Evening star., 1901-05-17
STORY DISTORTED
CHARGES REGARDING RATIONs
FORGED IN A LETTER FROM CHINA.
Official Inquiry Resulted in an I'm
qualified Denial by the Private Who
Was Represented as Complaining.

Col. George Andrews. assistant adjutant
general, has written a letter to Mr.. E. d.
Atterbury Of st. Joseph, Mo-, in regard to
a published statement that Ned Foster,
son OF Prof. w. P. Foster, who was with
the army in China, had written letter
from Tien Tsin addressed to the Dear
Folks at Home containing the following
statement:
I'VE are not permitted to eat anything
that grows In China, but We eat it, all the
same. The food furnished by the United
states Is enough to make a soldier join
the Boxers, but we manage to get eggs
rice. onions and many other eatables. We
are the worst-fed foreign soldiers in China,
and when We go to the German, French,
English, Russian and Japanese camps and
see now Well they are fed and cared for we
are ashamed Of our nationality. Strange
that Americans, who are held In such hieh
esteem by other nations. should be so shah
In his letter Colonel Andrews says:
"1nasmuch as the department has every
reason to believe that. aside from the fact
that during the march Of the al
Lied n;S troops ,Ssl iron from Tien Tsin to Pc
to go on short rations, due entirely
to the scarcity of transportation, the SOL
diers representing the United States were
ticipating in the expedition. it was deemed
proper to ascertain. If possible, the founda-
tion for Private Fosters remarks. and tn
that END the papers were referred to the
United states military authorities In China
as also to the officers of the regiment to
which that soldier belonged. which In the
meantime had left China and was stationed
In the Philippine Islands. As conse-
quence. the department Is in recent this
morning of the following letter. dated San
Pedro Macatai, February s. 1901, addressed
to the commanding officer of Troop B, 9Th
Cavalry, and signed Ned w. Foster:
TO od6
eerning letter which was published In
the st. Joseph Gazette-Herald by my
father. Prot. w. 7. Foster. This publica-
tion, with the exception Of two parapranhs
1 recognize as being facts from a letter
which 1 wrote to my father. and these
two paragraphs have either been COM
posed entirely. or have been founded upon
some remark in my letter. by neWspaner-
men. If the latter is the case they have
misconstrued the meaning intended and
magnified the result. AS to the paragraph
which referred to our food in China; this
/ must say was never written by me- and
that 1t contradicts itself when In one line
it says: THE food furnished by the United
States Is enough to make soldier join the
Boxers" and in the next line says: 1--WE
manage to get eggs. rice. onions and many
other eatables." which would be very good
field ratfOns for any soldier. The second
paragraph which is not of my composition
runs as follows: Strange that Americans
who are held in such high esteem by other
nations, should be so shabbily treated by
their own government" The rest of this
publication Gas 1 have 1t before mel, 1 &C
knowledge to have written. and will vouch
for its truthfulness. This should be in
vestigated from its place of publishmcut,
and the real facts of the case unearthed
Hoping that you will refer this letter to
proper authorities. await the result"
81 hereby swear that the above state
ment signed by me is the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth, so help
me God. NED W. FOSTER,
Private. Troop B. 9Th Cavalry"