Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-04-03
FAMOUS FIGHTER
. COMES TO COMMAND
(continued from Page i

next vacancy which occurs will bring
him another star. For a Number OF
sears he has topped the list in his
grade. and while still comparatively
Young man. Els record and length OF
service as a brisaQ;er enti;1e him TO
the next step
General Funston was met al the
aOck by Lieutenant Andrews. aide TO
General Macomb, and by Major Err
neste V. Smith, who fought side by
side with General Funston through
the Philippine fsurreciion. and who
was adjutant GENERAL of the district
which the latter commanded at the
time OF the famous capture Of Agut-
naldo was planned and executed.
The new department commander
will take up the reins Of administra-
ton tomorrow, and from then on
viii be at his desk at army head
quarters, getting in touch with local
conditions.
General Funston is one of the most
picturesque and commanding figures
IN the United States service today. Es-
sentially a man of action, he has man
aged TO be up and doing ever since his
college days, and his field of operation
mas extended from the Arctic circle to
the equator. He has explored the
burning alkali deserts of the south
vest; commanded an exploring ezpe-
jltion 10 Alaska-incidentally floating
down the Yukon alone III a canoe
been a newspaper reporter; fought
the Spaniards5 in the cause of Cuban
liberty, and Laser fought them under
the stars and stripes fought the FSli-
Pinos, capturing the redoubtable Agui-
nalde, and fought earthquake, fire and
iawlessness in STRICKEN San Fran
cisco. Truly a red-blooded record for
man just entering his 48th birth
day. w.: T.. 49,.
Personally General Funston is
rather retiring, and is not given to
drawing ON his large fund of indiyid-
.ual experience except when among his
Intimate friends. Men to whom he
has given his full friendship would go
through anything to retain it, and
friends and enemies alike-and like
every man of positive personality he
has some Of the latter-unite in say
ing that he has absolutely no knowl-
edge Of personal fear. He faces dan
ger without heroics, and merely as
though it did not exist at all. -
A Busy Man. ..... 49,. ....-. II.
The new department commander is.
mildly tolerant OF. society in the gen
orally accepted sense of the word, not
meaning that he by any means is a
recluse, but merely that he is too busy
to take amusement and entertainment
very seriously. He spends great
part of his spare time in the company
OF his books, being one of the most
omniyorous readers on military sub
jects. Book after book, and history
after history he reads and assimi-
iates, storing up the experiences of
the great commanders of the past for
his own knowledge and professional
advancement He has a wonderfully
retentive memory, and faculty for
quickly graspingi salient points and
important passages. ..... T.. T.. -. -.
General Funston is a great man in
the field, and as a Woodsman or plains
man he has few equals. His bump
of locality is marvelously developed,
and it seems almost impossible for
him to get lost when left to his own
resources in the open spaces. :==
From military standpoint, his spe-
cialty in time Of peace is maneuvers
as a preparation for war. He is a
great believer in working all arms of
the service in conjunction, and it is
safe to predict that although this is
not the year for joint maneuVers
with the national guard, for which a
special appropriation is made by con-
sress, the. troops of the Hawaiian de-
partment will take the field for more
extended mimic campaign than ever
before.
Reporter First.
General Funston was born in New
Carlisle, Ohio, November 9, 1865.
When he was only two years old, his
people moved to Kansas, where he
spent his boyhood, rounding off his
education at the University of Kansas
from 1885 to 1887. He began his life
Of activity and adventure as reporter
in Kansas City, in 1890, but. year
later the rowing spirit took possession
'of him.. and he became attached to
the expedition of the Smithsonian In