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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1903)
How Captain Pershing Won Distinction OHN J. PERSUING, captain of a troop In the Fifteenth cavalry, hat gained more than an or dlnary soldler'e fame by his op eratlons In the Island of Min danao. He haa been in command of a de partment of that Island for several months and haa done much to bring about a better understanding between the Morot and tba United States during hla term ns com-. Diior. Captain Pershing has led hla mea . tn several abarp battle agalnat tba nolo men, but haa done more by diplomacy and real statesmanship than by force of. arms. By his own methods be secured the sub tnlailon of a most powerful religious leader who was apparently Implacably hostile, " and this without firing a shot. By a bold dash he captured a fort the Moros had looked upon as being Impregnable, and this with the loss of but three men. He haa constructed roads through all but lmpene-' trable jungles, and has brought the re tnotcat Interior of the Island Into close communication with the coast In every regard bis campaign waa a success, and Its effects are referred to almost every day in the news reports from the Philippines. Captain Pershing has been named as a member of the general staff of tee army, . and wHl soon return mh JS rhtllpplnes and take up his duties In Washington. - As one of his rewards for his services in Mln- . danao, and as showing the power he baa gained over the natives toy his methods, the following account of how he was made a datto with the full Mohammedan cere mony, is Interesting. - It is taken from the Manila Times of February 18, 1903: 1 "Captain Pershing, commander of the American forces at Lake Lanao, has been consecrated a datto by the law and rites of the koran. This remarkable ceremony took place at Bayan after the diplomacy of Captain Pershing had won the submis sion' of that place. Pershing's consecra tion as a datto gives him a distinction never before enjoyed by an American and ahould add to his already great power among the Mora people. t . "Many dattoa from other tribes were la attendance at the consecration and as sisted In the ceremony. The compact of friendship was made over the koran, Persh ing being first consecrated as a Moro datto. The other dattos wore the full regalia of their office as chieftains of tribes and the strange ceremony was conducted with all the splendrous rites of the Mohammedans, made even more picturesque in the midst of the seml-clvlllsed tribes of Bayan. MA dispatch received by the Times from Its correspondent at Lake Lanao gives many more details of Pershing's visit to Bayan. It seems that Pershing was plan ning to force his way Into the Bayan fort, which is located on n almost Inaccessible alope near the lake. For diplomatic rea sons he permitted news of bis plan to get abroad and Pandlta SJIduclmen, high priest of Bayan, came to Camp Vicars with an offer of peace if the expedition would be abandoned. He told Pershing that the Americana could have the friendship and support of the people of Bayan, but that they must not come to the town. Pershing refused such terms and finally waa invited Agriculture at HEN it waa decided to hold aa ex W position at St. Louis to com memorate the one hundred h an- I j - J nlversary of the acquisition of 11 the territories Included in the Louisiana purchase it waa immediately agreed that . the event called fur the largest ' and best agricultural exhibit over made. That wonderf u ly . fertile tract of land known crlg'nally as the Louisiana purchase has now been cut up into thirteen states, equalling In umber and area the original United States. 'While the exposition must be at leaat on a par In every department with any ever held, those departments within which fall the exhibition of the present resources snd forms of wealth of the second thirteen states must be emphasised In a marked de cree. The first requisite for such an exhibit of agriculture as this especially propitious oc casion demands, is space. This has been irrtrlXtX. SKETCH OF THE i r - 1 " " ' : ' : , ' ' ' . ' ' IT -: . ' ...... ', ' v.. .v, ; . ' : " " ' ' -'-..:-' ' ,1, - ..Hi..-... i i. I !' n ! in if nr! CAPTAIN JOHN J. PERSHING. FIFTEENTH CAVALRY, V. 8. A., WHO HAS DISTINGUISHED HIMSELi1J THE PHILIPPINE SERVICE. , -v ' to come to Bayan. His expedition met the Bayan chiefs at the boundary of the Bayan country on the crest of a steep hill, and was escorted In to the rancheria, where all of the people were assembled. The Times correspondent describes the country as wonderfully Interesting and says the fort is by far the strongest In the Lanao coun try. The fort is skillfully concealed and would have proven hard .to take. It waa the first time the Americans had ever en tered a Moro fortress without a fight. "The American flag was hoisted over the fort and saluted in an impressive manner. Pershing had no saluting ammunition, but loaded his cannon with live shrapnel and, warning the Moros to keep out of range of the pieces, fired a salute that was genuine. The correspondent says that the salute of shrapnel had a wonderful effect on the Mores. When the flag went to the staff St. Louis World's Fair provided In the most liberal quantity. Com parisons can never be other than odloua, and yet by no other method can we reach an intelligent idea of the advance that has been made since was held the last some what similar exposition. Briefly, the first Boor area provided at St. Louis will be greater than that avail able in the agriculture building in Chicago as eighty to fifty-five. It will be 10 per cent greater than the agriculture and dairy building at Chicago combined. Tho manner of showing the products of the soil has changed very greatly since the earlier expoaltion. In fact, crops were very little conaldered in making up the classification of the first expositions. At the first world's fair, held In London, 1851, there were forty classes, of which four were Intended to cover what are today known as the