The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-05-05

for no reason at ali. unless 1t was that
he looked like a Frenchman-from
Cork
"One cadet. evidently very mild
and gentle lad, If he had followed his
natural bent. was called Alpha Tough
because he was the brightest star in
the constellation of toughs. He had
charge of the sections as officer OF the
day one morning as we were marching
to<recitations. AS the sections came
tramping down the sidewalk, Alpha
noticed an old gentleman OF very dis
tinsuished appearance, standing in our
way. He bawled out in the most au-
tocratic and arrogant manner. with
q wave of the hand la Podsnap:
Hey, youi Get out of the way OF
these sectionsr
Certainly, sir said the old man,
giving him military salute and smil-
ing all over his face as he stepped on
the grass and watched us fling by.
" Do you know who ti1at was, Har-
ry? asked cadet of the reckless
youth a few moments later
No, and i don't care was the
lordly reply.
Wei, that was Lieutenant General
Longstreet,' was the answer.
Alpha was afterward known as the
only cadet who had ever ordered and
been obeyed by a lieutenant general"
The part of the book which deals with
the war with Spain is largely made up of
stories which read rather like fiction, but
which, the author assures us. are fact
Some of them are very good. notably
How the First Pennsylvania Charged Up
San Juan HILL" The title of this is slight
ly misleading, as the hero, one private of
the regiment in question, charged up San
Juan Hill with some struggling men of
the Seventy-first New York, to the bad
reputation-cairn of which regiment Mr..
Brady adds a few large stones. But there
are some chapters devoted purely to de-
scription of the conditions which obtained
in the volunteer camps, and the author
has some rather interesting If not wholly
new testimony to offer in regard to Chick
amauga Among other things he says:
when the regiment first reached
Chickamauga the men were in good
health and in good spirits. The ia
nous old battlefield was admirably
adapted for camping ground, and by
the expenditure of a little money and
the use of a little of the grey matter
in the heads of the powers that be, It
might have been made as healthy
camp as any in the world. Instead of
which / believe it to have become as
unhealthy spot as any modern camp
which was supposed to be administered
under scientific regimen and with due
regard to modern sanitation ever could
be.
THE battlefield consists of thickly
wooded plots of ground interspersed
with open clearings in about equal
Der OF springs, one large creek and
several smaller ones. Drive wells were
also located at different points. To
take our own experience as a criterion.
the regimental camp was placed by the
explicit direction of the highest au-
thorities in a grove of trees on the
side of gentle hill which sloped down
to an Insignificant little brook.
Directly opposite was an open field
higher ground, most admirably
adapted for camping, purposes. but we
We're forced to go under the trees. The
limits of the little grove were the lin
Its of our camp We were compacted
together in the closest way, and the
prescribed distances between tents and
companies could not be observed Es-
pecialiy was this SO with regard to the
men; and the mule corral the canteen,
and the hospital lay side by side.
Beneath the camp was substratum
of hard rock covered with a slight
depth of soil. II was impossible to dig
sinks to any depth and the ground
soon reel1ed with disease. / personally
know that requisitiou after requisition
was made for lime. the simplest and
least expensive of disinfectants, again
and again and without results; Upon
the advice of our surgeons II was
urged by the colonel that We be per
mitted to take the camp out on the
open field where there WAS room and
sunlight; but no. the field was wanted
for drill and parade ground, and it
was not until the damage had been
done that the permission was granted;
then it was too late. The soldiers in
command at Chickamauga had forgot
ten. II they ever learned it. that for a
prolonged sojourn sunshine is better
than shade for a camp.
The water of course even including
that of the drive-wells, soon became
polluted We had ii analyZed and
found il dangerous to health, so after
securing the country for miles around
we discovered a spring long distance
away five miles. | think). and every
day the wagons hauled water in bar
rels for drinking and cooking purposes
from that spring. The quality OF the
water so obtained was good. but the
quantity was measr7 ana Inadequate.
1T was certainly hardship for men
of Clearly habits to be compelled to
take a bath in a pint OF water, es-
pecially after a hard march over the
binding sun But there was no help
for It. Ii was not until our division
was moved to Knoxville. Tenn, that
we had an abundance of water from
pipes laid down through the camp, ana
what a luxury II was!
''rro put Ii briefly. here was an ag-
gregation of about coco men and thou
sands of horses and mules herded to-
gether in a confined area with only
natural water and surface drainage.
No wonder that the hospital tents soon
became the busiest places and the most
crowded corners of the camp We mad
three surgeons in our regiment; two or
them were soon detailed on special du-
ties-one of these two died of typhoid
fever while on duty in Porto Rico
leaving the third to stagger along I'M
der a burden of labor and responsible
ity which was entirely too great for
the strength Of any one man.
I'VE were required TO send the i'll
men to the division hospital That hos
pital was also inadequately provided
with physicians. The nurses were men
drafted, nay, extracted, by peremptory
orders from the several regiments
about nne-half the complement of our
regiment would be on some special de-
tail duty every other day, which was
annoving and eXasperating in the eX-
IRENE. The colonies sent men who mad
no fitness whatever for the work OF
nursing the sick. Some of them took
that opportunity of getting rid OF OBJ
iectionable sOldlersi
Il remember one case where ward
of sixty patients was left during the
night in charge of two men, one or
whom had been day laborer and the
other for short time, keeper in
luuatic asylum. They were without any
experience whatever. one of the pa
TENTS in that ward died during the
night and another typhoid sufferer lay,
unattended in his own discharge. I'M
I'll the doctor came in the morning.
He, too, died.
This is of course nothing more than
has been said more than once, in one way
or another. by newspaper correspondents,
hut a book records the Acknowledgement of
things in more permanent form, and Is
easily referred TO. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons. $1-50)
May Magazines,
The Nav number of ''McClure's Maya
zine is an unusually good one, even for
this bright and popular monthly. In it