Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-25
VETERAN TELLS
OF BRUTALITIES
+, DECLARES CAPTAIN is CALLED
SECOND WIRZ
INNATE OF HOSPITAL SAYS FOOD
is ExEcRA5LE
Aoed Soldiers Write Letters and Vol.
unteer Information Relative to
Alleged Encouragement at
the Home

Many letters from veterans at the
sawtelle home have been received at
The Herald office and every epistle
contains fresh accounts of alleged
rnismanagement at the institution.
These aged defenders of the flag are
not in a state OF morbid unrest. They
are Weighing things carefully as they
proceed and are organized TO protect
their rights. They will do 1t, II nee9
be, with afffdavits to when they VIII
affix their names.
one letter received by The Herald
yesterday, signed by the writer with
out reservation, but whose name IS
withheld for good reason, narrates acts
of cruelty almost inconceiVable. The
letter is dated June %.
tThere have been many other cru
elites committed here aside from what
your highly honored paper has spoken
Of the letter begins.
Insane Veteran Dies
"Some time back" the writer con-
tinues, Capt. Luther of the Civil War
had lost his mind and aften left his bed
late at night and wandered far into the
grove. Another member of the same
ward would follow him almost nightly
had lost his mind and often left his bed
Finally the old mans clothing became
unclean and the company captain or
dered him to gather all his clothes and
take them to the laundry, which he at
tempted to do. After getting down the
steps with an immense load in his
feeble arms he started in the opposite
direction from the laundry. This was
readily discovered by a comrade, VINO
volunteered to carry his load to the
laundry. On the road the old man
tainted and was watched by his COM
made until he partly recovered, later de-
livering the clothes to the laundry, and
returning assisted the weak man back
to his barracks. The following day the
captain detailed the feeble man for
fatigue duty. The writer loaned him
money to hire man in his place, ana
two days later he died"
Another case. This brutal captain
was seen to pick up a very feeble man
who sat reading and throw man, char
and all over a bed, and the old soldier
was left, cut, bruised and bleedlng.
This abused man wrote a letter OF COM
plant TO the then governor, LaGrange,
who ordered the complainant before
him and gave him a severe reprimand
for annoying him with letters on such
frivolous matters.
Called Second Wirz
ssMany call this captain the second
Wirtz or Wirz of Andersonville prison,
which is an appropriate name for him,
as his foreign blood and principle IS
much like that of Wirz himself. Thls
man would do all manner of low things.
He often loaned money to the poor
drinking ones at the rate of " for 81.
This second Wirz has made thousands
of dollars in this unprincipled way"
All of the communications are writ
ten by old soldiers and every one mas
come from an inmate of the home.
1t is affecting to hear the veterans
discuss the affairs at the home, which
is indeed the only home that a ma
jority of them have. One old man sent
his daughter clippings from a. san
Jose, Cal, paper describing conditions,
and she Immediately wired him to
come home, sending him money. He
likes the Sawtelle home, however, and
desires to stay there. The old soldiers
are grateful to The Herald for the
stand it has taken in their behalf.
'I'H tell you, pardner, we're glad
The Herald has helped us for one
thing anyway" said an old warrior
yesterday. "Since you started this
fight we've had better grub than we've
had for two years. It's worth more
than 40 cents per month, the price of
your paper, to get such meals. We
had more meat today than we could
eat, and yet the appropriation has been
exhausted and we were told that we
could get along without meat for
awhile"
Resign from Firing Squad
1t was enormously stated in The
Herald yesterday that some of the
firing squad had left the home on ac-
count of certain menial duties being
placed on them. Four of the firing
squad did resign from the squad, be-
cause they We're told to string beans
and also to polish the home surgeons
boots, They were never told to polish
the governors boots. Members of the
firing squad receive $3.50 per month
and have to do duty every day, as
hardly a day passes that there is not
from one to four funerals.
1t is their duty to fire the last salute
over the grave of dead comrade. In
addition to this they were required to
string beans, pare potatoes and a re-
cent order that they were to alternate
in polishing the home surgeons boots
caused them to strike.
One old soldier, his eye flashing, said:
ST don't blame the boys We all know