OMAIIA ILLUSTRATED BEE. Dcccinbor 'U , 18 ! ) ! ) .
Career of Major
General Leonard Wood
No soldier who over served tlio United
Stales him over rlBon to fame and Unit earned
General Leon-
KB rewards nioro rapidly than
nrd Wood , the now inllltnry governor ot
Culm. H Is the sort of success that may
well bo called dazzling. Although harely
past 30 years ot age , Wood 1 a major general -
eral , occupying the most Important post ,
with ono exception , In the gift of the War
department. Loco thnn two years ago ho
with
was a plain assistant army surgeon
the rank ot captain. Indeed , his rank In
the regular army Is still that ot captain
When ho hecamo colonel of the Rough
Hldurs In May , 18)8 ! ) , ho was ahsolutoly un
known ontsldo of his olrdo of frlondH In
thu army and In Washington. Ills brilliant
dash at has OuaRlmnH made him a brigadier
general and the light of San Juan hill , In
which ho commanded a brigade , brought
him Uio governorship of the city ot Santiago.
Hero his remarkable activities In the quellIng
the feeding of the thousands
Ing of the riots , '
sands of starving Cubans. In street' cleanIng
In battling with disease ,
Ing , In fumigating ,
and
Urltaln
In Great
made his fnmo oven
brought him the governorship ot the en
, together with an
Santiago
tiro' provlnco of
appointment of a maor | general , which ho
when
held until the army mis reorganized ,
. And only
brigadier general.
ho became a
the other clay ho was again made a major
general and assigned to thu chair In which
at the palace In Ha
Woyler Hat so long
vana. This career Is all the moro remark
able because Wood started as n surgeon
outsldo of the autlvo line of service. Only
few medical olllcers ever have reached
a
high places In the line and not ono over before
general. Brigadier
fore became a. major
Myor , onto chief ot the signal
General A. J.
medical service , HO
service , rose from the
did General S. W. Crawford and General
Tlmiium Lawson and there the list ends ,
concerned.
are
so far as generals
military training In
Wood rocolvod his
the hardest school ot the service. the In
dlan country ot the far Houlhwost. Years
before the Uough Killers were thought ot
Wood was paolmiiHtur of the art of rough
riding.
lly \iituri * 11 I'Mulilcr. '
Although Woo'd possesses rare talent In
his chosen profession of medicine , having
been graduated with honora from the Har
vard Medical school and later serving as
I'resldcnt Cleveland and
olllclal surgeon to
ho Is by niituro a
to 1'rosldent MeKlnley ,
lighter and It has been his ambition from
bis earliest days to llnil a place In the active
line ot the service.
And , curiously enough , ho won favor with
the commanding general of hits department ,
now Major General Miles , by knocking him
down. It was this way : When young Wood >
entered the army ho was a strong as an i
the endurance ot a Sioux
ox and ho possessed
Indian. Ho was then , as ho Is today , Im
mensely powerful ot shoulders and arms , ,
with a hort , thick nuuk and sturdy legs. ,
From his boyhood ho had practiced running
his school ,
ning , and walking and during
career at Boston ho had practiced boxing
until ho had become proficient In the art , ,
at the headquarters ,
Boxing woo u favorlto sport
quarters of the Department ot California
and Ml leu was proud of his boxing. At llrrt
the young surgeon , who was by nature shy ,
dlllldent and low-voiced , took no part In
night however , Miles invited
the sport. Ono ,
vited him to como up , assuring him thai
hard hitter , but that hi
ho ( Miles ) wan a
would take Into consideration the oppo
nent's youth , and so on , and so on. It then
Is ono thing that would have tUlrrcd 'n
Wood's boxing blood It was just such :
remark. As the story is now told , the
sparring was fast and furious ami rcsultoc
In General Mlleu getting much the worst o
It. Hut Miles was then , as ho Is now , vorj
much of a soldier , with a keen admlratloi
for the qualities of grit and determination
even If ho suffered by those qualities , am
Wooil became his warm personal friend , at
well as his physician.
