Evening star., 1901-05-06

fornia, and the trip from there on to San
Francisco resembled a trip through fairy
land. 1t resemhIed the east in summer. The
/ boys who We're on their first trip We're com
pletely enraptured with the-country and de-
clared they would never go east again II
the Filipnos would spare them.
We arrived at Oakland about o'clock OF
the ID, and remained in the SlesperS untl
morning and went over to the city on the
ferry. Arriving a the foot Of Market street
We formed a line and marched out to the
camp at Preside, distance OF about three
miles, with our band at the head of the
column The people lined the sidewalks ana
took great interest in rs. Our route was
up Van Ness avenue, which Is peopIed by
the select. and ladies filled the windows and
waved the cOlOrS at US. 1t was grand re
ception which We appreciated IN our tired
condition. We remained in camp forty
eight hours and We're then marched on the
transport Fitzpatrick, which Immediately
pulled out for the long voyage across the
ocean.
This is my third trip on transport
across the Pacific and decidedly the worst.
The Fitzpatrick is a small boat and the
800 men on board are packed like sardlneS.
The hunks were new and good, and the air
has been good so far, but the weather has
been cool. There is also an excellent wash
room with modern improvements ana good
shower baths, and there the advantages
end There is no place for the enlisted
men on decks, as the 800 are crowded into
a space which would nicely accommodate
about fifty. There are signs up on all
sides ''No enlisted men allowed
The fifty cabin passengers have more
space than the soldiers have. The cabin
passengers are officers, office holders,
nurses and servants, and they looked down
from their lofty height at the enlisted men
below. which reminded me of children at
the bear pit in the zoo. Some of the men
have money and desire to buy better food
than that furnished by the cOmmfssary de-
partment. They are told that they could
Inn in their uniform, And
this on soldier transport. think that
the ideal transport for soldiers would be
one for them only, where they would be
allowed at any place except the officers
quarters Have boats especially for wo-
men. clerks, newspaper men, nurses anu
servants.
The meals on the Fitzpatrick are the
worst ever furnished soldiers since the
civil war Nine meals out of ten it is a
stew. which the soldiers call "slum, and
then in limited quantities. There Is never
more than half enough bread. The supper
of the l1th was watery dried apples and
weak tea.
The companies are largely composed Of
recruits, and after partaklng OF above re
past they repaired to the deck and began
to veil Apples" and ii was quite while
before thev could be controlled. 1t really
looked serious, and the officers were great
ly disturbed.
The dining room, pen, where the men
eat is about TWENTY-FIVE by thirty feet, and
300 are crowded into this space at one
time They stand up at tables and quickly
gulp down this coarse food, as the at
terdants are continually yelling Hurry
m for the next company" A company of
100 men eat, wash their dishes and are out
inside of twenty minutes.
Some transports feed the soldiers well,
and do not see why all are~not compelled
to- There should be transport ration, diff
ferent from the land ration and a certain
bill of fare should be prescribed for the
entire trip, and the responsible officer
should have it printed where the men can
see it.
We are now lying in the beautiful har-
Dor of Honolulu. We have one case of
smallpox on board and several cases OF
measles. The case of smallpox was dis
covered the first day out, and every person
on board was vaccinated within two hours.