The Saint Paul globe., 1904-10-28
NEWS OF THE CITY
GIVES men CHANCE
TO PUSH FORWARD
Enlistment In Army as Step
ping Stone to Advanced
Position

with the great chance for promotion
in the regular army, it seems to me
that there should be greater number
of enlistments than the records now
show said Capt. A. F. Prescott, of the
Fifth infantry, at the Merchants hotel
last night. Every facility is offered
the enlisted man to work his way up
in the scale, and am certain that there
is no vocation which combines all the
advantages, of a social and honorable
nature offered by the army"
+ Capt. Prescott, although not West
Point graduate, is an enthusiastic ad-
mfrer of the fighting men employed by
Uncle Sam He thinks that the Amer
lean army is about the greatest bunch
of fighters in the world, and apparent
ly has supreme confidence in the army S
ability TO whip anything in the cate
cory of fighting men on earth.
Enlisted Mems Chances
"I was appointed from civil life dur
ing the war in the Philippines" he
continued, "and have been able to get
up to a captains commission since that
time. Any enlisted man has an equal
chance. The officers are always ready
to take man from the company and
send him forward as fast as his ability
will warrant. He is first put through
the grades of the on-commissioned
ranks, being made a corporal and then
a sergeant, and finally a first sergeant.
Tt is then that his real executive
ability or lack of it appears. He is in
practical command of the detail of the
company, and makes out all lists, looks
after the department of the company,
and really has almost as much to do
with the men as the captain himself.
He makes all reports, keeps tab on the
behavior of the men, and recommends
the bringing of charges for misconduct
against any member of his company.
..At the same time, he has chance
at all times to improve his mental con-
dition, attending post schools, and be-
ing tutored by officers whenever he
shows any inclination to do so.
How the Plan Works
every year we have a large number
of men mentioned for preliminary ex-
aminations These men are given an
examination equal to the examination
which man would have to take in his
sophomore year at college. If he
passes or comes near passing, he is
sent to the army training school at
Fort Leavenworth, to prepare for the
final examinations, which come about
six months later. Any enlisted man
between the age of twenty-five and
thirty who has been recommended by
his superior officers is eligible for this
school. The fact that man fails to
pass the preliminary examination Is
no bar to admittance, as the school is
designed to tutor just such men,
You see young men graduating
from colleges every year, and immedi-
ately taking some small clerical posi-
tion in the mercantile world. 1t takes
them a long time to get the pay an
army officer does, or to get in line for
the promotions which are certain to
worthy men in the army.
Then, again, army life gives them
a chance to see the world not afforded
by the average office, and also gives
them a social position which is never
questioned.
IF more young. wen educated mer
would enter the army instead of set
Ting down to drudgery of office rou-
tine, there would be less derelicts in the
walks of civil life and fewer men dis
satisfied with their work.