Hy nature General Wood Is "fearfnll ;
direct" the characterization of ono of hli
friends. Ho is direct and ! iomt , llki
HooBOvelt , and yet there never wiw a mm
'who had learned the dlnlcult lesslon o
tactfnlneas moro thoroughly. Not long IIRI
a Now York newspaper commented on tin
fact that there wore only two men of pronv
Inonco who cnnio out ot the war Wholly with
out unfavorable criticism Downy and Wood
When Wood wns appointed major genera
lost -month ho was confirmed by congrcs :
without a dissenting vote , although the feel
lug among the higher olllrors of the arm :
who were being superseded , and many o
them had strong political Influence , wa ;
against him.
Tiirt In Mniiiiulnir IS-onlr.
Wood ruled with the power of u cy.ar li
Santiago , and yet ho Js probably the mon
popular man In Cuba , with Cubans as wel
as with foreigners. Ills appointment in
military governor was received with on
thuslasm by every paper of prominence Ii
the Island. This-was duo to Wood's quallt :
of tactfnlnoss which , It seems to mo. cami
to htm with his medical training. A docto
must know how to manage pooplt * . Then
are any number of Instances allowing will
wlint coiiBiunmnto skill ho managed tin
Cubans , Ono of the most dllllcult Inllu
onc.es In all Spanish-American countries litho
the church. In Cuba It was vary loworfu
and Wood saw that It would bo necessar ;
to handle It with great care , Inasmuch a !
U wfi8 naturally opposed to tuj American !
as being the power which parted the church
and the state and divested the archbishop
of bin accustomed revenues.'ooi \ \ made
It his business to becumo pe.tonally ac
quainted with the priests , to look at the
dlfllcullles from tholr point ol view , and
when the new archbishop of Santiago was
appointed Wood was asked , to th : surprise of
evoryonu , to take a prominent place In the
triumphal pmcossloti. Ilo expected that It
would bo merely u matter of a In-let carriage
drlvo from the palace around the plaza to
the rntbedral , but when the procssslon
Take ono example. The Cuban Is , by nature ,
moro or less slip-shod In his way of doing
things. Wood Is thorough , with a thor
oughness that IH nn unfailing astonishment
to the native. I stayed In a hotel that wns
Just being rooccuplcd after nn epidemic of
follow fovor. The proprietor was telling
mo how Wood's men had done the fumigat
ing.
"Why , " ho ald , "they squirted their dis
infectants under the tiles of the roof. " That
was something that no ono of Spanish blood
ever would have thought of doing.
Wood has few diversions ; bis work Is his
greatest pleasure , although ho gets keen en
joyment from riding his big gray horse
through the country ho Is a natural born
rider or of Inspecting the various parts In
his provinces on a transport. He also reads
a good deal , books of history , military lore
GENERVL LEONARD WOOD IN UNIFORM OF MAJOR GEN
ERAL OK VOLUNTEERS Photo Copyright , 1899 , by Fran
ces I ) . Johnson.
arrived ho found that a place had been made
for him under the canopy with the arch
bishop. And 'ho ' marched all the way
through , no doubt thinking of his old "Purl-
tan ancestors In Now England. Since then
Wood has no better friends than the church
dignitaries.
Ho dealt with that typical Cuban Inatltu-
lion , the agitating editor , with . .the Donne
wisdom. Santiago is I ho hotbed of Cuban
: patriotism. Every Cuban Insurrection has
had Its origin within fifty miles of the city
of Santiago. And the mouthpiece < , f the
Cuban Insurgent Is the agitating editor.
Aflur thu Americans came into power this
functionary was for a tlmo devoid ot a purpose -
; pose iii life. The Spaniards were gone
and the agitating paper no longer thrived.
It was natural , therefore , that the editor
i should eventually begin an assault on the
Americans. So bitter were the attacks
that many residents of the city advised
| General Wood to suppress these papers , but
. the general knew the mistake of making
L martyrs , martyrdom In Cuba being another
, name for patriotism. So ho sent for the
most violent of the editors.
