Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-10-05
INTERESTING STORY
Trumpeter Griffin, Rough Riders"
Has Returned from the War
Bright AS a Dollar,
GENERAL WHEELER PRAISED
Hard Trials and Tribulations on the Trans
ports in the Way Of Provender Pies
50 Each, Other Things in
Proportion.

WA A1Cuy Vtu0I AuIuSS Ill
Proportion.
Trumpeter A. j. Griffin, of troop e,
Roosevelt's Rough Riders, returned
Saturday night from Montauk Point,
looking well, Notwithstanding the fact
that he lost 40 pounds in helping to lar
rup the Dons. He gave a sort of cynical
smile when asked what he thought about
General Shafter, and answered that he
did think a great deal of General Joe
Wheeler, who, it was understood, had
orders from Shafter to retreat at San
Juan hill, but instead gave orders to ad-
vance, and was responsible for the gall
liant showing made by the American
troops on that memorable occasion.
Some of the other generals seemed to
fool around with their commands as
though they did not know what to do,
while General Wheeler knew what he
wanted and how to do it without loss Of
time, and time is a very valuable factor
on the battle field. AS to the brave old
soldiers climbing that cocoanut tree,
Mr.. Griffin didn't know. Shinnying up
one of those c%ocoanut trees was about as
much as al able bodied man would want
to tackle, let alone a man of General
Wheeler's years. The old soldier was a
great favorite with all of the cavalry
men, who could not help but recognize
in him a tried and trained veteran who
knew his business from A to q.
The first morning after landing at
Baiqueri the command vas started out
after having spent a whole previous day
in landing. The boys had a good oppor-
tunity to battle as they found a place
| where a river ran into the sea,
| and after splashing around In the sea.
| they rinsed off in the fresh water. The
march was begun at II a. m, and it took
the rest Of the day to reach Siboney over
a fair trail. But the men had been
starved SO on the transport Yucatan
that they were very weak, and really In
no condition to go into action or to make
any forced marches. The fare on the
| Yucatan was on the starvation plan.
| One 3-pound can Of beans or tomatoes
| were served to eight men at a meal, the
number of meals being two per day,
along with the regulation bareback; and
| for prime roast beef" the men were
| given cans of meat from the establish
ment of a well known Chicago meat
packer that had been used to make
bouillon from, so that the canned meat
was nothing but the shredded, tasteless
non-nourishing, worthless leavings tina,
would hardly tempt a chicken, let alone
able bodied men. The men gave the al
legged meat one taste and that settled 1t
they had no further use for the dog.
goned stuff" and positively refused t.
have anything more to do with 1T. Sc
they just about starved, and were forced
to pay the steward of the ship most ex-
%travagant prices for nourishing edibles
For instance, the steward charged ).
apiece for pies, and got his price. If l,
had not been for this, the boys would
have been in a terrible fix. The officers
had grub hat or shore would be known
as a two-bit meal, but on the transpor'
the charge was six bits. So the boys
were in a position to understand how /
was hat stories would reach the United
States about 40 men fed on 10 buckets o
water in which had been stewed on
onion. But the time for sweet revenge
came as the command landed. The boy
broke into the stewards store house ant
cleaned out his larder of pies in abou'
three shakes Of a lambs tail.
The men were all used up by the time
they reached Siboney, for there was nc
more pie, and the next day they were
sent ahead three and one-half miles
where they ran into the Spaniards. The
latter estimable gentlemen were wait
ing for the Rough Riders in V forma-
ton, and the cavalrymen struck the cen.
ter of the V. The Spanish were making
their presence very much felt when the
10th cavalry came up n lit into the
other side of the V formation. This
gave them something to think about
and the two American regiments Their
got in their work in good shape.
Mr.. Griffin was not sick until after the
surrender, and then he was struck witt
| Ma I n mir that pNrt Ispo 1fc An Mounds -
good, solid flesh, and 1t was six weeks
before he recovered. However, he steer.
ed clear Of the hospitals, and fortunately
was not sick enough to become so help
less as to necessitate being laid up il
any of those institutions. The cause o.
much of the trouble was the water. L
ran over immense quantities Of decayinf
vegetation, and although it was taste
less and clear on being taken up t.
drink, yet after being kept an hour ii
the canteens, it would smell SO that NJ
one could drink it. This water was thu
occasion of many a death.
The last firing was on July 3, but unit
the 14th there was more or less Skin.
mishing, and from the 14th there was
the flag Of truce. Mr.. Griffin doubts tn,
Americans having been able to dislodg.
the Spanish from their trenches withou
heavy artillery so securely were they
intrenched. But the condition of thu
roads was such that siege guns coult
never have been hauled along those hor.
rible Quagmires. However, when Cerye.
ra's fleet flew the coop" the game wal
up with the Spanish and there wa.
nothing to do for them but to surrender
The experience of the regiment on the
transport Miami, going home, was pref.
ty much h same as on the Yucatan
and only for Trooper Noblock, Of trool
e, who was a New Yorker and a mem.
Der of the New York Stock Exchange
the boys would have Jared badly. Thi.
generous and wealthy man never hest.
tated to pay out money in considerable
sums for decent food from the stewards
larder when he saw his comrades suf.
fering, and after the landing at Mon.
tauk Point, Trooper Noblock went tc
New York on a furlough and induced his
brethren of the exchange to put up 81 5000
for the benefit of his regiment. The re-
suit was that the boys at the Point had
everything their hearts could wish for;
each man had three quarts or more OF
milk per day, ice cream, cake, turkey
and a whole raft of good things till they
couldn't rest. Then it was that they
made up for lost time and privations,
and he way they piled in and ate would
have done the War department good to
have seen them. Mr.. Griffin corrobo-
rates the experience Of the other Rough
Riders in the handsome way the mem
bers Of the regiment were treated by the
rich people on Long Island. A couple OF
ladies from a fashionable resort called
Amagansett, not far from the camp, had
about 40 sick troopers removed to Their
summer homes. where the men were
tenderly nursed until recovered, ant
| they returned to am looking fine al
| silk. In New York city 1t was impossi'
Bile for a Rough Rider to pay for any
| thing, especially in the way Of meals; II
fact, the boys owned New York. Mr.