The sun., 1919-04-04
COL. MINER Is NOT
TOO OLD FOR CROSS
Battered Pennsylvania Is
Greeted and Honored by Reg
ular Army Men.
LOST LEG IN BATTLE
He Fooled Attempt to Keep
Him Home When Country
Needed Soldiers.
LOST LEG IN BATTLE

tried their durndest in 1917 TO prevent
Col. Asher Miner from going TO France
at the head of the one time Ninth Regi-
ment Of Infantry OF the Pennsylvania
National Guard, now the 109th Field Ar
tillery of the Twenty eighth (Pennsyl-
vania) Division, because, argued the
regulars, Col Miner was too old; but
men that included Major-Gen. Thomas
ii. Barry, Gen. Barry's stan and other
officers at Governors Island. welcomed
Col. Miner to departmental headquar-
ters they made fuss over the wounded
Colonel that squared everything.
Gen. Barry pinned the Distinguished
Service Cross upon the breast OF the
modest Colonel from Wilkesbarre. Pa.
Rather. the General read a fervent trib-
ute to Col. Miner that made the Colonel
more fidgety than ever he had been when
under fire in France, and then the
particularly handsome Major General
calamity handed the Distinguished Ser
wife Of the Colonel and asked Mrs
Miner to do the pinning.
PershinE Tells the Facts.
'-The most battered up officer that
has come back from the war is the
way a Manhattan newspaper described
Col. Miner when he returned to this
port during the winter. Yesterday when
the Colonel landed from the army boat
at Governors Island he swung along
slowly on crutches. He lost his lower
left leg In France. A great scar runs
from his mouth almost to his right ear.
Scars on his arms still show where
But let Gen. Pershing tell IT.
'Col. Asher Miner. 109th Field Ar
tillery-For extraordinary heroism
In action at Apremont, France, Oc-
tober 4. 1913. One OF the batteries
of the regiment commanded by this
ofiicer assigned to an advanced posi-
:, ton in direct support of an infantry
I attack was heavily shelled by the
! enemy while 1t was going into action.
It being necessary therefore to take
another position, Col. Miner went for
ward under heavy shell fire and per-
eonally supervised the placing of the
guns In the new position. Col. Miner
continued his efforts until he received
q severe wound that later necessi-
tated amputation Of his Leg
That IL a bare outline Of one Of the
Coloners accomplishments during the
war, and although the men comman ded
by Col. Miner may complain that the
taciturn Gen. Pershing was all too brief
In his citation. tho soldiers should keep
IN mind that coming from Gen. Per-
shing, the paragraph il lengthy for an
officer who on another occasion said a
whole PEACEFUL in four words: 'Lafay-
cite, We are here !"
But the lads of the cid Ninth Penn
sylvania are convinced that Gen. Per-
shing should have dweIt upon the fact
that while Col. Miner lay in a shell hole
frightfully wounded he tried, as long az
conscience lasted. TO direct his men.
And there was the added fact that the
men Of the old Ninth held their Colonel
in a regard so affectionate that when he
fell they did not wait for stretoher bear
ers to come up; they ran right up to the
hinges Of hell and swung the door open
and ran through the flying metal to
where he lay.
His own artillerymen carried him
back behind the danger zone. One may
gather an idea Of the nature OF that trip
when one learns that soldiers carrying
their wounded Colonel repeatedly were
knocked down by exploding shells while
bearing their commander to the rear.
Col. Miner Keeps Mum.
Gen. Barry in the little speech he
made yesterday told almost enough
about the merits OF Col. Miner to sat-
tsfy even Wilkesbarre and the men OF
the old Ninth Pennsylvania. and the
General certainly extolled the Colonel
far beyond the point where Col. Miner
would have cried, had he dared, IT move
We now adjourn" For the Colonel, so
the reporter learned when trying to in
terview him at the Hotel Pennsylvania
n fAN In 4, AaNv M f,,za IL
about his own army experiences, but in
dimes toward discouraging any one else
from doing so.
Besides Gen. Barry and his staff and
Col. and Mrs. Miner. the little party that
witnessed the presentation ceremonies at
Governors Island yesterday included Col
Miners brother, DR.. Charles Miner I;
Horace Thurlow. Samuel Newman. Ser
geant John Scannel. Harry Gladwin.
Charles c. Ramey--the last two being
members of the Produce Exchange, Of
which Col. Miner Is also q member
and Col. Miners four daughters. The
husbands of two OF the daughters. Capts.
Chrisman and Bixby. fought with the
Colonel in France. One OF them, Capt.
Robert C. Bixby, received the Belgian
Croix de Guerre for extraordinary hero
Ism.
Fought His Way to Front.
Preceding the award of the Distin-
guished Service Cross to Col. Miner yes
terday the members OF the Produce Ex-
change here also kicked up an i'm
promptu fuss over the distinguished
Pennsylvania. The Colonel. being a
member of the exchange and devoting
his time between wars to the direction OF
the Miner-Hilliard Milling Company OF
wilkesbarre, visited the exchange hero
on Wednesday. When the brokers
learned that he was among those pres
ent they liberated a hullabaloo and i'm
mediately improvised a dais on the floor
OF the exchange. where they placed a
chair and insisted that Col Miner hold
all impromptu reception.
Col Miner. who is now IS years old,
enlisted in the old Ninth Pennsylvania
militia regiment when he was 81. He
advanced rapidly in the regiment and
after serving as Colonel of the orBani-
zation for some years retired from the
regiment in 1910. But when the call
came for troops TO go to the Mexican
border in 1916 he donned khaki again
and went south with the silver eagles
again on his shoulders.
The regiment that year was changed
from an infantry unit into the Third
Pennsylvania Artillery. Col. Miner still
retaining command. Then came the
great chance in 1917 and Col. Miner.
after metaphorically licking the day =
lights out OF certain army men who In
sisted he was too old to go to France,
sailed away and proceeded actually to
wallop the spikes of lot of Hun
helmets