Omaha daily bee., 1919-09-09

The generals fnst battles were
fought near the stockade. Traces
OF it still remain. There he first
learned tactics, storming the stock
ade with his gang" The civil war
was just over He led the "Yanks."
The enemy-the other gang
were the rebels. Snowballs was the
ammunition.
And sometimes the casualties
were great, necessitating applica-
tons of beefsteak to blackened eyes
and arnica to bruised mouths and
hands.
The school that John Pershing at
tended in the COS, was a wooden
building, hardly more than a shanty.
Today there is a brick school Of
which any city might be proud.
But
To pick up the thread of the gen.
erals life.
mo Angel; No Devil; J::st Boy"
John was almost 3 when his father
returned from the war. And
healthier boy could not have been
found west of the Mississippi-east
OF it, for that matter. He was a
tow-headed youngster, even as his
only son, Warren, in Lincoln is to-
day. He had bright, blue eyes. He
was a keen, alert, wide awake boy
mo angel; no devil; just boy"
old Allen says.
First Taste of War.
A year later, when he was 4
years old, the generals life may be
said to have started. Then it was,
at 4 years old, that the boy who
is leading armies now in the greatest
war of the worlds history, received
his first taste of war. He heard
shots ring out, smelled powder. He
saw two men meet their end. And
he saw it all and never finched. He
stood his ground then, at a, in
Laclede, even he stood it in
France, where he fought to crush
the Hun and win victory for civiliza-
ton and restore Alsace, the land of
his forefathers, to the French.
Mr.. Lomax, the banker, tells of
the generals first taste of war-in a
bushwhacker raid on Laclede.
Lomax Tells of Raid.
Mr.. Lomax is an old man now. II
years of age. But, like all Laclede
people in the eighties or close to
the eighties, he seems younger.
Even his hair, snow white, does not
make him seem old. And as he tells
of the raid, RELIEVING it as he be-
comes interested in his narrative, he
is young again. His eyes sparkle.
The dignity of the banker is laid
aside. He is boy.
He told the story sitting in the
parlor of his home. On the wall
close to him was picture of the
Pesshing family and more than
once the old banker paused, his
glance straying to that picture. 1t
seemed as if he were asking the
pictured image of his old employer
to corroborate the story.
"Bushwhackers Coming!"
at was about the middle of June,
1864" Mr.. Lomax began. 81 think it
was Saturday. l was working for
Mr.. Pershing, sr.. clerk in his
store. John was playing about, now
running into the store now out.
Suddenly shout rang out.
"'The bushwhackers are COM
ing! the voice called.
"A moment later 18 or 20 men
armed with revolvers and shotguns
galloped into town. There were
many persons on the street-that's
what makes me think it was Satur-
day. They had come in to buy their
provisions. There was intense ex-
element. People rushed hither and
thither. Little Johnnie was a bit
excited. But he was not afraid. No.
He stood his ground like a little
man.
THE raiders were Captain Holt
claws command.
Guns Were Unloaded.
~ stepped back into the store at
ter l had seen them and told Mr..
Pershing. He walked back where
there were some guns. The guns
had been loaded, but, oddly, that
very morning we had discharged
them to avoid having loaded guns
about where John so often played.
Gust then some of the bush
whackers entered the store.
"And by the way" the banker
interjected, Il should have told you
that Mr.. Pershing was postmaster.
He was appointed by President Lin
coin. Well, in our store we had
safe. The people of the town used
il as general safe deposit. At the
time bushwackers came into the
store there was between 5000 and
$1,000 in the safe.
Pershing Locked the Safe.
"Mr. Pershing locked the safe and
put the key in his pocket. He