The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-08-18


Mr.. White allows his Imagination +,
uweil upon as many of these situation.
rs nc can think OF, and the most striL
ing, are set down faithfully in mi,
DOCK. IL is altogether record of i'm.
aglnatlve ingenuity hard to equal and
Nr. Whlte 8 great skill has enabled
hlm TO weave it all into a story OF
entrancing power.
GEN. FUNsToN's WAR MEMORIES
Memories OF Two Wars: Cuba and Phil
Funsfo, lnpnsf ESPerienGes bsha H;ss BY Frederick
Army illustrations by F C. yobn
published by Charles Scribncr's sons.
New York. "S'
This Is Il very readable book by
General Funston, giving his personal
experiences, first as volunteer with
the cuban insurgents, and next as an
olleer III the Philippine war. He tells
OF applying to the Cuban ,Junta in New
YORK as a volunteer and being rejected
out OF hand. Then, after getting Il
letter from General Sickles authenti
eating him aud vouchue for his
honesty of purpose, Funston was
gladly received by the Cuban in.
surgents, and busted himself in learn.
in2 how to put together and work a
Hotchkiss gun, He tells then of
dodglng the u. S. patrol, and the in.
terrupted landing on the northeast
coast of Cuba. Finally, all went we'll
with them, and they got to Garcia S
forces. The adventures Of the in.
surgents are very graphically told by
General Funston, he underiiakino TO
give only those details that came with.
10 ms personal observation. It went
pretty hard with the insurgents until
the American forces came; and then
All was plain sailing, and is rcmcm-
bercd by everyone.
Broken in health bv his Cuban OK
posures, Funston returned to his home
IN Kansas carly In 1898, before the in
teTventlon of the United States had
taken place. On the declaration Of
war against Spain, Governor Lcedv of
Kansas sent for Funston and offered
TO make him Colonel Of one Of the
regiments which Kansas was called
npon TO- furnish for the war Funston
took hold of the organization of that
regiment with his usual vim and de-
termination. The army authorities
knew that Funston had been in Cuba,
and he was called upon to proceed
TO Tampa, Florida. to give iuforma-
tion in regard to affairs in Cuba. But
very little attention was paid to him
by General Shafter, in command of the
American forces ordered to Cuba,
and Funston returned to Kansas: his
regiment was ordered to San Francisco
for duty in the Philippines. The re.
mninder of the book-a fine large vol
ume, copiously illustrated-is devoted
to his experiences In the Philip
pines. He tells Of the different
the battles, the charges, of
the driving back Of the Filipinos, and
then Of the oncoming. guerrilla war,
and his capture of Aguinaldo- His ac-
count Of the swimming over the stream
at the railway bridge over the Bag
Bag river is modified considerably
it, He does not claim to have been
the first to cross, but gives the credit
of that to Lieutenant Ball. In giving
his personal experiences, he quite
naturally favorssthose officers and men
that were in his immediate command.
The organizations outside Of those he
speaks of in mere general terms, al
though giving good words from time TO
time on the work of the Utah batteries.
His swimming over the river was, In
fact, small affair, and his crossing at
the battle of Mololos over q stream on
a raft is not given the sensational turn
that it was given in the newspaper ac
counts Of the time. AS a matter of
fact, both the crossings were virtually
the enemy having been
silenced on the opposite bank in both
instances.
Coming to the account of his cap
ture of Aguinaldo, Gen. Funston gives
the account in much detail, accord
ing due credit to the Macabebes
and TO others OF his subordinates. In
A guinuldo to the Funston party, the
General gives a completely new version
Of that incident. Heretofore it has
been claimed that Funston and his
party were practically beggars upon
A Aguinaldo's bounty and betrayed him
after he had rescued them from star
vation. Funston, however, in this
book claims that he obtained his sup
plies by strategy and by deceiYing the
enemy, leading Agunaldo to suppose
that it vas party Of MS ,k own ;Insi men
chief sent them accordingly. AS
Funston claims, there is g. wide differ
ence between appealing to the bounty
OF foe to be rescued from starvation
and then betraying that foe by cap
ture, and the deceiviug Of that foe into
the belief that be was merely sending
supplies to a detachment OF his own
The former would be
atrocious, the latter quite allowable I'M
correct, candid version perhaps some
disipterested person viii inform the
world later on. The public always
delights to read narratives of this sort,
of perilous adventure and halrbreadth
escapes: and it must be confessed that
General Funston, in this personal mar,
rative Of his. gives the sensational aud
snectacnlar turn TO his incidents with
rare skill. Accordingly, his book is al
together out of the usual order OF
military report, being lively, personal,
and entertaining in the highest degree.
There is no doubt that upon the merits
of these personal memories of General
Funston becoming known. there must
necessarily be wide public demand