The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-04-19
ASTOR'S BRAVERY
WELL RECOGNIZED
Before Titanic Disaster He Had
Shown Remarkable
Courage.
HIS MILITARY EXPERIENCE
In Spanish War He Shared
Dangers With the
Veriest Private.
HIS MILITARY EXPERIENCE
ny JOSEPH EDGAR CIIAs1nERLA,y.
Especial to The Times. Dlspatch,

EDdhH CHAMBERLAIN,
Especial to The Timea .Dlspatch.I
New York. April 1S.-Ir Colonel
John Jacob Astor sacrificed his life o,,
the Titanic in order that women ana
children. aome Of them poor and mos,
obscure might be guved, It was NO,
the hrst time that he had shown bray-
cry In the face OF danger
There arc some OF ug who ro,,onh
the colonel in the Santiago cnnnniy,
ana VINO mad tho evidence OF our eyes
10 prove that he was rot afraid when
.ne ar was fuii OF bullets. and wnen
There was such things as shrapneI and
shells around, and here and there a
SHARP shooting spanish guerrilla com
cehled in the Jungle with a Nauser IN
his hands.
Without Experiences.
Colonel Astur was without any min
thry experience worth mcntiontnp
when ne offered hia services Tor tha.
Spanish War. in 1898. In hitting our
at cost OF 100000 tbs Aston volun-
teer battery 10 go TO the Pniliunin.s
ne had performed an act worthy q,
reward and recosnlt!on For tha, mnt
ter, II MAS fairly cominendable act In
MN to oher his services for any ritua-
non IN which the government mtght
sec III 10 employ him. He was mad.
"a lieutenant colonel g: volunteers
without any regiment and was assign
cd hrst 10 duty at Chickamauga. and
aitcrward as . volunteer aides stan
OF General Skater
at Tampa his boyIsh Ignorance OF
military forma!itics aroused some
amusement from the regulars il. had
u penchant for having himself photo.
graphed In his khaki which did LOT
escape the observation of the CORES
pordents. But he was not the only
hero who developed tnat propensity,
At tho time.
when shutters army entered its scene
OF operations iii Cuba it was apparen,
that CoIoriel Aston vac no!t adapted
to Held commando that. indeed. his
military experience did not ht him for
much more than the duty Of an orderly
"a message bearer. But ,h!s discovery
did not disturb Colonial Aston in Tho
least. II he was III for nothing more
serious than GRAND carrying. then he
was entirely willing TO be an GRAND
carrier. lie showed the iiyst requisite
OF brave nan--mod .sty. lie was
there 10 make himself usefui.
he had some very good horses. and
those horace. io!nsd with hts ready
and unques,ion!ng obedience and his
absolutely jealous Performance 10 the
last detail of every duty that was az
signed to him. made him n capital mes
sage bsarer in tho field.
Familiar Figure.
When the lighting began, and par
hcuiarly on the fnteful July and In
tbs hot fortnight following that date,
Colonel Aston and his bay mount were
seen almost constantly on the Trail be-
tween General Skaters headquarters
and the front. Along the Bloody Bend,
In the rush OF the big, bridgeless
stream that crossed the road hero and
there, in the midst OF tho jungrs that
lay In the hollow beneath San Juan
Hill. on the hillside itself, Colonel
Astor was rs familiar figure as Lieu
tenant Jack Wiley. Skaters aid.
lie rode his horse up and down. and
never for moment did no look as IL
anything exciting was going on or as
II there were any danger anywhere.
Now and then the crack OF rife, deep
IN the bushes, and tn, sins of a bull
lot suggested the presence Of those
terrors OF the campaign, the supposed
Spanish sharpshooters.
Some authorities havo sinoo told us
that there were no Spanish sharp
shooters. Nevertheless. rife shots
ussd to ring out in tho Jungle. and bull
iets used to sing. Somebody must
have fred them. But moro than one
man who Travelled that weary road in
those days noticed that Colonel John
Jacob Aston, bearing his message or
seeking new order. paid no more
attention TO these jungle salutes than
he did to the twttterins of the big
black crlckets or to the rustling racket
or tho great land crabs that scuttlcd
out OF tho path into tho bushas.
brave Soldier,
No old soldier showed moro oon-
slant courage In the face Of danger
than Colonel Astor did all through
that Santiago campaign. Not a man in
the army kept in better humor His
simple misn was unruffied When night
overlook him no lay down to sleep,
apparently as comfortable under a bush
in the rain MS IL he had been on Fifth
avenue And his bland smile mover
failed the army from the moment he
Joined 1t TO the very end OF the pro-
ceedings
Colonel Astor may not have been a
Napoleon or a Wellington in point Of
military genius. but he had not a
grain of cowardice in his composition.
One can see the same bland smile on
his face when he quietly stood back
on the Titanic and made way for poor
women to pass into the boats that he
wore whom bullets and shrapnel wers
1S.t-