The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-26

Jacksonville, Fla, Sept. 25.-secre-
.aTy Alger and party, consisting OF
General Sternberg, surgeon general;
General LudingtOn, Quartermaster gen
eraI, and others, spent the day in jack
sonvine visiting the camp of the Sew
enth army corps. The distinguished
party was met at the station by Gen
eral Lee and a committee of citizens.
General Algcr proceeded at once TO the
camp of the First division and during
the day inspected the three division
hospitals, going through every ward.
He shook hands and spoke encouraging
words to the sick men, and III one IN
stance a discharge was asked for by
sick man. His name was taken and
the secretary said that it would be. at
tended to. The regiments Of the three
divisions were reviewed, that OF the
Third division being after dark, with
the light OF the moon hid behind hazy
sky.
At the conclusion o. his labors, Sec
rotary Alger said, in response TO
question: y am highly dengnted with
all l have seen, and am very agreeaply
surprised at the conditions tnat L ma
existing in Camp Cuba Libre."
AS Jacksonville has been considered
to have been the best and healthieSt
camp in the country, his statement
means much. \ luncheon was rendered
to the secretary and party at noon,
and, in response to a toast, drank
standing, he said:
Il have visited Jacksonville once or
twice before but never with the same
interest as today. l have listened with
pleasure but with no surprise, to the
resolutions that have been read as to
how the citizens of Jacksonville have
oil AnVOnR
can get along with him that will let
him have his own way. [ know him
pretty well, and you have been sa-
gacious in letting him run things here.
I am glad the soldiers have been or
derly, and of course, that has been due
70 General Lee The health of this
camp has been better than that of any
other in the country. Twenty-Five per
cent of that has been due to the city of
Jacksonville and 15 per cent has been
due to General. Lee, for, of course, the
subordinate officers don't count. Cap
plause and loud laughter). Sickness is
largely the fault of commanders, di-
vision, regimental and company COM
manders. General Lee is not looking
very well and 1 have granted him
short leave of absence.
TREMENDOUS UNDERTAKING.
1.-The organization and equipment of
=
war in two continents, in the space of
three months, has been q tremendous
undertaking. The secretary of war has
been ably assisted in this undertaking /
by the surgeon general and the quar- !
termaster's department. They have :
been criticised, but not to the extent |
that the secretary of war has been; /
yet 1 know the work they have ac- |
compliShed has been little short of |
miraculous. When this war began, the |
clothing that the men have worn was /
upon the backs of animals. There !
was no ammunition, no transportation. !
There was nothing beyond the war de- |
partment but a great, rich nation, !
burning with patriotism. Almost in a /
night an army was organized and |
equipped that paralyzed the nation |
with which we had to deal, and has /
awakened the admiration of the world. |
I have no apology TO make for what .
has been done. ! am willing to let /
the record Of the campaign stand and |
speak for itself
United States Senator Morgan said !
TO me before he left for the Hawaiian
islands: The world has never seen,
nor will it see again. the mobilization
of such an army and the accomplishing
with it of what has been done with this
one in such short period.
\ GREAT NATION.
1T matters not what may become of
me. 1 may be buried in oblivion, or in
the grave, but the unbiased historian
will give the world the imperial record
of what has been accomplished, and the
record viii stand forever as a monu-
ment to the greatness of this nation
and Of its boundleSs resources. We are
great nation. We don't have to de-
pend on any other nation on earth, and
our resources are such that we can be
Independent of all. We should have a
standing army enough for our needs
We should have a great navy. that we
may take our place among the leading
nations of the world.
when this war began, I issued an !
order that the north and south should |
be brigaded together. They have been
united and it is proven that the sec
tional lines of the north and the south
no longer exist, and I thank God that
I have lived to see the day when we
have united country.
I thank you, General Lee. for the
welcome and the hospitality of today,
and / hope for the continued prosperity
of this city and this nation"
STERNBERG'S DEFENSE.
Surgeon General Sternberg, in an in
terview. said that he did not think ne
should be held responsible for the mis-
takes Of all the officers under him, and
yet he had been criticised for all that
had happened. He said that every re-
QUESTION that had come to his Office
for supplies had been promptly filled,
and that he did not know of but one
item that had been cut from the requi-
Sition, and that was for chewing gum
His department had been ready to meet
every demand. and if the supplies
wanted had not been. asked for, it was
not his fault. Regarding female ,
nurses, he said that his position had ,
been misunderstood. He had been in
favor of them from the start and did .
not know how it would be possible to
get along without them. As TO the hos
pitals here, he was highly pleased and !
found the sick being well cared for In
contrasts TO other camps, the purity of {