The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1904-11-03
LETTER NO. ..


San Juan Hfti. July 10, 1893.
No change since my last letter
There are rum0rs that we will attack
the Spanish in the morning. Seems
likely that we will, as we have received
orders to pack rolls and havcrSacks at
Il. m. tomorrow. This afternoon
went along the entire line of our
army. Had nothing else TO do, and
wanted to see just how we were To-
Gated. This is the way we are sit.
uated: Letter furnishes map not
deemed necessary to publish, Ed
You will notice little hill in the
rear which l have marked "R. L."
That Is where the Rough Riders did
all their terrible fighting Oh the first
day of the fight. / don't know, but
honestly believe they never saw
Spaniard over there. l hear that it is
in all the New York papers that
Roosevelt and his Rough Riders took
San Juan Hill. That is a lie. He
didn't take San Juan Hill. He didn't
even see the hill, and he has never been
near 1t yet. We took the hill, and
we've been on top of it ever since.
The actions of that man are the laugh
ing stock Of the army. He is continu-
ally blowing his horn, and seems TO
think he is the biggest man down here.
If he were not Roosevelt | believe lie
would be drummed out of camp. 1t is
quite sickening to see the airs he puts
on. l suppose before the war is over
he will be commanding the army. and
that will mean through ticket to the
Presidential chair. It's all politics.
The men who did the flghting-the
regulars-have very little to say. They
don't seem to be in it for glory. They
simply do it as a matter of business.
But Roosevelt is out for glory alone,
and he seems to be taking all he can
get. Now he wants to get
back to the United States probably to
pull some wires). He has done nothing
but kick. kick, kick for the last three
or four days, and he has made himself
very obnoxious everywhere. He kicks
because he can't have toast and eggs
every morning for breakfast. He kicks
because he has to sleep on the ground
instead of hair mattress. He kicks
because his men are homeSick and
want to see their best girls. I'm
homesick myself, but I'm not kicking,
and | haven't heard kick from any
one In the regiment yet-not even from
one fellow whom helped into a trans
port wagon to be taken back to the hos
pital. He had both eyes shot out,
wounds through the neck, chest, abb
domen. legs and arms, but the only
thing he said was: "Who's got a pipe
handy" l gave him mine. l didn't
think he'd live more than an hour or
two, although he had lain in the grass
three days without attention. but they
got him into the hospital alive.
family, or of territorial and CONNER
cial greed.
BY the latter path we abandon hui
manity. and with drum and trumpet
and warship, hurl ourselves into the
wretched wrangle. which has been 60
ing on In the old world since the dawn
of history, and the new world then
ceases to exist. This is the track into
which, tentatively but surely, our Gov
eminent has been trying to push, with
accelerated pace, during the last three
years, and now the people of the Unit
ed States are about to be called upon
to say IL 1t be their wish to continue
the march. II they say yes, let them
marshal their heaviest battalions,
change their form of government to
dictatorship, and prepare their
purses for drain in comparison to
which that Of cur Civil War was light.
The Republic is, indeed, at the parting
Of the ways.