Norwich bulletin., 1918-10-26
GENERAL PERSHNC

4.
 Fame claimed John Joseph Persh- | ing when he was appointed to com mand the American army in France
 in the great war. To-day his por- trait, done by Jean Boucher, the off, cial painter, hangs on the walls of I the French army museum at the In-
 valides, fianked by the faces of sol diers whom France has always hon. ored Turenne. Condo. MacMahon,
 and, the most illustrious warrior of
 all, Napoleon. England has bestow- ed upon the American commander
 the Grand Cross of the Order of the
 Bath. He was already knight without reproach. An order of
 knighthood could do no more for the son of the Missouri general store keeper than West Point had done for him and than he had done for him. self my living up to West Point ideals. and that is not easy when a
 man must rest content to be a lieu tenant in a cavalry regiment for more
 than fifteen years. That was Persh l ing's, rank in the Santiago campaign
 in 1898, and he served in the quar-
 termaster's department.
 Twenty years later the tall, silent | lieutenant of the Cuban expedition, unimportant now but picturesque in
 it's period, is world-famous as the leader of an American army of 1 300, ; 900 men on historic fields in France,
 where men have swarmed like ants in combat for nearly 1000 years. The native of Linn county must sometimes wonder what the old folks at home think of his translation from it's quiet fields and homespun ways to such dazzling eminence and vast responsibility.
 It may have been a coincidence, but it was certainly feIicitious, that Pres ident Wilson selected an American
 soldier of Akatian descent to con- rnand our armies in France. Only
 the otherday the Association Gen. erale des Alsaciens- Lorraine d'Amer-
 ique hailed General Pershing, ir [ birthday congratulations, as of kin
 to it's members, and, said the tele-
 gram to him, i've hope to celebrate
 shortly with you in the village of the
 family of Phoershing the victory o1 l civilizat tion and the deliverance of op- pressed peoples"
 At school he showed an aptitude fol mathematics, but was thinking O : the law, as a profession when h' heard of a competition for a cadet ship at West Point in his district By one point only he excelled and hi; career was made. Long after he wa } graduated from the Military Acad emy General Wesley Merritt said 0 l young Pershing: He gave earl, t promise of becoming the superb off I cer he is now known to be, He wa earnest, ambitious, energetic, an s manly" The senior cadet captain t lat West Point is always 'energeti | and manly" Pershing with his de
 | oI fa civ 1f v looked the part in his close fttin l uniform. He was a handsome young V ster, with the air of command, Yves r Points most soldierly cadet when h e left "the best military school in tn = world in 16S6
 = There was nothing ahead of Secon e Lieutenant Pershing but Indian cam . paigns, brushes with treacherou | Apaches and willy Sioux; and tn e desert was to be his home for severt : years. He always won distinction. 1 d Dakota he commanded a band of Siou - scouts. In a quiet time he accepte Il the detail of military instructor at th = University of Nebraska, and there n studied for the degree of bachelor { = laws, and was admitted to practic h Two years were spent at the Militar = academy as teacher of tactics. V 1898 he went to Cuba as first heuter d ant of the Tenth Cavalry, a crac ,e negro regiment.
 g After the war with Spain oppo1 Q tunity came Pershings way, and
 was ready. As commander of mil ,. tary operations against the Moros ,i Mindanao he caught Presidel n Roosevelt's eye and was promote ,t from a captaincy to brigadier gener # over the heads of more than 8' .ss officers who registered silent pr, tests. President Roosevelt's prefe = ence has long since been vindicate ,o Both as commander of the depar ,d ment of Mindanao and as govern r of Moro province Pershing proved l. worth on many occasions he was un s. formly successful with light casua to ties and his reports as governor a r. models of sound judgment and cle st writing. AS ruler of the natives rk invariably showed tact. patience al st f1rnness.
 is The Chihuahua expedition was Pc ds shing's chance to prove his capaci is for responsible command. For SUI
 as high spirited and red -blooded mi
 it was sometimes difficult to hold t Id American army in leash-especia' m after Carrizal. But he had his orde ne from Washington, and he obey