The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-02-18
He SPINS 4 GOOD YARN.
Gen. Miles illustrates His Preslden-
tial Candidacy In a Snow
Storm.
After Which He Says His AM
bition il to Command
Brave Men.
a Natural and Instinctive Soidier-Dis
trusted by West Poin~ters-sources
Of His Popularity.

a Natural and Instructive Soidier-Dis-
trusted by West Pointers-Gources
OF His Popularity.
Gen. Nelson A. Miles sat his big sorrel
horse Mt Pine Ridge the other day looking
on ut the five thousand boys in blue who
we're passing in review before him, says the
New York SIM. II WAS a novel scene to
witness in this country, for tho very air
savored of war. It was in the grim faces
of the men. it sounded from their changing
accoutrements and the rumble of the ma
chine guns. it WIS perceptible in the great
white canvas bags of cartridges that the
mules carried on their backs, II was re-
fected in the faces of the ten thousand
Sioux who looked on with their jowls still q
little smearsd with traces of the war paint
that had not been earnestly rubbed off.
And if ever there was a fit background for
such a scene it was the country that rolled
away before and behind the troops; the
Bad Lands-broken, bare. burnt, ragged.
hromatic. and as dead ms SO much scenery
n the moon.
Miles wore a sealskin hat, a line officers
oat. like one of our Broadway box over
"a hAtth bSVoo va WAAp ~ssSND
deckcd with the insignia Of a maior-gen-
eral, corduroy trousers, and horsehide leg
gings. He is a fine-looking man, smooth
faced like a priest, but showing the lines OF
rough experience in place of plump cheeks.
As he sat Oh his magnificent horse an east
ern reporter rode up to him and said that
before the general left for his quarters he
would like to interview him upon his pres l.
dentia ! aspirations.
''They say in the east that you are aiming
r. .~.or;Jn.-r = cu;I fIn sornI
''Do theyY' the general replied; "well, we
won take much time for an interview on
that subject. The thing reminds me of an
experience that a scout had in the
old days vixen we we're fighting
good fellow. too. He had to make his way
from Fort Keogh to a cantonment on the
Missouri, and the Cheyennes were after
him. Thew Iushed him like satan, and
After a time his horse gave out and he had
to hoof it. Well, it was a rough, bad coun-
stumbled and slid so that his trail must
have been something awful to contemplate.
an Indian can read marks in the ground as
we'll as You and | can read a book, but they
had never logged a club foot before. He
got into the cantonment all right, and
pretty soon the Cheyennes came along.
people to look at them. we can't make
out which way that fellow was going said
they. Now, that's the case with these peo-
pie who busy themselves about me. They
don't know anything about me, and they
ant find out"
After q pause Gen. Miles turned his head
nd spoke a few words over his shoulder.
My only ambition is to command brave
non" said he, and I've been doing that
for thirty years."
Among the other military men at Pine
Ridge the idea that Miles was setting his
cap for the presidency WAS generally
secuted. They say that to the soldierly
mind the idea is ridiculous, because he has
only to wait four years in order to reach
the head of the army, with all that that
implies and all that results from it after
ward. This would have great weight with
any officer, but it is especially influential
With Miles, who 10 considered rs a man
ment, soldierly through and through.
Those civilians who know him best agree
with the army estimate of him. HE is a
natural and instructive soldier" said one
man. HE is always figuring on the weak
est point. Even when be is forming his
until he has discovered his weakness" A
popularity with him is his interest in
enlisted men. During the review
at Pine Ridge he would say every now and
then. "There's a fine soldier; look at him."
1t was always a man in the ranks of whom
in the Life guards, Pill bet" he said, as a
particularly big, fine fellow passed by. He
has not half the concern for rank that he
would have for a cut on his finger, but a
soldierly man in the army or a bra1ny one
ont of it always attracts his attention.
The fact that he is not a West Point grad
uate brings about situations that give him
constant food for reflection. He feels that
the young fellows b come out to the
plains fresh from the military academy
curious, for they know nothing Of the art
of war, while he has been ON the field of
battle off and on continually for thirty
years.
Yet he says, "they think of their four
years at West Point, and because / have
complains of What is worse than that
the .inattention that some of the old line
colonies sometimes show him, yet he has
experienced it.
The rumors of his being DESTROYS of a NOM
lnatiOn for the presidency have q good
basis. They spring from his amazing pop
ularity in the army and in the west. He is
tho idol of the private soldier; ~rustlers talk
of him as if he made the earth; rs if there
was not anybody west of the Missouri worth
talking about i'll the same breath with
Miles. They say that he has conquered
half the country. preserved the peace, and
made it possible to live there. But nobody
knows his politics-if he has any. That
was hardly what he meant when he spoke
of the confusion of the Cheyennes in trying
to read the trail of a club foot. He never
talks politics. nor does he talk much about
anything. What little he says il apt to be
humorous, rather indirect ard calculated to
conceal his put pose, but he is exceedingly
plain spoken when he feels what he is saying,
and at such times is apt to call a spade Il
spade. and if he regards a man as a fool
he says 80. Rank and mere age do not in
terest him. His respect is for action. ac-
tivity and force, no matter in whom he
finds it. In physique he is a big man. lie
is SO years old, weighs 10 pounds and is as
hard as gristle all over. He has the most
tremendous chest possessed by any man in
the army. j. is big enough to hide n black
smiths bellows in. He is fond of sparriug,
and has had a professional pugilist for a
teacher. Pugilism intei ests him., and he
knows all about the men who ARE in it from
time to time. His health is perfect, and he
is capable of the most daredevil and extra
ordinary feats. In this Iast furry he found
q tenderfoot anxious to see a little cam
paigning, and he gave him a great deal in Il
short time. The first thing he did was to
ride 24s miles in thirtv-eight hours and a
half, Just for fun and for nothing else.
Take 1t Before Breakfast.
The great appetizer. tonic and liver regu-
lator-positive specific for liver complaint,
in use for more than 80 years in England.
Bad taste i'll the mouth on arising i'll the
morning, dull pains in the head and back