New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-13
an amount Of labor and responsibility TOT VIII VII
neither physically nor hnanciF"S p'eP

4 clothing ana cquip3ge SOppfT W, - tbat
for the Army then organized. = app'',S o,,ide
within a few weeks II became necessary 10 pr ,
| for clothing and eguippl9g an army u "''''
So soon funds were available go soon a. o, va"
was inevitable soon a. law permitted tne Jill ua,
| termnster's Department undertook TINS enormous
! work That the Quartermast er-General lniew , tne
| funds were available seems evident, ana that ms
officers labored faithfully In their EFFORTS 10 ' ,h
/ il plain to those who have carefully s'uuieu 'ne"
work o,as,o,,s
where tToops suffered from poor tentage or from
lack OF tentage and absence OF straw Tor Deddlms'
rnmfort for lack of shoes shirts and other articles
Of apparel This was noticed even a. I a,r a. "d
tober in the camps at Admission Huntsville ana
! Lexington while At Huntsville Ala.. ana fort
Monroe Virginia in spite of the cool nights tn'af
was lack of stoves In the hospitals anu VUy,s a.
iIuntsviiic the supply of wood was short WIN IN
some Of the troops sent from San Francisco ,d TO
Manila the deficiency In shoes OF proper SIZE WI"
At Santiago the deficiency at the front appraas
70 have been caused rather from lack OF trahspQrla
tion from the coast than from the lack OF coIn.ns
and entagc. supply Of which was on the trans
Great complaint made of lack kS of r%nsP P%n
Nv and Colonel W n Forwood. assistant sur
geon-g general, L. s. A. chief surgeon oil the camp
The trouble was We did not get ambulances
and wagons AS fast as We needed mem no.. we're
! further states when ambuldnceS came 'nef WV
Wanv complaints were made in reference to IN
part Of the Quartermasters Department in the
moving Of resimtns ana III ,ne her with their
| regiments or alone.
THE BLOCKADE At TAMPA.
Great complaint was made OF the railroad con.
geston al Tampa and the absolute lack or ability
the carly part OF the period Of its occupancy by
troops The Major-General COMMANDING mas stated
: that supplies for 1000 men for ninety days Were
ordered there and the confusion on the raIIIV(au
when he reached Tampa was great LUt' carS TTime
! sidetracked. OF them as far back as 'oium-
i is stated that in the hurry and rush attending
! tn MN ID
| cars were unknown al Tampa: that bills of lading
! were not forwarded and that it seemed impossible
Tor y tine ~ detrrmine where absolutely necessary
/ articles were located. Colonel BIRD OF the Qudt-
| tcrmastcr's Department. testihes that TINS ~as
corrected later when the contents or ears Wtle
clearly marked upon them ana oi,5 OF IIr,5
promptly forwarded the conlitl2h oI tne i4ti,on
congestion during the early part OF the tlm9 tampa
/ 20 an almost neNcusable hck oi cNtculNy ap',,,s
on the part Of those charged with the LOADING I'M
! loading ana handling Of the trains
Colonel Bird and General Humphrey testified mar
there were very poor facilities Tor uahslcrf! !s
Florida Central Railroad to the Plant system lead
| ing direct TO Port Tampa.
| unloaded. the congestion overcome ana vast
amount Of supplies Of every character dehNe''" at
this immense encdmpmcnt
Congestion also occurred at Chickamauga Park
| TheTe Was also longest ion and confusion in con-
nectinn viii The railroad faciies between the 9TH
and 18th OF August at Camp Wlkon. caused oy l,9
sidetracks being in such condition that they could
| moi be- used cars IN switching would get off the
track and cause blockades for hours. troops anu
animals came by rail from Long Island city more
rapidly than they could be unloaded and cared Tor
at Montauk by the middle Of August the side
tracks were IN order and NECESSARY st9re, ,,
made available for supplies The railroad bfiW.t1n
Montauk and Long Island city was evidently
worked to its aNimum capacity.
WATER TRANSPORTATION CRITICISED.