, "You may say anything you please against
, mo personally , " ho said , In his quiet way ,
, "hut the moment you attack the government
I shall put you In Morro castle and keep
j
I you there. "
Another ono ot these editors had suggested
t
"going to the hlllB , " which In Cuba means
rebellion. Wood sent for htm , too , and
,
told him that the sooner ho went to the
j hills the better It would bo for bis own
safety and ho said It so seriously that the
j next day the editor did go to the hills ,
alone , and ho baa slnco caused no trouble.
A Com ! MUcr.
t General Wood has mn'do particular efforts
to find out the real sentiment of the Cuban
) . people and to govern his olllclal acts necord-
Ingly. With a people of the character of
j the Cubans , eo long accustomed to saying
3 ono thing to the cruel Spanish olllcers and
doing another , and by nature so suspicious ,
this was particularly dllllcult and General
' Wood's popularity In the Island Is the best
attestation of his success. Ono of his olden
3 told mo that when General Wood was on his
trips of Inspection ho made It an Invariable
'
' rule d dlnti with the local officials and to
' talk with them. It sometimes happened ,
5 therefore , that Wood and two or three mem
bers of his staff would sit dawn to dinner
with a table full of black men , with whom
i ho would directly bo on the best possible
t terms.
1 Wood Is an extraordinarily hard worker.
Ho Is up rally In the morning and frequently -
quently visits several hospitals , the Jail or
i the market before ho reaches bjvalllce at
f halt past eight or more. Ho Is readily ne-
i' fit .slide to rich and poor and his extraor-
r dlnary physical endurance enables him teD
D see many pcoplo and attend to the thousand -
> sand and one trying details of such un
a olllco and do everything well. Indeed , he
appears to do a great many unnecessary
3 things , that Is , unnecessary things from the
trlct viewpoint of duty. Ho goes at the
f work of Improvement In nil sorts of Uncut
3 hocnuso It Interests him personally. Ills
9 motto Is "No energy Is lost to the universe. "
General Wheeler
on the Philippi
( Copyright , 1S99 , by A. n. Kellnr. )
SANTA RITA , Philippine Islands , Novem
ber , 1809. I have now scon muoh of the
country and the people In that part of
Luzon for about fifty miles north of Manila.
In every town there is a magnificent stone
church and a convent or monastery. The
Insurgents have n great antipathy to the
priesthood of friars and they have dis
mantled many of the churches. The value
of the church and monastery of a town
setcns to be equal In many cases to the
GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER , FROM A 1'HOTOGRAPH
TAKEN BY FRANCES II. JOHNSTON GENERAL
WHEELER HAS BEEN CONGRESSMAN FROM ALABAM \
FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS. SERVED FOUR YEARS IN
THE CONFEDERATE ARMY AND AT THE AGE OF G2 WAS
APPOINTED MAJOR GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS ,
UNITED STATES ARMY. HE HAS RETURNED FROM THE
PHILIPPINES TO TAKE HIS SEAT IN CONGRESS.
ami an occasional novel. When I last saw
him .ho was deep in "Richard Carvel. "
1'liiiiN of ( lovcriiiut'iil.
Of the government of Cuba ho has his own
definite though simple plans. Ho believes
In removing largely the American troops
from the Island and substituting a number
of regiments enlisted from among the Cu
bans themselves. This Is no mere theory ,
for before ho ventured to suggest such a
scheme to the War department ho had
actually experimented with It In Santiago by
the enlistment of a small company of men
under the general ruler of the rural guard
and yet drilled and olllccred as an American
company would have been. Ho found what
some critics have denied , that the Cubans
were eager soldiers and readily amenable
to the strict discipline of American army
life. His Idea Is to have a number of such
regiments olllcercd , in the higher places at
least , by Americans. These could occupy
the forts and other points of vantage , and
Ilo has confidence enough In the Cubans
themselves to promise peace In the island.
