OCR Text |
Show KISTIAN. Tiik Times hopes tho widow of General Gen-eral C'usler will succeed in petting congress con-gress to raise her pension from $"0 to $100 a month, and we doubt not that if the bill providing for such an increase in-crease is reached on tho calendar, this will be done without serious objection. Not only is Mrs. Custer the rclio of a pnllant officer who died in the service of his country, but she is a plucky woman herself aud accompanied her husband on many a thrilling and venturesome expedition. His serial eutitled ' Life on the I'lains," which appeared iu tho Galaxy during tho general's lifetime, bears many an earmark of Mrs. Custer's Cus-ter's literary inspiration, as also of her personal knowledge of the subject treated theroin. But in order that justice may be done to the memory of a dead hero and to the claims of his deserving widow, it is scarcely right for the house committee on invalid ponsions to run into swelling swell-ing bombast over him. Here is one ex-tractrom ex-tractrom the report: liySopry will m as the best cavalry lo,i.Jbii world If rer produced. AvAdon't cafv make comparisons between CustXj and Seydlitz, .Xoy, Blueeher or Early, but our own incomparable incom-parable Sheridan hiust not bo iguored when "the best cavalry leader the world has ever produced" is -spoken of. And here is another extract: While Ciinter was in chief commund he never made a mistake. VI n he met dla- ter it was alwt'jiidue to the blunders of his superior officers. of-ficers. The truth is he never was in chief command at any time in his career. During the war ho achieved splendid renown by the side of Sheridan as a daring and dauntless tighter, and since then the highest rank he hold was that of lieutenant-culouel iu the regular army, and while he practically commanded com-manded Sturgis' Seventh regiment of cavalry, it was always under orders from the department general. If, moreover, more-over, the report means to insinuate that the massacre on the Little Big Horn was due to General Terry, his superior su-perior oflicer, it is simply a base libel upon a peerless soldier and upon the truth. There is no need of the committee com-mittee on invalid pensions proToking a controversy which must bring into fresh prominence tho fact of Custer'g reckless disobedience of superior orders ord-ers iu leading that fatal charge against Sitting Bull. Anyway, what is tho use of indulging in fustian when the modest truth is glorious enough. |