The San Francisco call., 1904-07-13
Lieutenant William B. Ak
en- Guilty, but Permitted
to Resign.

The findings in the court-martial Of
First Lieutenant William B. Aiken
seem to have had very little weight
with the War Department at Wash
ington. Lieutenant Aiken was tried
at the Presidio on a charge of breach
of arrest and was found guilty. Ac-
cording to the law of the country there
is only one penalty for this offense,
and that is dismissal from the army.
This regulation seems to have been
overlooked, as Aiken has been permit
ted by the authorities at Washington
to hand in his resignation, which is
to be accepted, and he is to be retired
with an honorable discharge, whereas
if the verdict of the court was carried
out he would be dishonorably dis
missed.
The case was a fragrant one. Aiken
was placed under arrest by the COM
manding officer of the Twenty eighth
Regiment, Colonel William L. Pitcher,
for disobedience of orders and while
under arrest deliberately left the post
and absented himself for two days.
He was found in a maudlin condition
outside Of the post by some of the men
of his company and taken back to the
cantonment. He was tried by court of
his superiors, all officers of high stand
ing in the army. Following was the
personnel Of the court: Colonel Alfred
c. Markley, Thirteenth Infantry; Lieu
tenant Colonel Luigi Lonnia, Artillery
Corps; Major William Stephenson,
medical department; Major Alexis r.
Paxton, Thirteenth Infantry; Captain
Samson L. Faison, Thirteenth Infan-
try; Captain Charles H. Hunter, Ar
tillery Corps; Captain Arthur Johnson,
Thirteenth Infantry; Captain Ira A.
Haynes, Artillery Corps; Captain Mar
Gus B. Stokes, Tenth Infantry; Captain
John B. Christian, Ninth Cavalry, and
Captain James V. Heidi, Tenth In
fantry. Captain John j. Bradley, Four
teenth Infantry, was judge advocate.
While these officers brought in a YER
dict of guilty Of the charges preferred,
Aiken is allowed to go practically un-
punished.
This was not the first offense COM
mitted by Aiken. Twice before he had
been tried by a urt-martial, but each
time managed to slip through with only
a reprimand.
Lieutenant Aiken left last night for
Knoxville, Tenn, on a two months
leave Of absence. During this period
he will gradually disappear from the
ranks of army life.
The officers and men of the Twenty
eighth Infantry are pleased with the
orders sending them to the department
of Dakota, for which station they will
leave early in October. While they en-
joy life at the Presidio and the advan-
tages of San Francisco. they have
never been satisfied with their quar-
ters at the cantonment there The
barracks at Fort Smelling, near st.
Paul. are among the best in the coun-
try. The entire regiment will go there,
excepting two companies, which will go
to Fort Lincoln, North Dakota. The
place of the Twenty eighth will be
temporarily filed here by the Twenty
first Infantry. This regiment will in
all probability only remain at the Pre-
sidio for a short time, as it is sched-
uled to go to Samar. There they will
relieve the Fourteenth Infantry, which
will come back to the post here.
Work at Camp Atascadero is going
briskly on, preparatory to receiving the
big body of troops that will assemble
there on August 13 Lieutenant George
f. Stewart, Fifteenth Infantry, is in
charge of large force of engineers,
surveying the roads, and making notes
of the typographical features of the
comping grounds
Brigadier General H. E. Noyes, re-
tired, registered at headquarters yes
terday. He is staying at Hotel Cum
berland
Lieutenant Walter ]. Buttenbach,
Fourth Infantry. is here awaiting or
ders. He is staying at 314 Steiner
street.
Mrs. Stephen G. Jocelyn and family
leave to-day for Yosemite Valley for
a ten days trip.