The sun., 1918-07-07

that 1t was a fine thing for him to do.
He went to the camps Of 1915 and
1915, giving up his months vacation
each summer to do 40. l believe. and
this is borne out by Col. Roosevelt. Gen
Wood and other men who fought so
strongly for preparedness in those early
days, that Mltchers enthusiasm for the
Plattsburg idea helped the cause OF pre-
paredness nmeasurably. He went In
as a rookie under a company com
mander whom l know. Capt. John r.
Kelly, then OF the Tenth Infantry, now
Col. Kelly, commanding an artillery reg
iment in France, a hard taskmaster but
| a splendid soldier. a man who would not
show favoritisn to anyone.
Under him Mitchell won the rank OF
First Lieutenant. He made friends at
Plattsburg from all parts or the coun-
Try. and after these camps he constantly
received letters from fellow rockies who
wanted him to raise a brigade or diVi-
sion to go TO France before the draft
idea had become a reality.
When the history OF the preparedness
movement in this country Is written. II
II ever Is, his efforts as propaganda
in those early days, when preparedness
was not any too popular, will fill an I'M
portant page. He organized the Mayors
Committee on National Defence long be
iOre we went INTO the war, anu wac
smiled at for doing so.
Alleged Absurdity Is Justified.
THE idea Of a Mayors Committee on
National Defence struck many people as
being incongruous and little absurd,
but the work OF the committee tustifies
that idea The best citizens In New
York were on It. and they worked hard
and did good Job.
1T was Mitchels plan TO have a con-
ference Of Mayors in ST. Louis in 1916.
That was the first big popular express
sion In favor of national defence. About
sevcnty-nve Mayors OF the biggest cities
In the country attended and adopted
resolutions indorsinG the draft and an
adequate army and navy second to none
in strength. Mltchel's idea was that
through the Mayors the people could
speak more directly than In any other
way. and subsequent developments have
proved that he was right.
Had he been able TO do so he would
have resigned as Mayor and gone into
the service long before the election Of
November 6. This. however, was out
OF the question and the demands that
he run again in opposition to his every
desire and hope for his future were such
that he had to yield and make the race.
Immediately after the election he re-
solved to go into the army. He wanted
to go into the infantry. Although he
was interested in aviation. he would not
| have chosen this branch of the service
had the choice been left to him. He
applied for admission TO an officers
! training camp, but this was denied him
| because at that time the rule had been
| made permitting only enlisted men 10
attend these camps So he accepted the
commission as Major Of aviation, offered
| him by Gen. Squier. / think the day
following the election Of November 6.
| Aviation Plans Met Protests.
| His friends were disturbed and dis
pleased that he should 60 into aviation
but he was bound 10 go into the service
! It was characteristic OF him that he
would not be content with work OF an
administrative nature and that he, took
! the courses in flying from 4 to z. In
| his first letter TO me after his first flight
at San Diego he said that flying was
neither so good nor so bad as one might
expect.
He told of reaching for brace
when his pilot turned sharp angle on
this first trip and laughing at himself
for doing 1t. 1t was impossible for me
to believe that man 80 years old could
go into combat flying. hut he wrote that
he was taking the entire course OF in
struction. and wrote about doing stunt
flying and cross-country work
ale was naturally gifted with me-
! chanical genius. He drove motor car
beautifully, with good deal of dash
and an appearance of recklessness. but
he was never in an accident when he
was at the wheel.
"In his last letter TO me. little less
than ten days ago. he wrote that he had
just received orders 10 go TO Gerstner
Field for advanced instruction with the
fast scout planes.
THE pity of it Is that he never
reached France. That was his great de-
sire. He loved France He had made
real friends OF Marshal Joffre, Viviani,
De Chambrun and other members of the
French mission who visited New York
in the spring OF last year.
"Only few weeks ago Marshal Joffre
sent personal message to him through
a gentleman who came to this country
on a Government mission.
THE English mission. too held him in
high esteem and in their expressions Of
gratitude and appreciation for his part
In the reception accorded to them by
the city there was a personal. intimate
touch which was very pleasing to him.
Mr.. Balfour especially took occasion to
express his regard and admiration for
the Mayor and wrote him very fire.
lquentiy.
THE same was truSof the Italian and