Imperial Valley press., 1913-02-08
GENERAL JAMES ALLEN is TO
RETIRE TO BoYHooD HOME

| (BY UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATIONS
| WASHINGTON, Feb. S.-After a life
chock full of adventure and achieve
| ment. hOnored in the service of his
| government, Brighten. James Allen
chief signal officer of the United States
army, will on February i3 retire from
| active service and go back to live The
| remainder of his life at his bOyhOod
| home. LaPorie, Ind.
General Allen has a military record
OF Al years which reads like a novel.
himself Of modest bearing, il is in
the official, routine, perfunctOry rec
| 0rdS Of the war department that the
full story of his adventures may be
cleaned.
All the way from fighting on the old
Indian frontier down to handling the
highly scientific questions of develop
ment of military aviation and The Wire
less, General Allen has been in the
forefront
He graduated from West Point in
1872, and in the cavalry branch imme-
dlately saw service in the Indian CAM
paignS in The middle west. In 1891. he
was transferred to the signal corps
because of his unusual ability in ar
ranging means for military cOmmuni-
cation.
IL WIS, boNtNtf, Ill inc spanish
American war that the army officer
Sorever established The reputation of
The army signal corps. For locating
CerNeras fleet in Santiago harbor and
supplying the information with result
ed IN its destruction, Brig.-Gen. Allen
received letter Of commentator from
President Mckinley
Colonel Allen" says the official mil
itary report, furnished daily commu
nications under the most difficult con
ditions. He reported that the Spanish
squadron was short of coal and could
not renew its supply in port. His eff
ficient work enabled the navy to strike
the blow that destroyed the entire
fleet"
Brigadier General Allen is very proud
of the fact that The president was no
titled of the destruction of the Spanish
fleet, ,9by his cable dispatches, ii hours
nation.
He was ordered by The secretary of
war TO destroy the Cuban cables. On
The cable ship AriaS. with a foreign
crew and harassed by Spanish torpedo
boats. he completed this perlous task
While working on the last Of the ca
hlcs a Spanish ship opened fire on The
AriaS. and Aliens crew rcvoited All
the point of a pistol he, assisted by
10 work until The cable was cut in
two places. At the close Of the war
Colonel Allen restored the cables.
For The next three years he laid
telegraph lines in the Philippines and
kept communication from the interior
parts open with Manila. Then he was
ordered to Alaska to take charge of lay
in% The Seattle and Alaska cable
Since becoming chief signal officer.
Brigadier General Allen has been in
charge of military aviation. He was
instrumental in inducing congress TO
make the first appropriation for an
army aviation school. He purchased
two aeroplanes, designated five await
crs. and selected a site at College Park.
Maryland.
Each year he has urged congress
to greatly increase the appropriation.
lie has fOstered the science and is Sc
cure in The knowledge that when he
retires lf will leave blind an aviation
branch of the signal corps which, al
though not as large as that of many
other nations. is considered by experts
to he probably the most perfect.