Evening star., 1899-04-11

tnd thinking the matter over twice l am
bf the opinion that 1t would have been i'm
practicable to have carried cattle with the
brmy. We did not know but what at the
moment we landed We should meet an
active enemy. Such a plan would do in this
rountry. but not in Cuba at that time
Gen. Shafter. in describing the efforts TO
get supplies to the front, said that many OF
the supply wagons were not unieaded for
ten days after they reached their destina-
tiOn. The men were ordered to take three
days rations when they moved on the
enemy. They had plenty of canned beef
and bacon and had they preferred the lat
ter they could have had 1T alone Complete
rations were ordered to be put into each
wagon as soon as the latter We're set up
after having been taken from the ships.
Heard No Complaint Until He Return
ed.
The witness stated that he never heard
complaints that the canned roast beef was
unfit for food until he returned from Cuba
He admitted that in the hot Cuban climate
the cans were not very appetizing when
opened, but he ate the meat on his own
table and considered il satisfactory. There
We're DAYS when the men did not get their
full ration All he attempted to send them
was bread, meat, sugar and conee De
fcIepces one day were made good the next
day. He said there was no suffering on ac-
count of hunger except, perhaps in the
case of careless individuals who may nave
gone hungry on July ] and = When the
regiments went INTO CIOH lut piitu
Ilp their haversacks on the ground Many
of the volunteer regiments left no guards
over them, and a result, the CUBAN
refugees carried away all such castaWay
supplies.
Gen Shafter said that the refrigerated
beef was received about July is or 20. and
he ordered that ii be issued to the regl-
ments between . am and daylight every
day. He said he had heard but one COM
plaint against it, and that was from COM
Tnissary. who declared his meat spolIed pe-
fore it reached his camp. He wanted bacon
instead. but was refused He had no rea-
sen at anv time to think that the meat had
been preserved. The regiments were not
required to take canned roast beef; they
could have had all bacon if they preferred
When the troops returned to Montauk nine
teuths of the men were on the SICK nSt-
This was due to fever, and not to poor or
insufficient food.
SAYS His Army Was Adequately Sup
piled
Cross-exarnined by Maj. Lee, Gen. Shafter
stated it as his positive opinion that his
army had been supplied adequately with
meat rations. He heard no complaints
against the beef or the hardships or ex-
posures of the campaign He said he mad
received no complaint from the rough
riders or Col Roosevelt as to the meat
Subsequently, he received report from Col
Roosevelt but he did not attach much i'm
portanCe to it a the emergency had passed
Nothing fur1ler was uOne III lllt mattel
Mai. Lee read from Roosevelts report 10
Col. Wood that the men had nothing to eat
except what they captured from the Span
ierds.
.-ff they did not it was. just as l have
said in the case of officers as well as men,
due 10 their own carelesSness If officers
were unwise enough to fail to take their
three days rations their suffer1ngs were
their own fault.
Mai Lee called Cen Shafter's attention
to another report from Roosevelt. in which
he said that officers took money out OF
their own pockets to buy food
Col Roosevelt objected to the food,
said the witness. He did not like the hard
bread and other cOInponents- If the Off
GERS wanted delicacteS and had the money
to pay for them l could not help IT. Inc
commissary reports show that, in spite or
all that has been said. the Rough Riders
did receive the full rations l sent them
Another report from Roosevelt was cited
by Mai Lee Il was dated at Camp Wikoff
and complained that the men lost TWO meals
on enbarking: that the food supply on the
Yucatan was short. and that the canned
roast beef WAS worse than failure.
Cen Shafter said the transports were
only seven days out, and that more sup
plies could easily have been obtained at
Tampa en- route He was read another
part of the report, which said that often
the meat was unpalatable'
All Meat UnpaIafaIaIe in That Climate
There is a great deal of truth in that"
Sdld the witness IN INdJ III
meat is unDalatable-'
Asked if he considered canned roast beef
a good wholesome meat component for
campaigns, General Shafter paused and
then slowly replied that it was good sub
stitute for fresh beef, although canned
curned beef or bacon might be better or
b preferred.
Mistakes Will happen. said he. "and
they may have happened l don't talk
about them. Our rations Were not adapted
TO our campaign. The nations Congress
are the people to talk about them. They
provide the food and clothing for the SOL
dieTs"-
General Shafter admitted that until the
Spanish war he had never heard of canned
roast beef as an army ration. He detailed
conversation with General Eagan in
which the latter spoke of the ration he was
preparing for the expedition but General
Shafter thought he meant roast beef in
cans and not boiled beef when he spoke of
canned roast beef. The beef he received
at the front was boiled beef. and he ate it
cold out of the cans, seasoned with salt
and pepper.
Eighty per cent of the line officers"
said Major Lee. condemn the canned roast
beef Would you recommend it as a good
travel ration2'
Il don't think it was unfit for food" said
General Shafter. 1T may not have been
paLatable. II is true. but / would not con-
GtInh II absolutely. In cold climates it
He said that he did not think the army
could improve upon il for colder climates
Il would not do TO use bacon solely He
liked II. he said but he knows of others
who will not eat il.
ImpracticnbIe to Garry Cattle.
I've did not have cattle ship and it was
impracticable to carry cattle to Cuba" said
General Shafter. responding to more ques-
tons from Major Lee
DO you think if there had been a good
cattle ship it would have been practicable
To have taken cattle?' said Major Lee
"A great many things are possible. but
tmpracticable.' said General Shafter 1t
was out Of the question TO carry cattle
along with the army under the conditions
then existing
General Shafter was positive the men ex-
erted their own choice in the matter of the
rdtions they carried TO the front. Neither
LawtOu. Kent nor Wheeler had complained
10 him.
They were sensible men and they knew
Il was useless to talk about the food They
knew that everything was being done that
could be done Nothing else was possible"
Cen Shafter said that he did not know
OF one soldier who. in the face of the
enemy, complained Of the food. and that
IF any of the Knickerbocker Club of New