The morning news., 1899-05-11
ARMY DEP0TS WILL REMAIN.
NO LIKELIHOOD OF THEIR BEING
REMOVED soon.

savannah viii Probably BE the
supply Port for Cuba for IA Long
Time-Tcn Million Pounds of stores
Now in the CommiSsEry Depot. and
Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars
in the Quartermaster's and Nedi-
cal supply WareEOuses-SaVnn
nah's store of Army Supplies
Greater Than That of Any other
City in the Country.
The government depots are ikely to re-
main in savannah for two years yet" An
officer in position TO know, made this as
sertion TO Morning News reporter. Many
people are under the impression that with
the mastering out of The troops now here
the officers in charge OF the government
lepots VIII lake their -eave, ana the depots
w.il be broken up. This is not the case.
Mai. G. W. Ruthers depot commissary,
expects 10 get away soon for two months
leave of absence. Whether he viii return
to Savannah he docs not know, but if he
does not. some one viii be sent to succeed
MIN Lieut. Col! BelAnger, depot quarter
master, hopes to get away this summer for
a vacation, but VIII probably return. He
has no inumation that he is likely to be
ordered elsewhere, especially as the Philip
pine imoroglio seems TO be nearing its fin
ish. Both Col. Bellinger and Mai. Ruthers
have made many friends in Savannah, who
viii. be sorry 10 see them depart when the
time comes.
The government now has immense stores
here. In the commissary depot alone there
ore 100000 pounds of stores, of which
100000 pounds are tomatoes. Just what
disposition will be made of these stores
is not known. All the unused stores from
other posts in the southeast which were
abandoned in the spring were unloaded
on the Savannah depots and this accounts
for the large supplies now in hand.
There Is not the least likelihood Of the
government depots here being abolished
for a long time TO come" said the officer
why should they be?' he asked. The
government has more stores in Savannah
than il has at New York or any other
city this side Of San Francisco. If the
depots were broken up some disposition
would have to be made of the stores. They
are not needed anywhere else at present
as II would be too expensive TO transport
them across the country 10 san Fran
cisco. The fact is that Savannah IS about
the most convenient point for supplying
the forces in Cuba and it is likely that
this will continue to be the point of sup
ply for The troops IN Cuba for some time
TO come"
while there are not likely to be any
more troops mustered out here the pres
ence of these dcpOts will continue 10 be of
an advantage because of the fact that
troops being transferred 10 and from Cuba
are more likely to be brought through here
on this account. When the troops are
withdrawn from Cuba most of them are
likely to be sent to the West, and it will
be easier for the government to bring
them through Savannah than to carry
them around by way of New York The
presence of the hospital here will also
have its weight. The depots, of course
VIII not do the business that they have
done during the last several months, and
there Will be some reduction in forces,
but that they viii be done away with en-
tirely at an early date is altogether I'm
probable"
That Savannah has benefited largely by
the presence of the soldiers every body
win freely admit and while the same
amount of money viii not continue to be
put in circulation from government
sources as during the last several months
the continued presence of the depots will
be an appreciable advantage.