New-York tribune., 1916-07-13
BY ROBERT II. ROHDE.
tBy Telegraph "a The Tt1sune1

>ha~A Va ctoh w hukU
Scott, is on his way from Washington,
1t is reported, to gather data for
President Wilson concerning the
troops on the border.
But the inspecting general will get
here little too late. A week ago he
would have found alongside this side
Of the Rio Grande a panoramic illus
tration Of that briefest Of journalistic
! dispatches which over came from a
zone Of act.on-"All Is confusion"
He would have found Guardsmen
sleeping in wet fields. half In and half
out Of inadequate shelter tents. civil
ian soldiers bro!ling In Klondike
woollens under the Texas sun and
dropping from heat exhaustion by the
squad, company messes that could not
get organized on . three square meals
day basis. and commissary folk from
corporsls 70 colonels who blushed
whenever any one whistled that camp
favorite, "Alice. Where Art Thou Co
ing?" because they did not have an
answer.
When General Bliss arrives. though,
ne will find the Guardsmen-particu-
larly those from New York-pretty
comfortably settled In their camps and
more than tolerably well equipped for
any field service they may be called
on to perform. Perhaps the biggest
thing that has happened affecting the
comfort and wellbeing of the New
Workers was the arrival at McAllen to-
day of a full supply of light cotton
clothing for the fist, 10Th and 7th
regiments of infantry, comprising the
second brigade of Major General John
F. Organs division. and for the other
commands already In camp at Nc
Allen, Pharr and Mission.
Where the Fault Lies.
Before they had been In cotton long
the men probably will have forgotten
the suffering they went through when
their uniforms were all wool and a
yard thick. And probably they will be
no worse off for having been roasted
alive, but the fact remains, neverthe-
less, that the men should never have
been started South until the shift OF
clothing had been made.
From all have been able to learn
and | came over TO Fort Brown to-day
II ~ L., Canaro1 NEolfOnipO o.
Jim" Parker, of the regular army, and
get something more definite than q
guess-the fault lies with the swivel
chair powers back home in Room S23
of the Mun:c cipal Building. Room s23
is the Office, or at least the entrance
10 the Office, of Lieutenant Colonel
Henry s. Sternberger, chief quarter
master Of the New York division.
The cry Of "red tape"/has been raised
a thousand times since this concentra-
tion was begun, but there has been less
visible red tape binding the movement
of the National Guard than hampers
the operation of getting dozen pencils
from the supply room of any system
atized business concern. At every point
/ government stores have been thrown
| open, wide open, TO the guardsmen, 1or
/ they are now Uncle Sans soldiers.
II may be said that a sufficient sup
/ ply of lightweight uniforms was not on
| hand within the states. 1t should nave
/ been, but even if it was not, there were
! the government stores at Philadelphia
70 draw on. Hundreds of thousands OF
uniforms are available at Philadelphia'
and enough Of them to outfit the whole
| division, with underclothing and any
other equipment lacking, would nave
/ been in New York, General Parker says,
few hours after they were requisi-
/ toned. Nor would there have been any
ouibbling concerning the form OF
reouisition. Even a telephone order
would have done the work.
No Red Tape Excuse.
Perhaps the defence-if any ever IS
N be made-may refer TO the gigantic
task of measuring a whole DIVISION Tor
uniforms. General order No. II, war
Department. 1916, covers that. The or,
dor embodies a table as scientihc ana
certain as those Of the actuaries' VI
900 male Americans, selected at ran
dom, quarterInsster corps oincers nave
discovered in many years OF eHperi-
ence so many will require one size uni
form and so many another size. Inc
variation from the table scarcely ever
exceeds 2 per cent.
My trip to Fort Brown brought fortn
information concerning the benevoieht
agency through which the change from
wool 10 cotton has at last come about.
Did Colonel Sternberger, or General
O'Ryan, or any other officer Of the New
York staff. or any of Colonel Stern
berger's direct subordinates who has
been here to see the heat victims IN
their stretcher parade toward the hos
pital tents-did any of these bring IN
the tropic service uniforms
Candor, despite all they have accom-
plished along other lines, compels the
admission that they did not.
II is Captain Alfred Aloe, Quarter.
master Corps, u. S. A., who returned
10 Brownsville to-day to fine here his
appointment rs chief quartermaster for
the entire district between the Nuii
and Aroyo de Tigre, 272 miles west
r.. the New York men have TO thank.
Cantain Aloe has been working TWEEN
~ hours a day TO keep up with the
added work Of looking after the Ma
t;onoi Guard troops. What he saw in
the New York camps made him open
wide his sleepy eyes. Friday night ne
sent a rush order TO San Antonio, ana
for all the congestion that troop ana
supplv trains have caused along those
single track. easy going railroads, cars
with the uniforms aboard, with the
Iightest of underclothing and win
extra socks and shoes. rached McAiIen'
Pharr and Mission this afternoon.
Captain Aloe Gives Credit.
asked Captain Aloe what ne
! thought was the matter with the guar
/ that permitted such lapses as the one
/ he corrected.
/ or,,o - voldier" the captain answered.