With this system of military occupation
there would nerd to bo at tho-iroad ot the
Island an honcbt American , whose chief of
fice would bo to keep the bad Cubans out
of power and the good ones In until such
tlmo as the good Cubans could control the
government. He believes that Diaz of Mexico
ice Is the Ideal ruler of a Spanish-American
country strong and honest and steady.
"Success , " ho siilil , "is BO easy that It Is
a crlmo to fall. "
Ilo will now have an opportunity of tryIng -
Ing his powers on the whole Island of Cuba.
His appointment showed an extraordinary
amount of confidence In him on the part ot
the administration at Washington , for If ho
should fall the blame would fall on the
president because ho had appointed so young
a man and appointed him at the expense
of so many older olllcers In the army. But
Wood will not fall ; he Is not the kind of
n man who falls. And yet , wtit'n his
friends congratulated him recently oii his
appointment to the governorship , ho said :
"Walt a year. " R. S. BAKER.
value of all the other buildings In the town.
The sugar storehouses are also expen
sively constructed bullrings. They hove
very thick stone walls and either tile or
metal roofs and c ver considerable space
of ground ; some of them have dimensions
of about sixty or seventy feet by 100 feut.
The church here at Santa Rita is the
only one 1 have seen outside of Manila where
services are regularly held.
The moro I talk to people the more I
am CLiivlnced that the insurgents are ac
tuated in a measure by n spirit of com
munism , and In their talks their most se
rious objection to the church seems to be
the fact that the ecclesiasllii organiza
tions own so much of the property , and one
of Agulnaldo's most cat nest demands Is that
the church property bo confiscated.
There Is a general Impression that the
Insurgent anmy Is made up very largely
of people without property and that people
who have pioperty desire the Americans to
control so that they can have protection and
feel that their property Is secured to them ,
but I find that there Is also a fear or appre
hension among some of the wealthy that It
the Americans control and give universal
suffrage , the power of the wealthy people 1
would be taken away and their hold on
property very mlich impaired. I think
that If the wealthy people could be assured 1
that they would bo protected In their prop
erty rights by the United States It would ] 1
luivo a very good effect.
l'rlfN < N mid Krlni-N.
The friars and priests are charged with '
all torts of oppressions and misdemeanors ,
but It must ho remembered that friars anil
priests are very numerous , and In so large
n body there will bo found every possible
phase of character and disposition. Some ol
them are no doubt oppressors of the people , '
exacting In the collection of rentals from the
land , Indulge themselves In many ways and
lead lives very different from what should
characterize the life of a priest. But there
are very many good men among them. Many
of them have received good cducatli ns In
their youth and , being without families and
UOYIIOOU HOME OF GENERAL WOOD
having nmp time , they have pursued J > ,
entlllc and other studies and have
great deal toward the education
people.
The religious orders are very rich ,
have been acquiring property for nearly
three centuries. It wns the custom of or
ganizations and Individuals to acquire prop
erty by settlement and .occupation , and title
thus acquired is locognized as valid even
with no paper title whatever. The religious
orders have acquired vast properties In thls.4
way , and while It Is supposed that the pi
coeds and the Inconio " 3 to bo used for
llgious and charitable purposes there Is
doubt that 'much has been used for their
personal c > mfort and benefit.
The statement I have seen that 70 per
cent of the people of Luzon can r .ad and
write Is a great mistake. It may bo true
of Manila , but It is not true of the rural > -
districts , and ' t Mvcntago of Illiteracy in
the other Isla jfjsHfciJJ1110'1 ' 8rt-ater than in
Luzon. The , ' SBJK1' m (1 ( ° of n' ° an(1 (
mcUiod of peS f Mwnrk is t day very
much like tl r 4 vCl(1 ( in lll ° blbl °
the beginning i p- ? 'lstlan era.
Mf < hoilMjJ.4 Voni'M Ohl.
