Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1898-12-07
THE ADMINISTRATION AND ITS
 REGARD FOR ARIZONA.

the same information, that the sec retary of war, R. A. Alger, had rec commended in his annual report the maintenance of WhiPple Barracks, near this city, and asks an appro- pristion of $75,000 with which to inaugurate the work at once. The official recommendation of Secretary Alger is equivalent in itself to the actual inauguration of the work suggested, and in a short time four companies of regulaIs will be or dered to take station at Whipple, so 1t IS reported, and when the pur- poses of the war department are permitted to be fulfilled in garrison accommodations for troops, at least a regiment will be permanently sta tioned here.
 The abandonment of Whipple has never been officially sanctioned by the war department, the public sale of its paoperty last spring in no way applying to the reservation or the improvements thereon. From th:s 1t will be seen that during the prev alenee of the war 1t was a necessity to move the regulars away and at the same time dispose of useless material and perishsble merchau- disc. incidental to atemporary evsc- uation.
 The maintenance of this military station may be considered as settled definitely then in view of Mir. Alger's official report to that question. The hostility of General Miles to this section from a civilian standpoint was vindictively exempli6ed in his officially capacity hY recommending that the post be razed to the grass roots and wiped of the military map of the nation. In vIew of this disre- gard to the interests of the city and the apparent neglect of this mili- Iary waTrIor to conscientiously and impartially consider the influences that surround Whipple as a stra- getic center, the beauties of its san itary life, and the transportation la cilities 1t enjoys, the retention and rebuilding of the post is tb-r . matter of congrstulation to this section as we'll as a stroke of official wisdom for which Mir. Alger and the administration are to be commend ed highly.
 No military post in the west has that back of 1t that Whipple has. Around its stockades there clusters the hopes and ambitions of the first volunteers of New Mexico as they guarded the life of the infant Ari- zona and the handful of men who wese the first to herald its life. Away back in '63 it was the pillar of hope to the timid and as time wore away it gave to the frontiers man . helping hand and the coun- try a freedom from that which the past regards now only in memory. The post in short has been the mainstay of Northern Arizona and while the section that has cherished it in the past follows it in the future with fervent regard, why should not Prescott rejoice again that an historical idol is to be preserved from the shattering influences of time and the bickerings of men who travel in the narrow sphere ofissl- 6shness and hatred. Whipple to- day is far more prominent than it was a third of a century ago in the dark era of the Apache. As the red man was driven away by the entry of the iron horse, the Whipple o. the future will stand as an awful menace to the WAllapsi of the west, the Navajo of the north or the Apa- che of the east. More than all this it will serve to thwsFt international complications on the border with Mexico which may arise in . day.
 Back of this post and its probable rebuilding there is another phase O! its usefulness and the regard it has in official channels that in itself makes 1t very desirable to b. main tained and fostered. It is the ques- tion of its sanitary conditions. For years the immunity of troops from disease is something remarkable aud today in medical circles of the army Fort Whippls bsars the pleasir 8 feature of being the healthiest post by far of any in the union. The re- cent war has to . certain degree been beneficial to the authorities iu handling men and the sanitary life they have been subjected to, and which, 1t may incidentally be said could not prevail at Whipple, nc matter how many troops were sta tioned there. Another argument prevailing in our favor. is the COO. sGruction of water works. and by which Whipple will be as we'll ben. eftted as Prescott, and share ike. wise with US, With all the above desirable features prevailing in favor with it's location. and the rsadinss: with which the situation has beer
 grasped by Secretary Alger, Whip
 ple's rebuilding and permanent maintenance Is unquestiOna5iy as sUred.
 Many influential and jealous mel
 have from time to time advocated the cause of this particular militarl
 proposition. General Sheridan anC General Sherman in their lives eacl
 reported earnestly and in favor o
 that which Secretary Alger tOda,
 authorizes. Generals Wheston, Ne
 Cook and Otis likewise approved
 Surgeon General Ainsworth th'
 head of the medical department si
 Washington. at present, aud Whs
 resided Tor some years st Whipple was firm and tireless to see Whip
 pie maintained. Besides Ihese odic CTS scores of subsltsrns were in line
 Al home or ia Arizona. the sup
 port, influence and she psrsisteoe'
 also of Our people has never iseks<
 in diligence and regard to the mat
 ter. Governor MurphT, while del
 egste in congress, vas ever oo th'
 alert to countersct evil IHHusnee hurled at WhipPle's eXistencs, an
 to him and his efforts l. must bs
 said great good has been secon Diished- He haS;b been au earnest ana