Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-01-21

The President has RENTED The IN
executed part CT the sentence imposed
by general court-marttal in 1910 in the
case of Col. George F. Cooke, L. S. A..
retired.
3 Col. Cooke was tried at Seattle
Wash, in the winter of 1910 on
charges of neglect and carelessness in
the handling Of government funds and
OF failure to repay money borrowed
from enlisted men. He was sentenced
20 dismissal. That sentence was com.
muted by President Taft to the for.
fixture Of one-halt OF the officers bay
as q colonel on the retired list, with a
view to reimbursing the government
for the money reported to have beer
lost through his alleged lax business
methods.
Colonel Cooke is from Ohio end was
appointed second lieutenant, 18th In
fantry, in October, 1875. He reached
the grade Of colonel, 18th Infantry, in
February, 1910, and was retired at his
own request the following May.
The navy department is bowling to
the signal corps, which has announced
that aeroplanes can be used for the
purpose Of discovering the where
abouts and movements of submarines.
II was said that experiments at An
napolis have developed the fact that
the operators in the aircraft can dis
cover the presence OF the underwater
terrors without glasses. although they
may be at a considerable depth.
This, in the opinion of naval officers.
can advance the plan Of having aero
planes as q part of the equipment OF
al the fighting craft Of the United
States navy.
With view to increasing the eff
cheney Of the Marine Corps. Maj
Gen. William p. Biddle, eommandant
Of the organization, has recommended
that the officers of the corps be train
ed at the Naval Academy at Annapolis.
His recent recommendations urged
that such officers have training In the
academy on the ground that 1t would
serve to increase the efficiency Of the
service.
II is also recommended by Gen.
Biddle that civilian appointees shall
be between the ages Of nineteen and
twenty-three years.
Army engineers who were dredging
at Hampton roads have discovered a
quantity OF equipment from the old
monitor Puritan, which was sunk there
two years ago during some ordinance
tests. The engineers pulled up two
1000 pound anchors and an S00-pound
anchor, together with quantity of
cable, the presence of which in the
roads Il was feared would prove an OBJ
structicn to navigation. The equip
ment has been turned over to the navy
department.
A flag used as the ensign OF the I'll.
fated battleship Maine has been re-
ceiyed by the Navy Department and
viii be sent to the Naval Academy at
Annapolis, where 1t will be placed
among the relics Of the sea In Memo
rial Hall.
The ensign was first deposited In
the naval station at Key West, Fla,
after being recovered from the ship,
soon after IL was blown up.
The stripes OF the flag are hardly
discernible, and 1t IL faded almost be-
yOnd recognition. The fabric has turn
ed q deep rust color.
The naval base Of the United States
81 Guantanamo, Cuba, has been en-
larged to include territory insuring a.
good water supply, as result OF the
signing of treaty at Havana by Unit
ed States Minister Beupre and Secre-
tory Of State Sanguilly. The annual
rental paid by this Government for the
use OF the base Is increased from ST.
600 to $1,000 per year. The United
States also surrendered its right to es-
tablish naval station at Bahia Honda.
Mai. Gen. Leonerd Wood, chief of
staff, agrees generally with Col
Roosevelt, who was in his regiment OF
Rough Riders" In the Spanish war.
that the United States Army was
poorly prepared for war at that time.
~The bureau system In the days OF
the war with Spain was pretty bad"
said Gen. Wood. "Many changes have
taken place since, however, which
believe would make improbable
iENcIlltOH Vi TIC luSiuSutSH VI 40Vo Al
case OF another war.
-In the first place, there was no
such thing as general staff, as We
know 1t now, in the war with Spain.
The bureau system was unquestion-
ably very bad, due largely to the de-
tail OF officers to serve as staff Off
GERS for life.
Now we hace a general staff, which
has been chiefly responsible for the
improvements in our military organi-
zation in the last few years.
"As Col. Roosevelt stated, few Of
the field officers In the war with
Spain had experience in handling
large bodies of men. This was due to
the fact that our army had been scat
tered In small bodies among a great
many posts. This is the situation to-
day, and We are trying to overcome
ii by concentration Of troops in a
smaller number of large posts. Only
IN this way can we give our general