The age-herald., 1898-07-24
of the Iatterss accomplishment than him.

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 General Miles seems to have irritated his detraotors, first, by his great personal neatness, and second, by what they call his insufferable vanity. The first accusa- tion seems to be a peculiar ground for of fense against a man. Can a man be too neat? Is there such thing as too great personal cleanliness? Must a man, to be a soldier, look rowdy? Is it not fitting that the commander of the army Of a great nation like the United States should not only act, but look well his part? It so happened that at the time of the queen jubilee, the general who had been sent abroad on important mission, by 1he pres1- dent was invited to take part in the great parade It was said that he presented very gorgeous figure indeed, in his hand some uniform and mounted on a splendid and spirited charger Of course he did. In the first place, he is an unusually fine looking man. Then he has a splendid fig ure, with fine, broad shoulders, and he carries himself with erectness and dignity. Why the hearts of the American public should swell with pride at the thought Of the fine figure our general cut as he rode along between the lines of cheering thous- ands. Instead, there were enough gibes and sneers bearing on his appearance on that occasion printed in American news papers to have filled many volume. A handsome man has a great deal to contend With. PGOple take IL TOT granted lldl llc iS conceited. if he is not he might as well be. The truth of the matter is, the plain est and least attractive men are frequent- ly far more egotistical and self contented than those more kindly favored by nature. It is said the enmity against General Miles found it's source among the officers of the army who are graduates Of west Point General Miles, not being West Point man, they declare him to be incom- petent; that he has risen to his present prominence through political influence; that he is a dress parade officer and unfit to be at the head of our army. And yet he bears an enviable reputation as fghter. When the war broke out he was 2 years old, and clerk in a store. He joined the army as a lieutenant of volunteers. In seven or eight months he had risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.I In year he was a colonel. At the end of the war ne was brevetted major general for dlstln- guished service, he having fought Tn all the battles of the army of the Potomac, except one and being wounded three times. When the war closed he entered the regular army as colonel of the Fortyeth infantry and his brilliant achievements in Indian warfare are well known. This is hardly the type of man to be called dress pa rade officer
 Perhaps there is an unusual bond or sym pathy between Generals Miles and smarter, inasmuch as the latter is not West Poiht man either. Like General Miles, he has risen from the ranks, gaining his military knowledge by hard experience. lie also has had his detractors and has fet the sting of ridcue, while many and vehement were the charges of incompetency brought against him while struggling with the countless difficulties in the approach 10 Santiago And yet, like General Miles, he has a splendid record When twenty-nVe years of age he enlisted in the Seventh Michigan infantry as first lieutenant ana rose rapidly to be major, lieutenant-coonel and colonel successively, and was finally at the close of the war brevetted brigadier general Like General Miles, after the war he determined to remain in the army and has spent most of his time since Tn the west.
 He has the reputation of being a par tieuIarly stern regimental commander, Of whom his soldiers stand in great awe Ills personal appearance is somewhat Iolnlua- ble. He is six feet tall and weighs Tn the near neighborhood of three hundred pounds. His blue eyes are rather nerce looking, while his chin is massive, ms nose aguiline and his moustache and eye brows shaggy. In fact, the general does not look like a man to be trlheo Wilh. The following anecdote, however, shoWs that on occasions he can enjoy pil ol fun as good as any one:
 One afternoon the soldiers of his regl- ment stationed at that time at Anger ls- land, near San Francisco, were playing foot ball on the parade ground near Coi- onel Shafter's quarters. They were nav ing a high old time playing the old-fash- toned game, and not the scientific one of the present day. There is perhaps more genuine fun about the old game If not quite so much science. Anyway, one of the men got the ball under the toe of his shoe and sending it off exuberantly in a beautl- full curve watched it sail through Colonel Shafters window into his private parlor. The players were paralyzed, and because at the moment they could not think of nothing better to do they stood still and awaited developments
 As is frequently the case, what they ex- pected did not happen at all. In half a minute Colonel Shafter appeared in the open door with the ball under his arm. Lifting it, the colonel gave kick at it, and it was pretty big kick But 1t didn't hit Nothing daunted, he went down the steps after the ball, returned, and tried again. Five times he tried, but the colonel was not in very good practice. The sixth time he gave 1t a beautiful kick, and 1t went sailing away across the grounds. The only thing that marred the beauty of the scene was the fact that at the same time the colonel went sailing down the steps. Think of it! Three hundred pounds went down those steps! The soldiers watched the scene with bated breath. The colonel got slowly up and his great shoulders were seen to be shaking. He faced around H. 11