departments of agriculture and horticulture. In tie St. Louis Blasalflratloa thaaa de AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS AT THE on the fort the Infantry and cavalry pre sented arms." The difficult nature of Captain Pershing's duties In the island of Mindanao and' the ' importance of his achievements there are not appreciated at their full value in the United States because of tho failure to ex-, actly understand the situation. Some llttlo light Is thrown on the delicate and arduous task eet for him and which he has happily accomplished by a letter from Major Gen eral George W. Davis to the adjutant gen eral of the army. Writing from Manila under date of February 19 of the current year, General Davis says: "The situation in one respect has' been anomalous the assignment of a captain to so large and Important a command as that of Vicars but It was, io my opinion, abso lutely Indispensable that the men to com mand on the spot should possess certain qualities not easy to find combined in one partments cover thirty-three groups out of 144. These groups are' again subdivided into 141 classes. The two departments, ag riculture and horticulture, are thus given about twice the proportionate amount of -importance they occupied in 1851, Judged by the headings given them in the classi fication This briefly, but probably fairly, illustrates the growth of the different parts of an exposition. ' There is a good deal of similarity be tween the growth of agriculture as a science, when compared with other indus tries, and the growth of the United States as a world power, since the purchase of the large farm now known as the Louisiana Purchase territory. . That the "second thirteen" states have become a power In the world, agriculturally speaVing, will go without saying, but .that -the value of the cereala, live stock and greases they produce Is more than comes from almost any of the great couatrlea of LOCISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION AT man; capacity for command, physical anal mental vigor, infinite patience In dealing with these fanatical semi-savages, wis discretion, a serious desire to accomplish the work set for htm and knowledge of the Moro character. "It was easy to find field officers pos sessing some of the characteristics and qualifications above mentioned, but there was no available officer of rank known to me in tie Seventh separate brigade whoa endowments embraced all the requisites. "Captain Pershing was the senior In hla grade In the Fifteenth cavalry. He bad made two visits to the lake from hla sta tion at Iligan and had shown great tact and good Judgment in dealing with tho Malanaos. I ordered him to report to mo at Vicars and when General Baldwin left' and as senior captain present he succeeded to command and has been continued In It since by General Sumner." General Davis, in his letter, relates tho receipt of the news of the old Pandlta at Bayan, and says he . considers bis submis sion,, which was, brought about by Captain PerBhlng's policy, as . very Important. . Ho also tells of . the value of the road con structed under orders of Captain Pershing, and goes on: "I feel much gratified at the fruits borne by this policy, and now that this influen tial priest, a .religious leader for Malanao, has made and received a visit and . pro fessed friendship, our task is simplified, and 'continuation of the policy should pre sent only easy obstacles to be surmounted." Captain John J. Pershing after gradua tion at West Point in 18SS served as sec ond lieutenant In the Sixih cavalry and first lieutenant in the Tenth cavalry, taking part In the campaign against the Apachea and Navajos in Arizona end New Mexico from 188S to 1889 with General Chaffee and under Miles in the campaign against tho - Sioux in 1890. After the captain had entered the mil itary academy his parents removed from Missouri, his native slate, to Lincoln, Neb., and when it was possible for him to secure the detail as professor of military science at the State University of Nebraska, which was tendered to him in September, 1891, he accepted and tor four years held the position. - When he came to the university the department of military science was not considered one of the, most popular In tho institution, but he began to. interest the students in the matter and soon had them devoting much time and interest to tho study, which became one of the most prom inent at the university. While he was holding this position he studied law and before his term pf service ended at Lincoln in 1895 he had been admitted to the bar of Nebraska, being one of a very few officers in the regular army to have that distinc tion. The captain was popular with the mem bers of the faculty and with the students, and when his successor, the late Colonel Stotscnburg, came to the university he found that the department of military science was one of the principal features of the school. While et Lincoln Captain Pershing was a frequent visitor to Omaha and formed an acquaintance which his con tinued to the present time. Written for The Illustrated Bee by Frederic W. Taylor, Chief of Bureau the world may not be fully realised. To show this will be only one of the hundred equally important things '-.nlch it will bo attempted to portray full and graphically. That these things should be strikingly Il lustrated may be admitted, but whether a scientific arrangement should be. strictly adhered to at the same time is sometimes doubted. I do not share that doubt, bnt believe fully that the beat result in tho spread of education will follow the most careful and accurate classification which should be most conscientiously followed. ' One phase of the work undertaken by tho department of agriculture is, so far , as known, new and unlque.: This will con sist of a 'number of composite or museum exhibits of each of several agricultural subjects, which may include the following: Corn, cotton, tobacco, sugar beets and per haps one or two other crops. The treat iOoaUaued Fifteenth Pace.) ST. LOUIS.
