The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1919-09-08
THOUSANDS Of WHISTLES
GREETED PERSH|NC As HIS
SHIP STEAMED INTO NEW
YORK HARbOR TODAY

young American army officers re-
ceived that special training evolved
In combat with the willy savages
which proved Of peculiar value in GER
tain phases of the highly scientific
modern warfare in France and Bel
GUM. They were taught the art of
scouting, of trailing and of perfect
self-reliance in the school beyond the
ken Of any European soldier and
many a midnight raid by the Ameri-
cans into No Mans Land doubtless
found its inception and clever execu-
tion in the brain of one of these one
time Indian fighters of Pershing's
type.
1t is recorded officially of Pershing
that at the beginning of his career,
for instance, he was complimented by
General Miles, his commander-in,
chief in the Geronimo campaigns, for
marching his troop, with pack train,
over rough country, 14O miles in 46
hours, bringing in every animal and
man in good condition" Until he
reached command rank Pershing al
ways was a cavalry officer and the
records of the War Department show
more than one honorable mention for
his conduct during his ten years SER
vice in the Department of Arizona.
In the Spanish War as an officer of
the Tenth Cavalry he was promoted
for gallantry at the battle of Ell
Caney to be major in the Volunteer
army and after short detail in
Washington in the Bureau of lnsular
Affairs was sent out to the Philip
pines as adjutant-general of the De-
partment Of Mindana and Jolo.
Turning Point in His Career
That was the turning point in
Pershing's career. He began to take
his profession of arms more seriously
and to display the powers of concen-
tration upon difficult problems that
tsood him in good stead in the great
campaigns that were to follow in Eu-
rope. Attracted by his earnestness
and soldierly qualities, General Leon
ard Wood, who was his superior off,
Ger at the time, selected Pershing to
orpanize and conduct campaign
against the Moros who for centuries
had successfully resisted all attempts
of the Spanish army to subjugate
them.
Up to that point something Of a
parallel may be found in the careers
of Woods and Pershing. Each had
made brilliant regulations as Indian
fighters and each had been picked by
President Roosevelt for extraordinary
promotion because of their high prom
ise of military ability. Roosevelt had
made Wood brigadier general in
1901 and he made Pershing, then a
captain, brigadier general in 1906
to the absolute CONSERVATION of the
old line of the army because it in
volved the jumping of both officers
over many hundreds of their seniors
Pershing justified the confidence
that Wood had imposed on him in his
Moro campaign. There was a Sultan
of Bacalod with unknown thousands
of followers intrenched in the
marshes and mountains of the tropi.
cal islands behind heavy forts OF
palm wood, logs and giant creepers
and thorn bushes woven into what
was supposed to be impregnable de-
fenses. Pershing had made study
of the conditions and so well had ne
oreanized his little force consisting
tf battalion of infantry, a squadron
of cavalry and a section of artillery
that in two days the Moro's strong
holds were cleaned out and the Is
land of Mindanao was soon placed un-
der Pershing's military governorship.
When he returned home in 1914 he
was given but a short rest in San
Francisco. Trouble began on the
Mexican border and he was sent there
in command. of the Eighth Brigade
charged with the special duty of run
ming down or driving off Villa. His
expedition penetrated many miles into
Mexico and army officers believed that
the ultimate capture of Villa was pre-
vented only by recall orders from
Washington, where the authorities de-
cided that they were unwilling to con-
tinue a military policy seeming GER
tain TO involve the United tSates in
regular war with Mexico.
When Pershing was chosen to COM