs exuding In tna
slime of a decayed vegetation, n then
ask yourself If the picture is not more
repulsive than Dante's Inferno. Much
more so. as much as there is between
fact n fiction. The nation has n2s AS
yet hardly given a thought to The ter
rible hardships endured by our patriotic
army-in fact. our victories followed in
Zach others wake SO swiftly that since
Dewey's welcome news from the Ma
nlIdS up 10 the opdnlSu SURRENDER THIS
morning to the brave Shafter, we have
beer in one continuous and hilarious
jubilation. Be ssured, however, the
American public-that great tribunal
will demand an accounting.
We are informed very plainly that
all these things happened because the
commissary department, the want of eff
fciency in which is so conclusively DEM
onstrated, is filed with the sons of
prominent men. How humiliating it is,
when in the light OF events and the
records of history, one is compelled to
state that a war always creates as
many s~coundrels as it kills. The plum
dering contractor. the political ''puller,"
and the pie" hunter, who in the ag-
gregate form no inconsiderable army of
patriots for pay, are all on hand, like
the vultures who sniff the carnage from
afar off, and delight in the odor of
blood. the knavish jobbers who are un-
fortunately to be found in all countries.
and who think IL no sin to rob a ma
ton, however great may be its dis
tress and peril. and who at every OPP
p%ortunity are always ready to engage
in their work of plumber.
1t is a trite and true saying that "his-
tory repeats itself" The extortion and
barefaced robbery of some of the pres
emit day steamship owners is exactly on