Evening star., 1924-09-14

| The examiners accepted young
Pershings diagram and eventually
ne succeeded in passing his real en-
trance examinations and was gradu-
ated from the academy years later
with honors, being commissioned
second lieutenant in the Cavalry,
which at that time was considered
/ the most important branch of the
Army. At present. of course. the
Engineer Corps is considered the
highest branch of the Army, but in
| those frontier days to be appointed
| to the Cavalry was to be ordered to
fghting duty immediately.
:: + x
WHILE at West Point, Cadet
! Pershins made old Cen. Sher-
man. the man who called war by its
proper name. his idol. In later years
! he often told of how he would pur-
! posely seek out places where Sher-
man was sure to pass him so that
he could salute the veteran warrior
and receive that officers salute In
| return. And he knew how to salute
well, too Pershing has often said.
His first commanding officer after
graduation was Gen. Nelson A. Miles,
| who still lives in Washington.
| Gen. Miles was in the thick of his
| campaign against the Apaches when
Pershing. "a fresh kid lieutenant"
was ordered to command in the 9Th
Cavalry and began Indian campaign
! ing within d few days after he had
| been handed his sheepskin. From
| that point up to the day he led the
! 10th Cavalry to the relief-some
! people say 1.-The rescue'-of Lieut..
| Col Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Is
j just an endless series of battles, dates
! and compliments for the budding
| officer.
| But the story of that charge up
| the hill of Ell Caney, near San Juan.
| is of particular interest, because it
! Is said that Pershing first met Theo-
| dorc Roosevelt i'll the block house
| their combined forces had just
| succeeded in capturing from the
| Spaniards
The 10th Cavalry was Pershlng'S
famous colored regiment. The Rough
Riders had been caught in terrific
fire from the blockhouse and wera
facing defamation when young Perish
ing, riding well out in front, charged
with the gallant 10th and. with CON-
bined strength of his command and
| the Rough Riders, compelled the foe
to surrender. Roosevelt remembered
that incident, too. when he later be-
came President of the United States
Pershing, who by this time had
attained the rank of captain. was not
to enjoy even a short spell of peace
after the capitulation of Spain, how .
ever, for he was soon ordered to duty
in the Philippines. There he not only
| subdued one of the most trouble
some districts, but was even made a
| datto of the Moro tribes the first
| person not a professed Mohammedan
to have this rare distinction conferred
| upon him.
! AS a datto. Capt. Pershing not only
| became a Moro prince, but he was
| obliged to assume highly important
! religious and judicial duties. AL
though the young officer was not
| especially elated over these added
worries he realized that the position
| gave him opportunities that no other
| American officer had ever enjoyed,
and his particular department of the
| Philippine Islands became one of the
| most peaceful in the islands.
| 1t is rather amusing to read, how
ever. how Capt Pershing was accom-
panied on his visit to the Sultan's
| palace at the time he received his
| elevation to the dattoship by SIX
companies of Infantry and plenty of
Artillery Unfortunately. of course.
the Americans completely neglected
to take any blank cartridges with
them for purposes of Saluting. and
whine the American flag was raised
| they were obliged to fire the regula-
tion 21-gun salute with Shrapnel
The Moros had never before seen
that kind of shells and they stood
about in dumb amazement when they
observed the havoc the shrapnel
wrought upon the forests into which
it was fired. a few hours later when
Pershing and his officers returned to
the nalace, they were surprised I"
learn that the sultan had decided to
elevate the commander of the district
to be a datto. Pershing became quite
popular in his new job. however, and
hundreds of the natives went to nm
rather than to their own native
judges when they were in trouble.
ID ECALLED from the Philippines
IN after having been publicly COM
mended by Secretary of War Root
and President Roosevelt. Capt. PerSh-
ing was appointed to take turther
course in military tactics al the War
College. which. in those days. was
equivalent to notice that an advance
in rank is to be expected. While in
Washington, Capt Pershing had an
opportunity to enjoy social life for
the first time in years. and he made
the most of it.
In his early life Pershing had been
actually girl shy. But few months
defect, and one evening he was in
yited to escort Miss Frances Warren,
one of the most popular girls in
Washington, to a dinner. That meet
ing led to many more and eventually
to the marriage of the couple lr ora
ST. Johns Church here. in the pres
ence of President and Mrs. Roosevelt,
Just before Capt. Pershing sailed for
Japan to become military attache ar
the American embassy.
Iii the meantime President Roose-
Welt had not forgotten how that gal
liant young Lieut.. Pershing- had
charged Ell Caney. Promotions in the
Army, however. were all bound I'D
with red tape that even the President
found it difficult to unwind. There
were scores of far less efficient Off
GERS farther up in the lists than
Pershing. by virtue solely of the law
of seniority. But there were two po-
sitions to which the President might
appoint even a civilian-secoLd lieu
tenant and brigadier general.
To the utter amaZement of the en-
tire Army, Pershing got the briga-
dier's star. That promotion over the
heads of other much older officers
caused a furor in the Army. but
President Roosevelt liked Jurors, and
he knew his man. And Pershirg did
not ldti HIN, eitHef, Ioi d it" HloitHS
later he sent back from Toxic a re-
port of his observations at the front
during the early days of the Russo
japanese war that won high praise
all over the country. Pershing con-
tinued as observer with the Japanese
army throughout the war.
There were just exactly $50 officers
in the Army, however. who were su-
perior in rank to Capt. Pershing. and
most of them had spent many more
VARS in the serNice NatnralIv