The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-11

march. etc The Chief Surgeon of the ia
/ panese Army has no knowledge that any
/ ice was found, and says his hospitals had
none
! some knowledge of the inpedimenta
may he obtained by comparison of the
weight Of supplies excluding ammunition
/ furnished daily to each soldier Of the two
/ armies Japauesc-FOUr ounces rice. +
/ ounces dried fish or meat per day; a total
! OF ounces. AmGTiCan-SiKteen ounces
( bread, Il ounces meat. - ounces
+ beans "A ounces sugar, f.6 ounces coffee,
/ equals 24-4 ounces net For transportation
/ OF this vehicles Of equal capacity are re-
/ CURED in the ratio Of one Japanese to four
( american Double the weight of the ia
! pauEse ration and fair idea is had OF
/ the impedImenta food supply OF other
| armies composing the relief column.
/ The japanese soldier carried on the
I march an OVercOat. which they used for
! covering at night if SO required Our
! troops had no UvcrCCat but carried a
/ blanket and piece OF shelter tent IN al
/ ditiOn- Our wagon and pack tranSpOrta-
/ ton was as efficient as any with the col
! umn and the roads were nowhere insult
/ able for its movement Its inadcquaCy
did not retard in any manner our own
/ troops nor those Of any other nation on
/ the way. Five hundred pounds viii sink
/ q JauaneSe cart deeper into the mud than
/ 600 pounds VIII sink one of our wag-
/ ons- Our TRANSFORMATION was more mo-
! bile than that Of any other contingent
/ and, on that account, the QHartefIhasteT,
to avoid frequent haItS while on the
march usually delayed his start from
camp until several miles had been covered
/ by the trains which preceded him His
( arrival at camp was never later than
/ forced upon him by the movement OF 9th
/ er trains. m one instance, however ne
/ TOOK tne wrong Toaq pE I2Iio"lHs IN
/ train which preceded him and passed the
/ camp some two miles. and that night did
J not camp with the troops.
Regarding the supply OF water, MI
I Willard says IN this problem OF water
! supply. the japanese stand for efficiency
/ the Americans for deficiency with the
/ other nations struggling along somewhere
! behind This IS very unjust Ihe 1acI
/ Is. the japanese, British. Russians, and
/ Americans all obtained water from wells
/ found on the way, OF which there were
+ several in every village. The British pack
! ed some water by means OF bhistis on
! mules No other force carried water ex-
/ cepJ in canteens or water bottles. Ine
/ JapaneSe did not employ filters to supply
I troops with water. The well water was
: unObjectioHable to the eye, hence was
Z freely drunk by all soldiers; coolies used
: the Pei-ho water. soldiers very seldom
! No one believed that in a section OF coun-
/ try where perhaps 100000 people lived,
! 21.CJ0 soldiers could not obtain water that
! would not Kill on sight. nor did anyone
/ their wells.
Mr.. MfIIard also says: The japanese
J drank only areated water prepared Tegu-
! larry by the field filters OF water carts NOV
! ingWith the column to permit TepleTllSnlI.&
/ the canteeGS at any time without hinder
! ing the march or scattering the troops
+ his last cT5otation from Mr. AIiIlard's ar
/ ticIe. We lost two men from the ef1ectS
/ of the great heat. If our soldiers mad hot
I been Spariug of the water IN canteens, OF
/ in the event they could have obtained wa
! ter freely we would have lost, probably
! 2 hundred in addition te the two and
( our sick report would have reached the
/ figure alleged On some occasions II IS
! best to be extremely temperate IN the use
! of water EXcruon under stress OF great
/ heat is one Champ the bit-pebble in the
. mOUth-but go seldom to the cdnteen- has
{ been the advice given to me by men VINO
! have had great experience He says too:
! That officers Of other nations are aTnaZ-
I ed at the quantity, quality, and variety OF
J the United States ration They have also
( remarked that while in barracks or near
/ the CommlSSary base our priNateS ENJOY
( ed comparative luxury on the march they
( rarely have more than bacon and hard
| tack Once Il began TO move our com
misSariat broke down to the level of the
! poorest of the poor Lack Of adequate
( transport was the cause.
No troops of the column were better
I supplied with food than OURS as may be
/ seen from the ration compOnents that
/ have previously enumerated. In addition
to Mr. NiiaTds statement. his uiuStTd-
1 tions are liable to convey wrong impress
si0ns. 1t may be Inferred that the Japan
csc field ambulance bearers, as pictured
by him, and their carts, as illustrated,
were part OF the japanese IneE are Uni
ncSe carts picked up in Pekin, or perhaps
Tientsiu- They did not form a part Of the
/ japanese column His illustrations Of the
ton, for nothing OF this kind pert$=+led
to the British column The Rajput Com
naiSSary cart, which, BY the way IS a
, Chinese affair. might have been seen IN
Tekin some time after the arrival Of the
troops there. but it was not part Of the
marching column. The Russian field kit
chen pictured by Mr.. Willard is a large
CauldTOn for making soup The IRE Is
lighted some miles out Of camp, and the
soup IS ready for the men when camp is
made: usually the soup IS made Of rice
IL may be inferred by the reader - Mr.
MillaTd-s article that the British Indian
saHoping ambulance pictured by him, was
also q part OF the English equipment Of the
marching column. The ambulance made
its appearance couple Of months after
we arrived at Pekin- The United States
forces were the only forces supplied with
which we had four with the column
THE adoption by Mr.. Willard of the
method he does to make comparisons
crediting some Of the coatingentS IN the
relief column with facilities they did not
have; with doing unusual things for the
I care Of their men which they did not do.
and BY alleging our sick list to have been
! three times greater than il really was, Is
tabliShing visionary condition OF at
fairs. IS without visible motive other than
to erect himself into a suffering hero or
+ to support other intentional miSstate-
mentS- 1t Is very difficult to believe his
. motive good. He knew. Of course. that
{ very few Of mis- readers would have any
+ Knowledge of how impossible 1t is TO elm
+ mate certain pTlvationS and hardSh1pS
: from SBiUltT ne on litITEHtS Lilt4 III
I campaigns, and especially where StruG-
/ gle against the clements Of nature which
! sometimes produce a condition more try
/ ing TO the individual viii power than bat
tie. is involved He could hardly help
! knowing also that q cleverly presented
I exagseratiOn OF any conditions would be
/ accepted as a truthful statement by the
uninitiated or inexperienced person who
would be unable to test its truthfUlness |
believe it important under the circunn-
+ stances that I furnish to the department
I the foregoing statement in rebuttal for
I such use as may be deemed best.
/ And may add, although perhaps it IS
not germane to the subject. that if car
respondents have studied with care the
effect produced upon soldiers by eXagger-
/ alton Of their hardships by comparison or
/ otherwise. OF the effect of frequent refer
/ euce to their haTdships and pTivations.
they must have discovered that the effect
is positively injurious To the soldier. the
} service. and the Government and is
largely responsible for the absence from
the evening campfire Of the one time
songs which Cheered and rested the men,
following the long march, day of fatigue,