The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1908-04-06
sTRAtGE' EXILE Of
ARMY OFFICER
RAISES STORM
COL. STEWART SENT ~ PREsi.
DENT RoosEvELT's ORDER TO
ABANDONED FORT IN ARIZONA
WHICH he CANNOT LEAVE.

SAN FRANCISCO. April s.-The
relatives and friends OF Col. William
+. Stewart. native OF San Francisco
second ranking officer Of the coast ar
tillery corps. who has been exlfed 10
Fort Grant. Ariz.. are making every
effort 10 induce President Roosevelt
10 rescind the order or at least make
public the charges against stewart
and grant him a court Of inquiry.
Official correspondence shows that
Col. Stewart was peremptorily reliev-
ed OF command at Fort Baranoas, Fla
and sent 10 Fort Grant. The war de-
partmert informed him that the order
was made by instruction OF the presi-
dent and was based upon report sub
mitted To and acted upon by the chiei
leyaeutirev---
Col. Stewart was given the alterna'
tive OF retirement. He refused IL un-
less appointed the rank OF brigadier
general, 10 which he might have been
entitled within year. He next ask
ed for court OF inquiry and demand
ed that he be furnished copy OF the
charges and given an opportunity TO
face his accusers Both requests were
denied.
The order relieving Col Stewart OF
command and sending him to what
his family describes as a living tomb.
was not sent him through the regular
channels, but direct from the office Oh
the secretary OF war. and was not pro.
mulgated, as Is customary. All OF
these matters. friends and relatives
declare. require investigation by con-
gress on stronger grounds than did
the Brownsville incidents.
Stewart will be retained at Fort
Grant until ne Is 62 years old.
Fort 10 Mostly Ruins.
There was q garrison once at Fort
Grant, but most OF II has fallen 10
ruin. The only place that might be
made comfortable is The. adobe house
or the conimandant. where one enlist.
ed man has been kept, no one Knows
why
Fort Grant Is three miles from Bon
tia. q postoffice station with no popu-
lation. Twenty-six miles away is Will
cox, the nearest large towns, and the
I \
may not leave Fort Grant and go 10
either OF these places without permits
sion direct from the war department.
II he wires for permission he must
get some one TO carry the telegram
TO Wilcox and IL everybody hastens
he may receive a reply within four
days. ff the enlisted man is obliging.
he may take the telegram TO Wilcox.
II he Is not, he need not. because Col.
Stewart has no authority over him.
4 other Officers In Exile.
| WASHINGTON. April 6.--lnvestiga-
ton shows that the exiting OF Col.
| William r. Stewart at Fort Grant.
Ariz.. an ungarrisoned post. is not an
isolated ease On The contrary, the
practice Is a welf-recognized one IN
the war department when IL Is desir-
ed TO retire an oficer and he declines
TO retire.
After 80 years service an officer
may ask for retirement and his ap-
plication Is acted on by the president.
If he Is civil war veteran he retires
az the next higher rank. When the
officer reaches 81 the president may
retire aim. At Ga he must retire un-
der the law.
A recent case Is that OF Col. Clr>-
ence Deems. who commanded at Fort
Howard. Md. Evidence brought out
at the trial OF Capt Arthur Chase,
who was concentrated on complaint
OF Col. Deems, caused Deems TO be
sent before retiring board. The
board reported that Col. Deems was
all right mentally and physically This
/ finding was disapproved by the wa-
department and the presidenr. but tho
disapproval could not set aside the
finding OF the board However. Col.
Deems has been transferred to Fort
Hancock, N. Y, as second I'm com
mand. This Is the. usual method OF
Furnishing an officer who offends II II
Is possible TO find post where he
can be put under an officer OF higher
rank