The Washington times., 1915-04-04
New Chief of Staff Regarded as
Head "Fixer" Of the Depart
ment.
QUICK TO MEET ENEMY
Famous Indian Fighter, lust
Back From Trouble With
Piutes, Likes Real Scrap.
"Send for Scott

Which is what the Secretaries Of War
for the past thirty years have been do
ing whenever a particularly vexatious
situation has arisen to harass them,
especially IL the trouble dij not warrant
a troop of cavalry, yet at the same
time possessed blood shedding poten-
tialities which night bear murderous
fruit unless handled by velvet gloves
concealing grip of steel. restrained
until the proper moment by a diplomacy
of which Disraeli need not have been
ashamed.
Maj. Gen. Hugh L. Scott. now chief
Of staff, has for many years been re-
Earded as possessing this unusual group
Of talents, and because Of them ne s has
states army rather than a mere tran
sient chief of STAFF.
He is the handy man." "the pacif-
Gator" or the efficient though marked
iy democratic, executive Of the army as
the exigencies of his official life require.
as witness his return to Washington a
few days ago. the dust of the Butte,
Utah, hills: where he quelled single
Old Polk Piute uprising. still in his
clothes.
Likes Real Scrap.
But the chief of staff, although more
frequently playing peaceful than war
like roles, is not the man to hesitate
when 1t becomes necessary to strip off
the velvet gloves and wade into a real
scrap, as his bullet-torn hands and
the square jawed determination of his
rugged countenance would testify even
II the archives of the War Department
lacked such salient details Of his mill
tant career as those written when the
olive branch of brotherly love having
failed with the Maly sulus. Of whom
resorted to the ikrag with saiutary and
bloodletting, but eminently civilizing
effects
From the time when, as shave
plains in 1876 to join 'Terry's column"
Of which the famous Seventh Cavalry
under General Custer had been a part
at the battle OF the Little Big Horn.
General Scott has persstently pursued
the study of the human equation in
every problem he has tackled. IT,
Fellow officers say, explains his mar
velous success in dealing with savage
peoples and extricating them as we'll as
the Government from difficulties.
Masters Sign Language.
Twenty-four hours after he Joined
Terrys column he was busy studying tho
Indian prisoners, who seemed to fasci-
nate him, and In learning their sign
language, of which today he Is mas
ter.
Nez Perce uprising in idaho which
ended in 1877 with the. 15,000-mile re-
treat Of Chief Joseph. and had gone
avowed purpose Of enticing Sitting Bull
back over the border he had ravished,
the fame of General Scott's knowledge
Of the red man began to go abroad in
the land
Later he organized the first troop Of
Indian soldiery, and although this
branch of the service did not last. prin-
cipally because the red man refused to
wear the trousers of the white trooper
General Scott's troop outlasted all the
others.
During another period Of his career.
General Scott and the renegade Indian
Geronimo, the remnants Of whose war
riors are still prisoners Of war, were
close friends for the three years Scott
was commandant at Fort Sill; where
And between these noteworthy in
stances of his experience with the work
ings Of savage minds, General Scott 8
life was constantly cast among Is;utt them: n;
handling them which has SO well been
illustrated in the recent Piute uprising.
Speaking of the methods me uses In
accomplishing pacificaton. as applied
to the Piute trouble, General Scott says:
Explains His Policy.
my policy is first to make the In
dams thoroughly familiar with my
terms, and when that is accomplished
broach the question: What will you
do?' After my arrival at Mexican Hat
I hunted up Mikes Boy. or Bizo-She,
Navajo Indian, whom l induced to be
good a year ago last December. and
who had confidence in me. l sent him
TO find Old Polk and the other hostile
warriors. He succeeded in doing this,
and only a short time afterward
twenty-seven Piutes came in toward
Mexican Hat to talk 1t over with me.
Il soon convinced them that I was
their friend and when they realized this
they were not hard to deal with. They
all expressed their willingness to sur
render, considering me their proteo-
tor.
I'm all my past work among Indians
It has never been necessary for me to
60 over the ground twice, and in no in
stance have they broken their promises
to me-"
But between the day when he first
encountered the blanket Indian and
this latest evidence OF his pacifica-
tory powers. General Scott has auelled
a score of uprisings. and the majority
of the time he has worked alone. Chief
among these troubles which he averted
his wOrk AMONG the Indians who