The people dress VJvry much as they did
2000 years ago , the mftinsoE transportation
ly carts drawn by ci.vCfo.wirf Is about the , . , -
same , and their methods ot shelling ami * '
cleaning rice are as primitive as possible
and no better than they were 2,000 years
ago. During the last few rs sugar mills
and rice mills have been erected in some
of the large cities , and this has specially
been the case since the building of the Mu-
nlla & Dagupan railroad , but in the smaller
cities and towns rice is busked'by pounding
by hand , and is .winnowed by throwing It V
up and thus separating the chaff just as It
was done In tha earliest times.
I'roiluelN'jf tlii Xetv IsIniiilN.
Nearly everything can be grown , but
oranges and bananas are not as good as in
other localities , the reason , no doubt , being
that they seem to give them no cultivation
whatever. If they were cultivated I believe
they would 'be as line as the products of
any other country.
Tobacco is grown ( n the valley of Cagayaii ,
In the northeastern part of Luzon , wH 'h ' .
Is said to bo equal to any tobacco in the \ j
world. The coffee grown is said to be su
perior to Mocha.
Rico is the principal product , and a failure
of that crop will cause a terrible famine
as the people depend almost entirely upon
it for food. Sugar is the principal crop for
export. The greatest amount exported In anyone
ono year was 201,081 tons , which was in
1893.
Corn grows very rapidly and the ears
reach their full growth about sixty days j
from the time of planting. The provinces "
which are especially spoken 'of as produc
tive of corn or maize are Viscaya , Isabella ,
South Camarin.es , Pampanga , Pangashinan ,
Nuova Ecija , Bulacau , Batangas , Albay and
Abray. Wheat is grown in Batangas and
around San Isidro and Isabel and Ilicos Sur.
There Is a great abundance of very valu- Jh\ \
able timber in these islands and many va- -4FU.
riotles of beautiful hard woods under nativu ; .
names , such as mahogany , black walnut and
ebony. Gold , copper , coal , iron , sulphur ,
lead , building stone , petroleum and guano
are found.
Condition of tlic I'eoiile.
There are many different tribes 'living In
these Islands , the only ones In native re
bellion being the Tagalos. This tribe occu
pies some eight provinces In the neighbor
hood of Manila and their association with
* *
Europeans has made them moro civilized
than other tribes.
Wo are now seven or eight miles from
Porac , where an Insurgent force has been
stationed for some tlmo , but around bore and '
through this vast volley the people are
actively engaged In planting rice. I have
been riding around the outskirts of this
place and the fields are dotted with men , wo-
j men and children planting rice. There
are some tribes , the Pampangnn and some * " *
others , that sympathize with and aid the
, Tagalos. i
I nm confident that a brlgado of cavalry
could cosily travel through a great part
of the Islands , tV
I
I AiilnialH of tliu iHlaiiilH. 1
t Monkeys are numerous , the flying squirrel , f
, which has a fine skin , Is found , and also the {
, wild cat , the wild hog and the water buf-
, falo. The lion , the tiger , the hyena , leopard
and the bear are found in those Islands. In
variety , beautiful plumage and charming
singing the birds are said to bo superior to f
those of any other part of the world.
Crocodiles , boaconstrlctors and lizards
are found. There are many dangerous " ft
snakes , but In the densely populated dls- 1
trlcts there are very few , and the people
toll mo that there seldom Is anyone bitten
by them. They also tell
mo that the na
tives understand how to euro the worst of
the bites by using herbs.
The flowers of the island are very beau i
tiful and many years ago a priest collected
thousands of varieties , and I saw In a cm-
vent a copy of Bomo books giving n descrip
tion of each flower and a painting of the
flower , apparently In water colors , each- *
painting occupying a large space.
The marketplace of each town ls-fllU < f * '
with men , women and children with their '
baskets and fruits and other articles for
sale , Although bananas and cocoanuts
grow In our yards wo take care not to
molest anything , but purchase of the na-
( Contlnued on Eighth Pago. )
