Iditarod pioneer., 1916-05-13
ABOUT GENERAL pERSS;HI,,INJG,
 IN COMMAND IN MEXICO

Washington Letter in Seward Gateway
 4 fighting soldier who wins battles by diplomacy Is rarity, But that is the dis tinction accorded Brigadier General John J. Pcrsh!ng, the man of sorrow" of the army, whose beautiful wife and three baby girls were burned to death in fire tha. destroyed their home in San Francisco on August 27, 1915
 Many and picturesque are the tales tol of this Beau BrumAe of the army a hand some, dashng soldier brilliant and bloody in battle, cquslly brilliant in blood!ess con quests. hero of romance and strife; a lngu- lst diplomat, scholar; a man who won his rank as much through peaceful conquer ing of his enemies as through daring leader ship in military campaign against them
 Pershing and the Philippines arc synony mous. IL Was Hershjng, then Captain Per hing of the First, later the Fifteenth cay airy, who drew the task of su5duing tic fanatical Noros of MIndana0 and Job. He was given 2,2GG men and free rein Not one of those men was sscrihed in battle. Instead of beginning war of eXtermina- tion against tke Mcros, Captain Pershing began study of their language. He soon mastered their tongue. He assembled the Moros, fanatic8l Mohammed&n5, On Fridays ttheir SundaysD, and taking texts from the Koran talked to them on reconciliation with the United States government In this way, without fighting single battle he won all but two of the mountain tribes. and was consecrated d8tto by the sultans of the tribes
 But with the two tribes who spurned his efforts at peaceful conquest he showed re- lentless and crushing power Their strong mountain forts fell before his onslaught until forty had been captured and their last stronghold taken. One hundred and seventy five Moros paid the extreme penalty in bat tie for their folly. Only thirteen American soldiers were wounded, none killed
 His conquest in Mindanao resulted in Pershings appointment as adiutant general of that island and Jolo, and Colonel Roose- welt, then President, surprised the entire army organization by promoting him over the heads of 862 ranking officers to be brigadier general.
 But this promotion came only after a bitter struggle that threatened for time to blacken him forever He had married the daughter of Senator Warren of Wyom- ing year before promotion, The wedding was one of the most brilliant social affairs in the history of the capital Angry criti- cism arose, some charging that the promo ton was due to favoritlSm. Roosevelt as serted that he did not recall at all the fact that General Pershing was a son-in-law of Senator Warren when he promoted him.
 Of his three little baby daughters who were burned to death when his wife lost her hfe one was born in Tokio, Japan in 1906, while the then Captain Pershing was military attache at the Japanese embassy one was born in Baguio, Philippines in 1908, and the youngest was born in Zam- boango Philippines, in 1912.
 General Pershings first fighting exper- ence was against the Indian outlaw Geron- imo on a punitive expedition into Mexico in the late sos. He later fought against the Sioux Indians in the Dakotas, served as military instructor of cadets at the Uni versity of Nebraska, and as administrator of affairs in the provinces of Mindaneo and Jolo, Philippine islands He speaks almost every modern language as we'll as the tongues of many Indian and Philippine tribes. General Pershing was sent to the Mexican border in 1912, and served con tinuously there.