The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-24

any sort OF menlal toll, SuCn as cooking or
washing. At the same time the enlisted
man is at liberty to accept pay for such
work from an officer.
The army ''canteen" has taken the place
of the old-time suffers store. Officers and
men together subscribe the money requir-
ed for the establishments OF the canteen,
to pay for the stock In trade, etc. and af-
ter reasonable percentage on the invest
mcnt has been paid back to them, the bal
ance of the profit goes to the soldiers The
profits, chiefly derived from the sale of
beer, are very large, and they are applied
TO the Improvement of the condition of the
men, paying tor various luXuries which
make a welcome addition to their messes
Thus, for example, they are enabled TO
have on their tables, butter and milk,
which are not furnished by the commits
sdry After d while the original debt for
the canteen is paid Off and then the en-
listed men run it for themselves.
II is natural that the war department
should wish to do away wsth the extor-
lions which inevitably accompany the suit
Ter system. Hence the new departure,
which contemplates the furnishing of the
soldiers through the canteens with every
thing that the suffers used to sell. AT the
same time. the sale OF distilled liquors is
rigidly prohibited, on grounds that seem
rational enough. The only drawback about
this prohibition is chat men deprived of
TO get it by underhand means. The conse-
quence Is that the most abomnable sort of
stuff is srnuggled into the camps and the
men turn up drunk in squads A retired
army officer was telling the writer yester-
day about the trouble he had at an army
post in the far West. when the sale of
whisky within the post limits was forbid
den by an order from the war department.
The soldiers used to sneak away at night
TO certain questionable establishments
that were set up in the neighborhood, call
ed IN military parlance hog ranches, and
many of them were constantly unfit for
duty. The officer quoted, on his own re-
sponslbiIity, directed the post trader to get
a quantity of good whisky and sell il to
the men at reasonable price, the only
restriction being that no soldier should be
permitted to get drunk. The result was
that nobody did get drunk, and the hog
ranches quickly went out of business.
In the neighborhood of settled military
camp there are always INSCRIPTIONS per-
sons who sell the rottenest kind of whisky
by the canteen, bottle or jug. There Is
no law to reach them, and if caught they
suffer no penalty beyond the confiscation
of their stock in trade and perhaps a brief
imprisonment in the guard house. Worse
than these are camp followers of another
KIND, who prey upon the soldiers. They
are professional gambers-short-card
men, provided with marked cards and
sometimes with small faro layouts Occa-
sionally they are fair gamblers" that is
experts who rely simply on their superior
SKILL In every regiment there are enlist
ed men who are such excellent card plav-
ers as to be able to win large sums of
money from their comrades Gen.
Forsyth, the famous Indian fighter. told
your correspondent about a man In his
command who after a pay-day-the troops
had been paid off for four months ser
vice-sent home 5000 which he had won
at poker fairly. He won that amount in
side of a week.
1t is impossible to prevent soldiers from
gambling. They will do it in a corner be-
hind basket, if no better opportunity
serves. The fact that a man Is fond Of
playing cards does not initiate against
his being good soldier. The average en-
listed man, when payday comes and he
has liquidated his small debts, Is uneasy
until he gets rid of his money Many SOL
diers look upon service I'm the army as
a mere episode, getting as much amuse-
ment out of IL as they can. They mean
TO quit at the close of the war, and thew
do not expect to lay up anything. If
any cash comes their way they are dis
posed TO spend 1t for whatever is going
These same men, like Mark Tapley. come
out strong under adverse circumstances
and are apt to prove themselves capital
fighters on occasion.
On the other hand some soldiers save
surprising amounts of money. Paymasters
in the regular army are compelled IL the
men request IL, to take money from them
on deposit On such deposits the govern
ment pays 4 per cent per annum. The
question as to whether volunteers during
the present war are to enjoy this orivi-
lege has not come up for decision as vet
In San Francisco a few years ago a SER
geant approached a regimental paymas-
ter and astonish him by laying down SIS
GOO on the pay table, asking that il be
credited to him The paymaster refused
on the ground that he was obliged to take
only the savings and ordinary accumula-
lions of the men. The Sergeant replied
that the $4,000 represented his savings
as an enlisted man, inasmuch as he had
bought wharf lot ten years before and
had just sold 1t for the sum in question.
The paymaster said that the government
could get all the money 1t wanted at per
cent. and 1t ought not to be obliged to pay
4 per cent. under such circumstances. The
sergeant then refused to take the money
back, and the matter was referred to the
Attorney General who decided in his ia
vor
Gen. Forsyth says that when he was in
command at Fort Huachuca, Arz., there
was an infantryman in his regiment who
was a company tailor. He had been in
saved his money. lie earned outside of
his pay, by mending and altering clothes
for soldiers and officers, from $l2 TO $50
per MONTH and was reputed to have a
very large sum on deposit i'm California
savings banks. Being questioned on the
subject, he told Gen. Forsyth that The
amount to mis- crdit was $4,000. He began
to make deposits when he first enlisted.
at a time when the savings hanks on the
Pacific coast were paying per cent. a
month interest.
In India an army of 1900 or 1900 native
troops is accompanied custornariiy by any
where from 500 to 5000 camp follow
ers, including the wives and children OF
the soldiers. II used to be the same way
as far back as the day of Darius. Up TO
quite recent times European armies were
followed by swarms of persons Of every
imaginable description, including numer-
Gus women of dubious character The pol
icy of the war department during the pres
emit conflict will be TO discourage camp fol-
lowers as far as possible. Reasonable ex-
oeption viii be made in favor of newspa-