The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-02-08

Special to The Tribune.
Camp Mackenzie. Augusta Ga, ,Feb.1.
The boys have been suffering heavily
from the results Of the fickleness of the
weather in Dixie, and are quite at
loss to understand how it acts. After
constant dOwnpour of rain for
twelve hours, it suddenly cleared sat
urday morning ana in the afternoon
the soldiers were running around with
out hats or coats. and the many Wis.
itors who called to camp We're dressed
in their regular summer attire. This
evening ii began to rain again, and the
lightning and thunder which accom-
panied il were of extreme severity.
During the day the heat was almost
oppressive, and that tired feeling
usually accompanying the first warm
days of spring, was universally eX-
pcricnCcd
The question as to where the MEM
bers of the regiment desire to be mus
tered out does not allow of any argu-
ment from the standpoint of the men;
and discussions are frequently heard
among the men in regard to the sug-
gcstions received from home and
which would result in the mastering
out of the regiment at Scranton. This
idea is not favored here for many
reasons. In the first place. the posi-
tive order. issued from the war de-
partment requires that the work of
mastering out the regiment shall be
begun and wholly completed here and
the sense of this consists in the fact
that a United States arsenal, in which
the several thousands of dollars worth
of government property can be safely
placed inside of two hours, instead of
packing it up and carrying it all the
way North to be re-Shipped to this or
some other distant point. and that it
will be necessary to keep all ordnance,
supplies, and equipments at hand for
the benfit of the troops which are soon
to be collected here, forming a reserve
corps in the finest camp in tho South,
FINANCIAL INTEREST.
The financial interest of the men are
also dametrically opposed to the prop
Osition to muster out the regiment at
home, and this reason alone would
leave no hesitation on their part as to
what they would, and actually do, pre-
fer In fact, the men individually and
many of the officers, including COlOna!
COursen, have expressed themselves tn
The Tribune correspondent as not only
in favor of the idea of being mustered
out here, but as positively opposed to
the suggestion of being mustered out
al home.
In order to nut this matter in its
plainest and most intelligibe light
your correspondent has looked into the
matter of the payment of soldiers who
are discharged. or mustered out of SER
vice. Section 1885. of the United States
Army Regulations, runs as follows,
'Traveling allowances to discharged
soldiers are computed by taking the dis.
tance travelled in miles by the short
est usually travelled route from place
of discharge to that of enlistment, and
allowing one days pay. and subsist-
ence, at the rate of 80 cents for every
twenty miles of travel" To reduce
these figures to practical examples, let
IT be supposed that Scranton is .0OC
miles from Augusta. That would be
equal to fifty daYs of travel and fOi
every one Of these travel DAYS a pri,
Nate would get days pay of 80 cents
ana 30 cents for subsistence, or a tOta
of 50 cents, which for fifty travel days
would amount to Sal; on the same
basis corporal, getting 60 cents day
and 80 cents fOr travel pay, would re.
ceive 30 times 80 cents, OF $45. and, by
the same calculation, a sergeant woul(
get SOL. 1t has been calculated that if
the regiment, q" the greater part of it
keep intact the mer can get home fol
Sl5 apiece at the very most; and allow.