The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1900-10-04
THE ARMY cANTBEN.

Col. Thomas r. Hamer who served
in the PHILIPPINES as colonel of re-
giment of Idaho volunteers, in an ad-
dress made at his home town. Canton
Ills-a few days ago gives this true
explanation of the army canteen.
SIN 1860 the sutler was the big man
in the regiment. He was the fellow
who dealt out chained lightning at
the rate of So aud $50 bottle, and
it was his business to get as much of
that chained lightning into the soldier
of that day as possible, because there
in his profits lay. That was the his
tory of selling liquor in the army of
your day. Later, believe, after the
civil war, the selling of liquor on
government reservations was pro-
hibited by law. Then grew up around
our frontier posts, and just be ond
the lines of the reservations, the low
groggery of the west, and with it the
attendant evils, and this has been the
history of the liquor sales in the army
until the present canteen system was
established. Now / want to explain
to you what the army eanteen really
is. 1t is exclusively an enlisted mans
club, aud in no way interfered with
by the officers except in the way of
daily inspection. In connection with
it is areading room and gymnasium,
if any the command may have. The
literature sent by the good people of
this country to the army in the field
is generally taken to the army cam
teen and there, in comfortable room,
read by the men for whom 1t was in
tended, There is for sale at the army
canteen combs, soap, shoestrings,
tooth brushes and other notions, and
in many of them there is carried for
sale at reduced prices the latest lit
erature of the day. The sale of
whisky is absolutely prohibited there
| in They do sell beer and the light
est of wines, wine that can hardly be
called intoxicating. s
All of these beverages are sold to
the soldier at greatly reduced prices
for the purpose of keeping him out
| of the grogshops of the city and
bringing him into the canteen which,
! as say, is subject day and night, to
inspection. The profit arising from
the sale of articles in the canteen be-
longs to the soldier and goes into
what is called a company fund and is
| used by the commissary sergeant of
the company under the direction of
the company officer for the purpose
of purchasing of butter, canned fruit
and other little luxuries that make a
soldiers life bearable and which are
not furnished in the regular govern
ment ration issued him. ] have care
fully watched the workings of the
canteen system in the Philippines,
and think / know where of l speak.
| l pledge you my word of honor that
| l have never seen an intoxicated man
in an army canteen. have seen the
good effects of this institution and
| am here to praise them, but must
confess that / have never seen the
bad effects that have heard so much
about since my return to the United
States.
"In the Philippine islands they
have liquor they call 'beno,' which
is as near to a wood alcohol as you
can get 1t is distilled from bamboo
blossoms. For 1917 cents you can
buy large quantity of it, because It
production costs but little and it sells
at ridicuously low price. This beno
IS handled at native stands called
'tendas.' You know the soldier is a
social fellow. He Is on duty day aft
er day aud night after night, and
when he comes off tired, he wants
sociability and recreation, and it is
perfectly natural for him to go to
some place co find it, and the cheap
est place is the tenda near by wheJ Q,
for 10 cents, he can get pretty good
time. But the effect is deadly.
have seen car load after car load OF
those dear boys go'on to the traus-
port for home, mental and physical
wrecks, and every case that came
under my personal observation could
be traced directly to the deadly beno
In the Philippines it is simply choice
between two evils. This tenda, where
the native beno is sold that accursed
poisonous stuff that invallds our sol
diers, destroys their brainSand health
and from the effects of which they
cannot long survive, and the army
cauteen run under official inspection
where the men can assemble and en-
Joy the society of each other nndel
the eve of their officers and can bt
found when needed for duty"