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Show I' i GOKE10R-GEERAL MERE1TT ' Military Ruler of the Philippines a Typo of tiic Best Americanism-He Was at 1 One Time a Farm Hand, i General Merrltt, who goes lo the Philippine at military governor of fl i that Itltnd empire of tin Pacific, li the H second In command of our national it- H my. II won fame anil honor M Slier- H ldan'a clilrf officer In I he grant battle H of the war lie wat an unrelenting j 'warrior, onr MtcbtliiK nine battle In ten lueccaelve dajra III military ca-H ca-H reer la mora or lee on record, tut of Ma private Ufa little ha been ilren to H j the public. I Oen Wetley Merrill' father, John I Willi .Merrltt, wat a New York lawyer, having an offlce at No. 134 Nassau H atreet when the boy waa born. Per 1, 1M, at No T North Moore atreet lie H waa one of eight brother Tenty M month later the law office waa at No B I Spruce atreet, the family baTlnjc re-M re-M moved to Ilrooklyn B When Waaler waa four rear old hit B father having; a large and Increatlng H family, abandoned law for agriculture H and bought a farm at "looking (IIm 1 Prairie," near Iielldlle. Ill, not far H from Ht IajuU Young Merrltt attend- H ed the aehool of the Chrlatlan Ilrothera. B Catholic Institution, al llellevllle. t-a- H ter he worked on the farm for three H yeare, helping hla brother raise rorn H and pork, for which that Mctlim baa H atwaye been famoua. H Merrill larmrr, H Young Merrltt often drove tbe farm H team seventeen mile to town, getting H only fifteen tenia a buahel for hla corn. M Kvtrythlng that a farmer produced In M thoie daya waa cheap aa illrl. and there Hj waa little money In circulation. Paste- M board checka circulated between nier- fl chant and farmera In eoine localities, H and their merchandise teemed high be- M cauie It took ao much rorn and pork to B par for It. Ilelng a lawyer and a man 1 of a literary turn of mind, the boy' H father aaplred lo do aotnethlng bealdea H tatting corn. He started a local even- H Ing newapaper at llellevllle, called the 1 Advocate, and later a weekly of the H tame name at lbnnon Doth were H Democratic organa, and, like inott of H the Democratic Journal of that day, B were for territorial eitenalon, the an- B neiatlon of Teiaa. and tbe acttlcment H of the vexed and formidable "Oregon H question" by taking posseitlnn of the H country clear to the Pacific ocean H Young Merrltt helped hla father and H brother publlth Ihl Democratic newt- H paper. He maaltrcd the bualnea of H running a country newspaper taking H hi turn In looking after petty delalla, HH besides learning to tot type and becoui- BH Ing an etpert printer while but a boy. BBBB At th age of alxttrn he went to read BBBB law In the orSce of Judge llaynle In Ba- SHJ! leoi. He waa niaklug rapid progrcaa aVBBR when (lov. Illtaell, then a member of 1SHR consri, secured him a cadet.hlp fur IMHQi Weat Point. IjHfB Omj. Merrltt baa no family. Hla ruvl favorite nephew, Katun Merrltt, he la 9KS educating at a Connecticut aehool, with HyB a view of lending him to Weal Point BHSk Otn. Merrltt waa married In 1871, In PHtfT Europe, to Mlaa Carolina Warren, of Hijj Cincinnati. She dltd li 1893. at St HRj Paul, and waa burled at West Point, IBBa where tbe general waa auperlntcndent S9QK for five year a. OqBb The Merrltta originally aprang from HBmx) three brothera, who came to America lflH from Ireland In 1M0, their descendant KBk aettllng In Wlncheiter end from that M family. It 1 ald. all Ui Merrltt bom 4?IHI la thla country bavo deecaiided IpLMpU Of flentral Merrltt' military blatory Hma much baa been written A mere rec- 9SBB .d If hi btttlae engagement ami IH; campaigns would fill column Ho bad flj rt-sny narrow er' tram death a V9SV' notable one at tin la'tle of neverly BBBBS