Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-09-01

Filed by the Widow of Private william,
III. Hook, Who Died May 15 at Camp
Harvey, Near Milwaukee. Wis-Records
Must Be Completed Before There Can
BE Adjudication by the Government
Washington, Sept Private Will
lam II. Hook enlisted for the war on
Thursday. went into camp on Friday,
fell i'll on Saturday. died on Sunday. and
the following Wednesday his widow
went before a magistrate and executed
an application for a pension Mr. Hook
enlisted on May IL at Milv aukee, Wis.
On the 18th he went into camp at Camp
Harvey. near Milwaukee. On the 18th
he died. on the 18th, his widow. Ida
M Hook. executed her pension applica-
ton. and on aae 1st of June it was
MED in the pension Office. She was the
first applicant for a pension growing
out OF the pending war with Spain. The
.appifcation, with number of others, is
in the Office Of. the chief clerk Of the
bureau of pensious.t where all await
the completion of the records. neces-
sary to their adjudication. Up to date
about 100 applications haEfs come in and
for the preshH all sleep tbgether. All
pension applications have to be referred
TO the war department for the record OF
the soldier involved
Records Very Incomplete.
The muster rolls OF the recent volun-
teer army are not yet in, and the rec
ords OF the soldiers are very iucomplete.
Until these records are III better shap=.
which may lie several months. the pen-
sion Office Is held at a standstil in the
adjudication Of applications growing
out of the existing war. The pension
Office has plenty Of work to do. how
ever. because there are pending in that
bureau 63J.6OO old applications. These
include applications for original pen
Fions. increases. accrued, and new dis
abilities. As soon as the official records
Will allow new division Will be created
10 handle the applications growing out
OF the Spanish American war, work
viii be begun upon them. and the rec
ords OF them Will be kept separate from
the other records Of the pension bureau.
\ nun:be- of the new applications now
IN come from the navy. The ships rep
resented are the Winslow. the Hugh
McCuIlOch. the Richmond. the St Paul,
the Charleston. the Newark, the Vesu-
vius. the Texas, the Yankee, the Marbles
head. the Olympia. the Pompeii. the
Vermont the Marion. the Saturn. the
Wabash. the Puritan. the Iowa. and
the Brooklyn. The list is somewhat in
dicative OF the ships that have been en-
gagged in the various mix-ups.
The Death of Ellis.
The tragic death on the Brooklyn, the
only death to occur I'm the famous de-
struction of Cervera's fleet. Is already
recorded in the pension office. 1t will
he remembered that George II. Ellis.
while staEd!ng within two feet OF Com
modore Schley during the memorable
chase OF the CristobaI Colon, had his
head taken or by a shell. The in
stance was mentioned in Commodore
Schley's report to Admiral Sampson,
except that the modest commodore did
Of a few inches Of space the shell might
have taken of his own head instead OF
that OF Chief Yconan Ellis. Ellis was
enrolled on the Brooklyn as chief yeo-
man on May 8. 1897 in the city OF
Brooklyn. Kings county. y. Y. The ap-
plication for a pension was made by his
widow. young woman OF %. before "A
notary in Brooklyn on July - and filed
in the pension office July Il.
HamIIton's Widow Asks for a Pension.
The only high officer of the army in
whose name a pension has been asked
IS Lieutenant Colonel John NJ Hamil-
ton. OF the Ninth United States cavalry.
The application is made by his widow.
Isabel Bowie Hamilton. and II states
that he was killed July l at the head of
his command while storming a hill at
san Juan. While only 100 pension ap-
piications have been received. II is es-
timated at the war department that
there are already from 5000 TO 1000
cases which form the basis OF pension
claims.