The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1901-05-25
ARMY cANI[EN ABOLITION
MaJ.-Gen. brooke Has Called for
Reports on the Results of the
Canteen Abolition.
WHAT the REPORTS WILL INDICATE.
A General Decentralization mt the
Army Posts After Pay Days, He
suItinG in Numerous Arrests for
Drunkenness and Absence with
out Leave.

New York, May 22.-The Times says;
Gen. Brooke has sent out an order
to all c~cmmandants of posts in the
department of the east to send to him
on september a complete report of
the results which have ensued upon
abolition of the army canteen. Off
GERS say that these reports will show
beyond cavil that intemperance has
largely Increased under the new
regime and it is predicted hat the
next congress will give serious o n
sideration TO the real situation as it
has developed.
Seven privates absent without leave
from Fort Ethan Allen, VT, have just
been locked up in the military prison
al Governors Island, which is the
headquarters of the department.
They disappeared from their post i'm
mcdiately after payday of this month
anG their troubles are attributed by
officers u the abolition of canteens.
All Say ~ Told You So"
A reporter interviewed a number of
officers al Governors Island, and ev-
cry one of them was saying Il told
you So when the cases of Fort Sheri-
dan, Fort Smelling and Fort Ethan
Allen were called to mind. The Off
GERS there regard il as a matter of
but a short time when the public
sentiment of the nation will demand
the re-cstablishment of the c%anteen.
Capt. Adams, who was acting adiu-
tant general at Governors Island in
Zen. s~heridan's absence. said that
since payday there has been unusual
trouble ~ nearly every post in the
department, and he understood IN
other departments also. The number
Of men arrested has been larger than
usual and there have been a noticea-
bic number arrested for intoxication.
He was not prepared To say just what
the percentage of the increase was.
Trouble at All the Posts.
Trouble was reported at Fort Ham
ilton. Fort Schuyler, Fort Wadsworth.
Fort Hancock and at Willet's Point.
Payday at Fort Totten. Willet's
DIN Long Island sound, anne last
Wednesday, and the 491 soldiers sta
toned there drew about 500 per man.
Since that time there have been wild
and hilarious times in the saloons of
Nhitestone. the nearest village to the
reservation, and in the half dozen
roadhonSes that are situated at in
terrais along the road that leads
from the fort to the village.
what the Records show.
The records at the fort show that
for the first 20 days of this month
there have been seven court-martials
on drunk and disorderly" charges.
and IL for absence without leave. The
q absentees and the ~ men now in
the guardhouse will add considerably
to those figures. There have been.
since the last payday, as many as ten
men absent without leave at one time
from one company of less than one
hundred men.
Due TO Abolition.
Commenting on this, Mai. William
NJ. Black, the commandant of the
fort. stated that the number was I'M
~precedented in his recollection.
Mag. Black, Adjutant Howell. and
every officer interviewed at the fort.
gave. without hesitation, the opinion
that the change for the worse in the
general discipline was due entirely to
the abolition of the c~anteen, and the
turning owe of the soldier, with his
monthly pay in his pocket, to the
tender mercies of outside s~aloonkeep-
ers, who thrive in the vicinity of mil