The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1906-02-01

Now, there's Wheeler, sitting
yonder, He's getting old, but the
Almighty could never find him in
one place long enough to put his
finger on him "
This tells the story of General
Wheeler. He was constantly on
the jump, did everything nervously
and rapidly. When lie arose to
speak in the House, where he
served as q member from Alabama,
lie invariably said: Il arise for a
moment just to say one word" 1t
always brought forth laugh from
his colleagues. He talked so rap
idly that it was almost impossible
for stenOgrapher TO take him
down" On one occasion while in
Congress the General lost his voice
in themidst of a speech, but con
tinued his motions of talking for
some minutes, his white beard
bobbing up and down, to the
amusement of 100 members, all of
whom nevertheless had a kindly
feeling for him. He was an ar
dent free silver" advocate.
General Wheeler's offer to serve
in the Cuban War was the subject
Of mere than one official conference
in Washington at the time. Some
Of the veterans of the Civil War
were wondering whether or not
"Fightin9 Joe"had been sufficient
ly reconstructed i'll the 80 years
that had elapsed. 1t was Senator
Cushman K Davis of Minnesota
who first came to the front with a
strong Endorsement of the doughty
little Southerner. With several
other influential men, he called on
President Mckinley.
why, I'm going to appoint him
a general, of course" said the
President the moment the delega-
ton let their mission be known.
"Im mighty glad to hear it, :"
said Senator Davis. And now l
want to tell you, Mr.. President,
why l regard Joe Wheeler as one
or the greatest generals this coun-
try has ever produced. He gave
me more trouble during the war
than any dozen other men and
scared HE so that I think it must
have stunted my growth.
Incidentally" continued the
Senator from Minnesota, "if you
want any testimony as to Joe
Wheeler's grit, | can furnish plen-
ty of it for you. Before that war
ended l found that he had chased
me pretty much all over seven
States, and l guess if Lee hadn't
surrendered Joe'would have taken
my scalp, for he was getting closer
to it all the time. -
The General, Notwithstanding
his age, was one of the most active
men in the army corps which was
investing Santiago, and was con-
stantly forcing his way through
jungles and thickets to find place
from which he could get view Of
the enemy. In one of these eXpe-
ditions one of the two silver stars
on his right shoulder strap, which
marked his rank as major general
was torn off by the limb OF a tree.
The loss was not discovered until
the General returned to camp at
night, but he was equal to the
occasion.
Not desiring to appear among
his soldiers with two stars on one
shoulder and only one on the other,
he told his orderly to bring him d
tin tomoto can and pair of shears
These were procured, and the
. General cut fye-pointed star out
of the can and sewed it into the
shoulder strap to take the piece OF
the one that had been lost.
In the first engagement at San
Juan he was senior in command
and was in action all day. Not
withstanding his 81 years, he was
on the fighting line all night, and
on several occasions climbed tai
trees to make personal observa-
tons Of the enemy's position. His
soldiers marveled at his activity
and cheered him to the echo. O.