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Show "MILITIA CHIEF DIES; iLL 0ilH5 HOURS Major General A. L. Mills Succumbs to an Attack of .Pneumonia. WASHINGTON, Sept. IS. Major General Albert L. Mills, chief of the bureau of militia affairs, holder of the army medal of honor for bravery under fire, builder of the new West Point, and former president of the army war college, col-lege, died here today, after fifteen hours ' illness from pneumonia. Apparently he was in the best of health when he left his desk at the war department late .Saturday afternoon, and so sudden was his death that many of his fellow officers refused to believe first reports that he was dead. No funeral arrangements had been made tonigh t. General Mills was a native of New York, and was appointed to the military mili-tary academy from that state in 1874. He served with distinction through the Spanish war and the Philippine insurrection, insur-rection, and in 19U4 was promoted .by President tioosevelt from the rank of captain to brigadier general, lie contended con-tended vigorously for increasing the efficiency of the national guard, and dealt unsparingly with alleged faults of the system whenever he appeared before be-fore congress. General Mills leaves, besides his wife, a son. Lieutenant Chester P. Mills of the Ninth cavalry, and a daughter, Mrs. Emil H. Laurson, wife of Lieutenant Laurson, Eleventh "United States cavalry. cav-alry. A statement issued tonight by Secretary Secre-tary Baker, expressing the sentiment of the war department, follows: "I have a deep sense of personal loss in the death of General Albert L. Mills. From the time of my coming to Washington Wash-ington he has been more than zealous in his self-sacrificing devotion to the affairs of tho militia bureau, of which he wras the head, and his patience, wisdom wis-dom and kindness have greatly simplified simpli-fied both my task in becoming familiar with the war department and the difficult diffi-cult undertaking which fell to the department de-partment upon the call of the militia to the Texas border. "Plainly the devotion of General Mills to his work took strength, with which otherwise he might have been able to resist the sudden illness. Eew officers in the service have had a more distinguished or varied career. "In active military operations he was several times wounded, but recovered re-covered his health and .became the. builder of the new West Point, which is undoubtedly the most monumental school in the "world. His last years have been spent in reorganizing the militia and bringing about a higher degree de-gree of sympathy and co-operation between be-tween it and the regular army. His death marks the passing of a brave soldier, a cultured educator, a fine administrative ad-ministrative officer and an upright gentleman. gen-tleman. ' ' |