Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-08
HOPE OF
RETAINING FRIES
FINAL WORD RECEIVED FROM
WASHINGTON
CHIEF OF ENGINEERS REPORTS
AGAINST REVERSAL
mcood of Service" Is Reason Assigned
by Authorities and Local Har-
bor Promoters Are Forced
to Resignation

paosops for the refusal of the war
dana rtrent to rescind the order trans
ferring Captain a. A. Fries from Los
Angeles to Washington are given III
renort lust made on the matter 10 tne
secretary of war by Gen. W. l.. Mar
shall. chief of engineers.
In substance the report is as Ioilo"s'
Report in Full
"1n selecting Captain Fries to fill
tho vacant captaincy of Company =,
FIRST battalion of engineers, the iengtn
Of time at station, the length OF prior
service with engineer troops anu tls
relative proportion of construction ana
non-construction duty of each captain
was considered. -. Con-
tain Fries has been longer IN statlon
than any other captain, except captain
Sheriff.. who is an instructor at the
staff college and cannot now be moved
bv the chief of engineers, not belnS
under his orders, and Captain Pooie,
who is under orders to attend the
school of the line this fall.
Captain Fries has had more con
struction duty than any other captain
except Captain Hoffman, who is on
dutv with the Panama canal commits
sion and beyond the control or the
chief of engineers, and Captain Bur
CESS. who will be promoted to the grace
of major in three months and who mas
been in his present station less than
one year.
"Captain Fries has had less non
construction work and less service win
engineer troops than most captains Vl
his length of service. In order TO
eoualize the service of the captains
with troops he Is the logical selection.
Postponement InadVisabIe
"Under paragraph Is, special orders,
No. 141, war department current
series. Captain Fries is to join the
First battalion, which is now short
three captains and the chief of en-
gineers cannot recommend the revoca-
tion of the orders to Captain Fries.
0If the secretary of war directs the
orders postponed for three or four
months, it will result that the company
will be commanded by Young Heuten-
ant. which is not good for discipline,
and is very undesirable with the bat
TALON at Washington barracks, where
strict discipline and instruction are
particularly needed, the engineer school
and main depot being there located.
First Lieut.. Charles T. Leeds
corps of engineers, who is now under
orders to succeed Captain Fries, has
been under his training in the Los An
geleS district IOr over u ySeIs dhu 10
fully capable of taking the district and
CARRYING on the work without any
change in administration"
What is apparently the final opinion
of the secretary of war is given in a
letter from John C. Scofield, assistant
to the secretary of war, to E. e. Harri-
man of 1886 West Twenty eighth street
in response to a letter sent by Mr..
Hartman to President Taft urging the
retention of Captain Fries at Los An
geles, in which he says:
"Replying thereto, 1 beg to inform
you that the secretary of war, after
giving this matter his personal con-
sideration, has decided that it would be
contrary to the good of the service to
extend the detail as desired.
"The letter was received by me in
answer to my own in which I urged
the reasons that appeared most vital
to me for the retention of Captain
Fries'' said Mr. Hartman. However
much disappointed l may feel over the
decision I am obliged to admit that
from a disciplinary standpoint the rea-
sons are good. | also consider that
the reply to letter from an entirely
unknown man shows courtesy on the