The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-11-19
BACK To THE DESK
PRESIDENT TO RETURN TO HIS
JOB ON MONDAY.
Mr.. Taft Will Be Ready to Take UP
Any Task That Confronts Him; Ma
jor-General John F. Weston Has
Reached the Oslerization Period;
What the Panama Canal Is Ex-
pected to Accomplish.

tomorrow from Connecticut, and on
Monday morning will seat himself at
his desk in the new White House Of
flee building, prepared to take up the
important affairs now awaiting his
attention. 1t is probable that the
first cabinet meeting of the season will
be held on Tuesday.
Has Reached the Age Limit
Major General John F. Weston, U. S.
A., in command of the Department of
California, reaches the age limit for
active service today and his name
goes on the retired list at the war
department. As result of the re-
tirement of General Weston, Brigadier
General William III. Carter, now serving
in the Philippines, becomes a major
general. Colonel John G. ID. Knight,
corps of engineers, becomes briga-
der general. The following engineer
officers are also promoted: Lieutenant
Colonel George w. Goethals, Major
William f. Craighill, Captain George
NJ. Hoffman, First Lieutenant William
A. Mitchell, and Second Lieutenant
Henry A. Finch.
Major General Carter is prominently
mentioned as successor to Ma jor Gen
eral j. Franklin Bell as chief of staff
of the army when the latter retires
next April. The new major general is
a personal friend of Secretary of War
Dickinson. If given the appointment,
he will bring to his task considerable
experience. as he was assistant chief
of staff in 1908. Later he commanded
the Department of the Lakes, with
Headquarters at Chicago.
Entered the Army at Sixteen.
Major General John F. Weston, who
is siXtyfour years of age today-the
age at which the war department of
fcials consider army officers ready for
Oslerizaton-was formerly commissary
general of the army. He was born in
Kentucky in 1916. He was only six
teen years old at the outbreak of the
civil war, in which he served as first
lieutenant of the Fourth Kentucky
Volunteer Cavalry In 1865 he was
honorably mustered out of the volun-
teer service as major.
He entered the regular army in Au-
gust, 1867. as a second lieutenant of
the Seventh Cavalry, which partici-
pated in the Indian wars under the
his service in the Indian wars, General
Weston was known to the Indians as
"Yellowhead" because of his shock of
golden hair. In 1875 he entered the
commissary department and in April,
1898, was assistant commissary general
of the army. During the Spanish war
he served as a brigadier- general in the
volunteer army and had charge of the
subsistence department of the San
tiago campaign. In December. 1900,
he was appointed commissary general
of the army
In 1905, General Weston was pro-
NOTED to the grade of major general
and assigned to the command of the
Philippine division. The climate of the
Philippines did not agree with him,
however. and after serving for two
years he was ordered home by his
physicians. He has been in command
of the Department of California since
his return to the United States in 1898.
General Weston was awarded a medal
OF honor for conspicuous bravery dur
ing the civil war
While serving as a major in the
Fourth kentucky Cavalry near We
tumpka, Ala. he was in commend of a
small detachment charged with the
duty of destroying steamboats, loaded
with supplies for the enemy His de-
tachment was blocked by an unford-
able river Accompanied by five of his
men he swan across the river and
captured two leaky canoes in which
his small detachment was ferried over.
After sllirmish with small force
of Confederates he succeeded in reach
ing Wetumpka, where he found the
Confederate supply vessel anchored in
midstream BY ruse he lured the
captain ashore and captured him. Gen
eral Weston then rowed out and took
possession of the supply boat.
/ The Mayfiower, which for several
years has been known as the presi
dents yacht, is under orders to leave
New York for Washington tomorrow.
and will remain here during the win
ter at the call of the president There
has been much criticism of putting
a government vessel to such use, but
1t now has the sanction of custom.
and it is likely that as long as the
Mayt1ower stays above water it will
remain the private yacht of the chief
executive of the nation.
The completion of the Panama canal
and the opening of the Mississippi to
extensive traffic will have the result.
say Latin American diplomats, of
greatly increasing the trade between
Central and South America and the
United States. Reports from st. Louis
say that a dinner will be held in that
city tonight, at which all the consuls
will be in attendNuee. with the idea
of getting share of this new trade
for the Missouri metropolis New Or
leans, Mobile and other southern cities
are also alive to the ADVANTAGES TO
be derived from an increase of trade
with Latin America. 1t is not too