Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1916-03-31
Well Fitted by Experience to Run
Down Villa and His Band
of Desperadoes.
fine RECORD IN THE ORIENT
He Subdued Moro Tribes and Later
Received Honors From Them Be-
cause They Respected His
Fair Dealing.

0D1S1
for bravery and efficient service as
Brig. Gen. John j. Pershing, who has
been assigned the task of rounding up
Francisco Villa and discriminating his
band of outlaws, and there Is, perhaps,
no man SO skillful in guerrilla warfare
and Indian fighting.
With a brilliant record in the Philip
pines behind him-a record that
gained for him a promotion from cap
tain to ~brigadier general ovor the
heads of 1862 officers of higher rank
and the memory of a great tragedy
still fresh in his mind-the death of
his wife and three children in a fire
at the Preside In San Francisco last
August-General Pershing may be ex-
pected to give a swift and sure &C.
count of his command in the Mexican
expedition.
Honored by Moros.
He has the distinction of being the
only white man honored by a datto-a
Judge, counselor and c~hieftain-by the
Moro tribes in the Philippines, an
honor he gained by being able to gov
ern the tribes through their own laws
and beliefs as translated from the Ko-
an.
He knows every foot of the country
over which he will have to lead his
men. He covered 1t all years ago In
the memorable pursuit of Geronimo.
Sent to West Point From Missouri.
General Pershing was born In Linn
county. Missouri, on October 10, 1850.
and was appointed to West Point from
that state. His career there was an
honor both to himself and to that IA
nous institution, and he rose to the
rank of senior cadet captain. He left
the academy to become second lieu
tenant of the Sixth cavalry, then pur-
suing Geronimo across the arid plains
and hills of northern Mexico. Once
his troop established a record of 100
miles in At hours.
In April, 1889, when In command of
Troop A. at Fort Wingate, Pershing
set out with ten men to rescue some
horse thieves and cowboys from 100
armed and maddened Zuni Indians.
Through a strategic maneuver he OBJ
tanned the release of the prisoners,
rounded up the Indians, and marched
every last one of them captive into
Fort Wingate. 1t was years before
army men ceased to talk of this ex-
plot.
Takes Part In Sioux War.
Later Pershing was transferred to
the northwest, where he took part In
the Sioux campaigns Of 1890-1891.
Later he commanded the Sioux scouts
until detailed as military instructor at
the University of Nebraska.
The declaration of war with Spain
found him an instructor in tactics at
West Point. He Immediately asked
to be sent to the front, and was as
signed to the Tenth cavalry. which did
distinguished service at Santiago.
After the wal with Spain he was made
a major and assistant adjutant gen.
eral in the volunteer service, and was
sent to the Philippines, where he COM
manded an expeditionary force into
the island of Mindanao, to restore or
der and subdue the Moros.
One of his most stubborn fights was
in the capture of Bacolod, after his
force had been surprised by a large
band of Moros. One hundred Moros
were killed and many wounded. Per-
shing's loss was three wounded.
Tells of Bacolod Battle.
At another place in the island sew
eral thousand Moros manned a chain
of six forts. upon which several brass
cannon had been mounted. Pershing
reduced them all.
After that the Moros had respect for
Pershing. They found he was a very
different type OF man to deal with
than the ~vacillating Spaniards they
had been used to. He was appointed
military governor of the district
around Iligan and soon won the conf
dence of the natives through a knowl.
edge of the Koran which he had stud
led.
The sultan of Sulu appointed him a
datto, an office almost as supreme in
power as that of the sultan himself,
and he came to be hailed as a "proph-
ct" and a priest" The natives
brought their troubles to him and he
acted as Judge.
Moros Respect Him.
An early evidence of the faith re-
posed in him was when three children
made orphans by the war were brought
to him for disposition, although 1t had
been the rule to sell such children into
slavery. Pershing adopted the three
children, a girl and two boys. Later
the girl married at the age of twelve.
n of the boys died. and the other
proved an incorrigible.
Mrs. Pershing and three of their
four children were suffocated last Au-
gust in a fire at the Preside. At that
time it was said they might have been
rescued had not the red tape of the
army prevented the earlier arrival of
fire apparatus from the Panama-Pacifc