The testimony shows that the first cali upon the
| Qusrtermasters Department was FOR ships , 10
| transport 5000 men to cuba. and that soon alter
the call was increased the demand being maze tHr
steamers 10 transport 2'WFh pom IoadlhS tly
that their capacity had been largely overrated ana
| II was impossible 10 carry upon them without
| nj a uo Ia
MN [n''r 4i sinnics ' and ,5 anmaIs for an
| average of 1oOD miles. Even with TINS reduction,
the vessels APPEAR to have been crowded
dn sirns o' many ~ theG vesseis were noorly
| i'm many Instances were inconvenient and insult
| cient and some of the vessels badly venti-
lated and nlled with disasreeable odorS. 1t has
been stated that had the fleet encountered severe
storm while On route for CuDa the discomfort
would have been intense and there might have been
loss Of ire. me 2uartermastrt DrpIi I'LL
ought to have been able 10 equip these vessels more
Thoroughly. ana surely II should nave oeen more more
certain Of their carrying capacity. suilci s
| number Of vessels for Transporting t"enY-pve
men vii" bo5 If b 5eGHrf BEEN nromp G FUR
nishcd. even had such action rendered necessary
CIR 9c coaS,s sailing Under ' the american nag
Testimony shows the vessels were not loaded
would boz placed on one vessel and its ammunition
ON another. Tho 2d, ,th and nm Regular Infantry
sent SIr' on nj three '' d it'l vessels
The Meet Of transports arrived safely at Daiquiri.
but the failure TO provide full ard sufficient
number Of lighters FOR decentralization of troops.
supplies and artillery caused delay. anxiety. an
| uoyance ana danger and had there been serious
storms had the landing been opposed by a
| vCilani and vell-traincd force Of the enemy the
result might have been far different.
80 FRAUD II CONTRACTS SHOWN.
Contracts covering millions Of dollars were made
! by the Quartermas'ers Department during the
period between April and October l. and. although
! indefinite charges nave from time 20 time been
made OF fraud and colluson. no evidence mas been
! these charges although the parties making them
! have been invited to appear
The report refers to the statement teegraphed
to the Commission by The New-Nork World that
! # had collected many facts Of alleged Influences
! excrtcd 10 affect the awarding Of war contracts,
| and asked THE World TO submit this matter To
| the Commission. In a letter replying THE World
! stated that having watched the proceedings OF the
| Commission ana noticing that 1t had neither the
| power to compel the attendance Of Witnesses nor
| to protect those who had volunteered their tcst-
| n nv the Witnesses TO the facts alleged to have
| bccn discovered by The World' were unwilling
to submit to an eX-parte examination and THE
World" deemed it best to await the Congressional
investigation which It hoped would be ordered and
! conducted with determined purpose and adequate
! authority 10 bring to light all the facts.
MEDICAL SUPPLIES MIssENT
1t Is somewhat difficult to follow up the trans trans
| portation of medical supplies. Large quantities
! were purchased by The snfseons IN charge OF the
medical depots in New York St louis ana San
Quartcrmaster's Department for transportation 10
| the various camps and 10 the armies I'm the held
| at Santiago Porto Rico and Manila.
| So far as Railroad transportation was concerned
| fnr usual steps appear have been taken. The
| SUPPLIES We're sent freight and the great delay
| i'm delivery at Tampa and Chickamauga was main
! " due the congestion of the railroads at those
| p'ac,s. TO which reference has been made IN the
! FOREGOING tn supplies were sometimes sent 10y
.Apr,ss thus insuring tE'ir more prompt delivery.
| II would have been preferable in every large ship
| mont by railroad had agent Of either the Quar-
| frrmaSter'S or Medical Department accompanied
| the suppe- H. their destination.
! The delay iu instances I'm receiving medical
supplies af SANTIAGO seems to have been partially
/ dur 10 carecssntss ian loading them ON tn" trans
! ports This Is shown ia the cases Of the steam
| ship La Grande Duchesse. which left Charleston.
! : e. ON June % Upon unloading the vessel at
| Ponce on July - a large supply OF medical stores
! was found On her destined for General Skaters
| army at santiago The vessel was ordered TO san
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