New Britain herald., 1917-02-20
SWIFT DEATH ENDS BRILLIANT CAREER
 0F GEN. FUNSTON
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mand until a permanent successor is named by the war department.
Mother Ill at EmpOria.


 Emporia, Feb. 20.-The mother of the late Maj. Gen. Funston may be unable to attend the funeral of her son. She is ill and confined to bed at the home of her daughter, Mrs. F. A. Eckdale. The news of her sons death was conveyed to her last night and the shock aggravated her condition. Mrs. Funstons home is at lola, Kas.
 Tribute From Pershing.
 Ell Paso, Feb. 20.-Maj. Gen. John J. Pershing assumed temporary com mand of the southern department last night, filling the vacancy left by the death of Maj. Gen. Funston.
 speaking of the death of Gen. Funs ton, Gen. Pershing said:
 we can i'll afford to lose his keen mind in the military counsels of the republic"
 Since the Civil war the United states has had no military commander whose lighting qualities and brilliant exploits so endeared him to the people as the little red-headed Kansan who fought with Gomez against the Spaniards in Cuba and with the 2Oth Kansas Volunteers against the Span lards and the Ladrones in the Philip pines.
 From the day when he took com mand of Gomez's artillery until the hour of his death Frederick Funston was the name most likely to pop into an Americans mind at the suggestion or mlntary proWess Yet one Of the greatest services he rendered to his country was in time of peace.
 
 charred ruins and its inha bitants gath cred on it's hills, it was General Fun ston and his regulars who brought order out of chaos, supervised the refugee camps and quelled looters mand of the troops in the Presidio. and San Francisco speedily awoke from its homeless, lawless state to find itself under martial law, tent sites picked with & view to sanitation. water supply under strict guard and food conserved and distributed with the strict impartiality of army rations.
 But it was the capture of the crafty Aguinaldo that enshrined Funston as hero in the hearts Of Americans It was his campaign against Aguinaldo that won him the rank of brigadier general, and though by a less sensa- tional route he had attained the rank of major general, the boys who used to hum
 We'll, I'd like to know who's running
 this show
 Is it me or Emilio Aguinaldo? looked forward with the utmost con- fidence to seeing their hero reeenerate to the army of their country and win new honors. -
 Information for Otis.
 Stubby, red headed, indomitable. he was a figure to capture boys imagi- nation and hold his place forever and to make the hearts of men beat faster. It was easy to picture the regard with affection a redheaded man, barely five feet five inches in height, his very beard bristling with pugnacity as he replied to General Otis query: How long can you hold your position. Funston?"
 Until my regiment is mustered out!"
 After his exploits at Vera Cruz and his mastery of the border situation, both of which seemed but a part of the Hateful conspiracy to keep Funston in the thick Of things, it was not difficult to conceive of second Chapultepec of a Mexico as peaceful as the Philip pines, perhaps of an invading army driven by some Funston miracle into the sea.
 General Funston was born in Ohio in 1865, son of Edward Hogue Fun ston, formerly representative from Kansas for nine years. Young Fun ston was taken to the latter state in 1867, studied in the common schools and attended the Kansas State Uni versity for two years Then after eaching for a while he began news paper work on a Kansas City paper in 1890. A year later he was a botanist in the United States Death Valley Ex-