The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-06-17

Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville, Fla.
June 9-Every mail which leaves our mill
tary camps goes heavily laden with sucl
pitlful meanings Of hunger and private
that one is disposed to question whethe
the soldiers Of the United States army ar,
not more in need of the ministrations O.
the Red Cross Society than are the Gu
ban reconcentrados. These tales are nov
hndlng their way to prominence through
the columns Of a sensational press, which
publishes them for reasons known only t.
the publishers Regardless of wisdom
regardless of policy, regardless of truth
even, these narrowing tales are spread be.
fore the public to bring a wholly needless
pain and anxiety into thousands of homes
and into the hearts Of tens of thousands
OF loving mothers, wives and sisters.
Lest my information upon the subject be
questioned, let me say that for the la st
SIX weeks have lived in soldiers camps.
have seen 10000 soldiers of the regu-
lar army and $4,000 volunteers. Almost
daily 1 have moved about from regiment
| to regiment, noticing the details Of the
life in camp, and talking with scores of
officers and hundreds of privates. be-
cause. as camp correspondent of the Even
| ing Post, it was, and is, a part of my
business to know something about those
details. AS result of my experience,
have no hesitation in pronouncing many
of those tales TO be utterly false in es-
! sence and in substance, and many of
! them to be the unreasonable grumbling
of natural grumblers. Others are the ex-
| aggerated tales of homesick boys. For
some there has been a measure of basis.
That there has been difficulty in the COM
missary department of some regiments
is quite true. But it is mistake to judge
the whole camp by the misfortunes Of a
few. The instances are rare in which any
fault lies at the door of the national gov
eminent.
The regulations Of the commissary de-
partment of the United States army pro-
vide for the daily supply of three and a
quarter pounds of rations per day per
listed soldier The qpantity of each of the
articles provided is clearly specified, and
if. for any reason. there be a shortage OF
any one item, the weight is made up in
some other. This amount of three and a
qparter pounds of rations per day per
man is fixed from practical experiments
regarding the requirements of the aver
age man. and the allowance is regarded
as liberal. 1t will be a matter of simple
arithmetic and a pair of scales for some
of our sad hearted women to make calcu-
lation of the total weight of food consum-
ed at the family table. and little ex-
ample in short division will show the av-
erage consumption per individual. AS
sumo a family of six people in ordinary
circumstances, where waste is an item
OF Importance. How many of such fami-
lies consume nineteen and a half pounds
of food material every day? That is the
allowance of Uncle Sam for every six of
his soldiers. Probably this will be met by
some of the complainers by an assertion
that they do not get any such quantity.
That raises the question of what they do
not get it. assuming it to be a fact that
they do not. 1t is not because it is not
there for them. My letters have already
presented figures showing the purchase
and receipts of food supplies at Camp
Thomas. from which point so many walls (
are coming. The regulars got it when
they were there, and some of the volun- !
bNttS NcA NeiAtliS Stb II ipN. nave AlCdi'l ;
certain idiots raving about the withhold /
ing of food and its sale for the pensoral (
benefit of men in the commissary depart +
ment. To any one who knows anything al
all of the system of the service in that
department such statements are too su-
premely ridiculous to be worthy of the
slightest motto e The food is there and it f.
is ready for issuance on requisition from
the proper regimental officers. Such diff (
culities as have arisen have been due to
causes which should be not only temper
airy but brief A regiment coming into
camp and having to deal with a system
with which its officers are unfamiliar
may experience brief trouble, but it
is only a matter of hours at the most.
As for the quality Of the rations. they
are the best Of their kind. If they are
when they reach the soldiers.
the fault lies either in the soldiers ideas
Of what a soldier ought to have or with
cook. whose knowledge Of his
business IS limited to the art of spelling
wholesome food. As for the variety. the
ignorance displayed by some OF the men
In the ranks Is phenomenal The ideas
which some enlisted men have regarding
a soldiers life are decidedly paralyzing
Some appear 20 think that because the
government Is rich they should be served
with fruit. chocolate. toast and MARINA
ade for breakfast. and with a dinner Of
n least six courses, including nuts and
-aisins, RoQuefort cheese. ices and cafe
noir
Camp is place for camp fare The fare
provided ~ abundant and wholesome. in
spite OF the whining or some whose alb
sence from the ranks would be an advan-
age to the army and a benefit 10 the
sountry. Our regulars live on it. and one
would be wholly safe in pltting 500 regu-
ars against any 900 volunteers. in the /
matters OF physique. endurance. sound
health and activity. But" saws soma ,
soldier boy. they are used %
L" Yes. my son, and YOU must set used ,
o II. That is 4 part OF your business as a
Older. ard you are but half a soldier IN
il you take bacon. beans and hardtack /
'ery much as you now take HuyIer's
andy. Some % these letters tell OF hav- ,
ne 10 walk two miles to get water Wait {
bit. nv soldier until you have marched ]
en- or fifteen miles without any You
Tant to so 20 Cuba 20 fight Spaniards. y
,ou are eager 70 go 10 the from; and see
ctive service. Do you imagine that YOU c
an leave line OF battle during a no, :
nEaxeu1eut and walk a favr ,a,as - / .