South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-02-02
Statesmen Real
and Near.
BY Fred c. Kelly

WASHINGTON, Feb. ,. When
Brig. Gen. Hugh l.. Scott was sent
down 10 active service along the Mex
lean border a while ago his associates
recalled a certain incident.
Every so often. army officers must
mount horses and. led by their colo
mel. ride for some five miles over a
series of hurdles and other obstruc-
tions. The thing must be done rather
rapidly, too-five miles over Obstruc-
ton in IL minutes. or some such time
as that-and the event rarely makes
a great hit with the army officer who
has been taking no exercise more
vigorous than TO brush his teeth.
The last time Hugh Scott went into
this rough riding event was when he
was stationed down in Texas two or
three years ago. All his brother Of
ficers were worried about him, for If
Scott couldn't make the hurdles he
would have to be retired. He has had
half his fingers shot off. is along in
years, and his associates feared he
couldn't handle his horse.
It's a shame to see a wonderful
officer like Scott retired on a tech
nicality," they said. Let's see il we
can't fix il some way" And they
set about getting word to Gen. Wood
then the chief of staff, ohave Scott
called away the day of the riding ex-
ercises.
When Scott heard of this he was
the maddest he had been for years
He took the whole thing as an insult.
Think I'm too old to make a few
hurdles eh!' said he. We'll, let US
see"
And they saw. He gave the young
lieutenants q horseback ride that
nearly jiggled their livers up into
their Threats, and took hurdles as if
death has no sting.
When the event was over the
younger officers were considerably less
worried about Scott than they were
about themselves.
To look at Brig. Gen. Hugh L.
Scott, chief of staff of the United
States army, as he appears at his Of
| fee in citizen clothes, one would not
take him for a military chief His
dress is so plain and his manner so
unaSSuming that he looks more like
a prosperous man lfacturer of shoes
or a scientific farmer from out some
where in the middle west His clothes
always run TO plain. unemphatic col
OrS. and his trousers are not always
pressed with military preciseness.
The chances are that one would take
him for "A farmer-fOr a farmer
though. who works the soil intensive
ly, and has all the latest improve
ments.
What one would not guess after a
look at Scott is the fact that he is an
accomplished linguist-the best in the
army. He knows something of prac-
tically every language of any conse-
quence and numerous Indian tongues,
besides the languages of four or five
Filipino tribes.
As one of his assistants remarked
the other day:
IF an untutOred savage from an
African tribe were 10 drop into the
office Scott would be able 10 talk TO
him somehow They might have 10
resort TO Esperanto. or Just make
sirrs, but they would manage d. hit
some kind Of a conversational basis"
Sen. O'Gorman. as we were re-
marking recently, is a dignified per-
son and rarely addresses even his in
innate friends by their first name. \
fen days agC as O'GOrTan stood con-
verSing with q number of the great
men of the nation, Mr.. "Fingy" Con-
nors of Buffalo happened along. and
was introduced all around. At a GER
tain point in the talk Connors
1 ~
slapped o German on the back and
4 declared:
i've cften said: When Jimmy
O'GOrman yets TO the senate. they'll
not put Cnything over on him
CONGRESSMAN "Zeke" Gambler Of
Mississippi always carries two
watches. Nobody knows why ne does
I il. ard he does not like 20 talk about
+ IL. The thing is a mystery. Watcher
. one watch is sun time and the 1.i,Cr
standard time. or whether rrev both
start oUs together and are supposed
/ 20 check up each other. nobody can
I mud out. Gambler always looks at
! whichever watch he cOnsults in a fur
\ tivr pis LEer. as If ne did ret care to
! naNc anybody else see wl;.r IL sees.
Copyright. 1915. by Fred c. Kelly.)