Evening star., 1920-02-22
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

Win ndlCnet, anu VI
many other manifesto
tions Of force, has claimed Leonard
Wood as it's own. The Sunfower
state has made him full-fedged
citizen. 1t is rival of New
Hampshire. where Gen. Wood was
born in Winchester fifty-nine years
ago, and of Massachusetts,. where
he was reared. And now his
ting him forward as a candidate
for the republican nomination for
President-and in other states be-
sides.
1t was Gov. Arthur Capper, now
United States senator. who. by
proclamation, declared Gen. Wood
to be a citizen. extraordinary of
Kansas in December, 1917, in rec
ognition Of his work as commander
at Camp Funston. Knowing that
Gen. Wood is the chief apostle of
military preparedness and military
training for the youth of the ma
tioilb anu lhdL SChdtoI SdpPCI 10
one of the most outspoken oppo-
nents of universal military train
ing, 1 recently asked Senator Cap
per what he thought of the man
upon whom he had conferred the
honor of citizenship in his state.
The reply came without hesita-
ton: Wood is big man, of presi-
Dental size. The people of Kan
sas are very fond of him-he had
the training of their boys at Camp
Funston during the war. He is a
fine executive-buts' and here Sena-
tor Capper was thinking of Gen.
Woods possibilities as candidate,
''he is for universal military train
ing. and the people in the state are
10 to 1 against it,"
Then he told me an incident of
Gen. Woods executive ability in a
pinch. 1t seems that the cold
weather was coming on in Kansas
and the boys of the SSth Division
had not been furnished with winter
clothing or overcoats, though Wood
had kept the wires hot with mes
sages to the War Department. In
some way he learned there were
thousands of overcoats and win
ter uniforms in the hands of a
manufacturer in Chicago. With
out waiting longer to hear from
Washington. Gen. Wood bought
those oYercoats and uniforms on
his own responsibility, and charged
them up to the government. So
the Kansas boys who had been
shivering with cold-as were the
thousands of boys in other camps
that fall and winter got their
winter clothing far ahead of others.
There is another United States
senator who is taking a keen in
terest in the candidacy of Gen.
Wood. He is George Moses of New
Hampshire, the native state of the
general, southern manager for Wood
And II you ask him what most i'm
presses him about Wood he will an
swer in one word. strength" And
then he will add that personal mag
netism simply exudes from the big
body Of the candidate. He's not far
wrong.
Gen. Wood walks with a rolling
kind of gait, but that is due to an
injury received years ago while
he was governor general Of Cuba.
A chandelier fell on his head and
resulted in delayed action Of the
motor nerve. The consequence is
that one of his legs gets notice to
move little bit slower than the
other. Yet today he can cutwalk
and outride many a younger of
ficer of the Army, and twice dur
ing the war he was passed by
medical boards as a number one
physical risk.
Gen. Wood has been in the public
eye since the end of the. war.
When the steel strike was on and
down at Gary, Ind, the bolsh evists
and other ''reds" were doing their
best to stir up a revolution he was
sent to put an end to the disturb
ance. When the rioting broke out
in Omaha. Neb.. not long after
spot" too. And then his services
were demanded in the West Vir-
ginia strike region. The people
out in Gary say that he made the
place safer than it had been be-
fore the strike, and without shoot
ing up the reds" I am told that
even the labor leaders admit that
he gave them a square real.
= y i X
But this is putting the cart be-
fore the horse. To get a picture
of the man it is necessary to &C
back to his earlier days. As a
boy he lived on Cape Cod and
spent much of his time bunting.
fishing. sailing and swimming.
His father was a country ooctor.
His people were of old American
stock; in fact. one Of his ancestors
was PeresSine White. the first
white child born in Plymouth col
ony. When Leonard Wood was
ready to leave the Middleboro
Academy he wanted to go to sea.
but finally he followed his fathers
footsteps and went to Harvard to
study medicine. He graduated in
medicine in the class Of 1884. just