The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1909-06-17
OLD SOLDIER DISSATISFIED.
Anderson Veteran Says Old Soldiers
Home is Rough Place.

Anderson Veteran Says Old Soldiers
Home is a Rough Place.
Because of lack of discipline
among the inmates OF the Soldier S
Home, at Columbia, where he says
they are allowed to do as they please,
curse, and conduct themselves in an
indecent and barbarous manner, Mr..
Riley Rowland, OF Pendleton, who
was one of those admitted to the
home from Anderson county, has re-
turned and says he will not again
enter the institution until some
great changes have been effected and
the home is conducted on a higher
plane. The 81 veterans who are now
at the home, he says, have no regard
whatever for the rules that have
been laid down for the conduct of
the institution, and these are not en-
forced by those in charge, Capt.
Startling, of Columbia, and Capt.
Day, of Abbeville. This is due in
part, he says, to timidness on the
part of the officers, who wish to al
low the inmates as much freedom as
possible.
From morning till night the place
is in a turmoil, according to the
statement of Mr.. Rowland. There is
swearing; smutty jokes are told IN
loud voices, and the inmates seem to
vie with each other in an effort to
see who can tell the most immoral
and dirty stories. In the mess hall
the condition is deplorable. The
walters are given no opportunity to
serve the dishes. If certain thing
be had that appeals particularly to
the appetite of any one veteran, he
promptly turns the contents out into
his plate and begins to eat. No grace
is said, and the meal is partaken of
in wild disorder.
The home, Mr.. Rowland says, is
well situated, comfortably furnished,
and should be a place where the old
soldiers could enjoy their declining
years. But, he says, if the present
condition is allowed to continue no
veteran who tries to walk in the mar
row way should go to the place. 1t is
no fit place for him. Il stood it as
long as l could, and then left" He is
of the opinion that the home, con-
Quoted as at present, is more OF
curse than a blessing or a benefit to
the inmates.
Mr.. Roland says he believes some
thing should be done at once. There
are old, gray-haired men there
whose years are few, and they should
not conduct themselves in such
barbarous and uncivilized manner.
The condition is deplorable, to say
the least.
Mr.. Roland spent nearly three
weeks in Columbia, returning home
the middle of last week. He says he
has no desire ever to return, but
hopes that something will be done
that will bring about change for
the better at the institution.
Mr. Rowland lived at Pendleton
for a great many years. He was
splendid soldier, and was one of the
few who survived the explosion of
the crater at Petersburg. He is a
man of fine ideals, and is the soul Of
honor, and has always been held in
the highest esteem by all who know
him. All of his relatives are dead,
and for several years he has looked
forward to spending his declining
years in the Soldiers Home, in Co.
lumbia. He has no other home now,
and the news that he found the in
stitution in Columbia so badly man
aged that he could not remain in it
will be distressing to his many
friends. His old comrades, and the
people of the county, will not let him
suffer, but it is not known yet what
will be made for TAX
Ing care of him.-Anderson Mail.