Omaha daily bee., 1918-12-18
Major General March
BROOKLYN Eagle.


There were a half dozen of them. all stand
ing over six feet, sturdy of mind and limb. So
when came the call to go a-Sodierng a family
conclave was held and the second brother cho-
SEN lhen the waiting for how could they be
quite sure he'd pass the exams at West Point?
Pass them he did. gloriousy In such man.
ner was Gen Peyton c. March set upon the ca
reer which took him up and up through various
posts to his present rank of chief of the army
general staff. Youngest of the generals he was
summoned from France to become head of the
military establishment at thc>capita1. outranking
every other othcer III the army in Washington,
Such colorfu romance as is shot with sud-
den violent change and the tread of marching
teet threads the wool of his story. 1t began in
kaston, Pa, where he was born S. years ago
Easton backgrounds Lafayette college High
on hilltop the college stands eternalv brood
ing over the roofs below. Best known of the
professors there was the great philologist, lit
teraeur and nguist. Francis Alden March.
1t was to him that Representative William
Mutchler we'll known character in his dav,
went stamping his way on the fine morning be-
tore General MARGINS appointment to West
Point.
Professor" the representative growled,
this West Point business gives me no peace.
Boys whom my local political friends recon-
mend go there and funk their exams and can't
hold their places. Pm going to give up the
democrats and try the republicans. I want to
appoint one of your sons I guess they'll pass!'
And this was the beginning
March was an active student of infantry, cav
airy and engineers. His interest was in the
army as whole. not in its separate branches,
and consequently his ability to perform the du-
ties OF chief-of-staff
He, spent 10 years in the army before the
Spanish-American war. When John Jacob As
tor gave battery for service in the Philippines
he was advanced from the rank of first lieuten-
ant to that of captain of volunteers and given
command. 1t was notable organizaton COM
posed mostly of college men, With Roosevelts
Rough Riders it shared the limelight
Richard Harding Davis has told the story
of his capture of Mrs. Aguinaldo. Examining
her luggage of perfumes, fans and tnery. he
came upon box of soaps. ITS fragrant, clean
aroma rose to the mems faces" Davis wrote,
and they suddenly stopped Major March
stopped. too, and looked with eager tempted
eyes. The men looked at their officer the Off
Ger looked at the --then-well, it was
Madame Aguinaldo's soap, not theirs Major
March ordered them not to touch it, and looked
away while thew wrapped it up and put it back
Surely the brilliant young West Pointer de-
served the tribute which Madame Aguinaldo
paid him while in Manila; 4 do not like Amer
leans she said, but as for Major March, he is
the incest. kindest man | have ever met"
General March went to the Russo japanese
war as an observer, not to spy but to learn.
When the United States entered the present war
he was merely colonel of artillery. He went
abroad with Pcrshing as chief of artillery and
laid the lines on which the American artillery
became thing of terror to the Huns.
He assumed his duties in Washington with
the sad news that his son and namesake, It.
Peyton c. March, jr, was killed by fall from
an airplane on one of the southern training
fields.
Knowing as he does that the real cost of war
is to loved ones at home, his policy is one of
human sympathy with fathers, mothers and
wives who search the papers each morning for
news from "over there" Giving information
about the army is one of General March's duties
and he is described by newspaper men at the
capital as the most effective publicity man the
United States has had since this country went
to war. He meets newspaper correspondents
twice weekly and so perfect is their mutual I'M
derstanding that the public is hearing more au-
thortative facts than ever in our history.
OF interest is the story that in Washington
General March frequently is referred to as "the
man of smiling eyes, The smile it is said, ex-
presses his attitude toward life