JTord In ISM, wtjea he w attacked by LVCWBBBB' a Confederate officer and a desperate hand In band eonteat followed. He wn Mbrred over the head, and would have been killed but for the toft felt hit which he wore, containing a big army ar-my pocket handkerchief. In thl engagement en-gagement he wa urroandtd end hi troop nearly captured lie fought with a courage "d deeper lion that won a arret victory The newapaper of the day were filled with hla eiploltl In that tartlcu'ar (ngaieaient, and on the earneat recommendation of Hen-ml Hen-ml lluford he waa made a brigadier-general. brigadier-general. the MM. ft IM I If Perbap the grraint rid of hi life waa hla famou ilaah through the ) Y MIHH t.UUA WH.UAMd. (The Chicago (llrl Bonn to llecome the llrlde of den. Merrltt ) llochy mountain, when be rode night and day lo the retcue of Major Thorn-burgh' Thorn-burgh' command, hemmed In by the Ule Indian at the time of the White Itlvcr mattacrn. The oldlera were aurrounded and being alnwly ahot and atarved to dtath. A alnglo man managed man-aged to crawl out one night and ecap, and after Incredible anlferlng reached Ilawllng Rlatlnn on the Union Pacific railroad, nearly 300 mile to the north. A "hurry" Uleararu waa cnt to (len-eral (len-eral Merrltt, then colonel of the Fifth cavalry at Port D. A. Iluwcll, near Cheyenne After reaching lUwllnga or the nearest railroad point to the Whlto Itlter Indian agency, (leneral Merrltt had to rldo four daya and ntgula continuously with a light aup-ply aup-ply of food and ammunition Thorn-burgh Thorn-burgh wat dead and hla men were an the paint Lt starvation, wounded and barely able to cling to their guna behind be-hind their Intrenchmenta. Merrltt arrived ar-rived at the break of day. advanced lth yella and sou tiered the Indiana, who were nltlng like coyotea for the aoldlera to die or surrender (leneral Merrltt' wild rid through the Ilocky mountain will long challenge the reo-ord reo-ord It I contldered remarkable that he did not kill a horee or a man during dur-ing hi mountain march. With Cutter. Mcpherson and Sherl-dm, Sherl-dm, Merrltt waa called one of the boy generals of the war Oraduatlng from Wett Point but a tew month before the civil war broke out he Jollied the Second dragoons and lontlnuoualy dls-l dls-l ngulsbed niimclf in ihi ravalry rv-I rv-I call throurh ih. i II wm Sherl-dan Sherl-dan right ha-d an In the tat campaign of the Shenandoah leading up to the battle of Five Pork and th mrraundlng and crushing of Lee, Merrltt'a l brevet from major to major general for hi heroic and Irre-sldlble Irre-sldlble fighting at Oettyiburg, Yellow Tavern. Ilawea Shop, Winchester, riher' Hill, Flro Pork and the Ap. pomattoz campalxn are among hi undying un-dying achievement In the great war. HI title of colonel In tbe regular army, tbe Fifth cavalry, waa bestowed on him In UTS Uter, when he wat ' given command of the much aougbt de. i partment of the Missouri, with headquarter head-quarter at Port I.edTcnworth, and nibsequently at 81. Ixmla, many so-called so-called expert In military mattera thought It hardly fair to heitow so great an honor to ahower the golden start of war on tbe youngest brigadier brig-adier general Immediately following hla promotion (leneral MeiTllt'a military carer In closely contested engagement, In great nd hatardotis campaigns, waa alway that of a aoldler and n hero. He was graduated from West Point July 1, IMO Juat before the rebellion', and reached a captaincy In the Second cavalry cav-alry April 8 Hit. and waa brigadier of volunteer June It. IMS 1 Molllrr and Hem. In the army of the Potomac, on the Maff of General Cooke, nnd later with (leneral glonemin, In hi famoua raid toward Illcbmond. lie won renown In command of cavalry he croned the Itapoahannoek and turprlsed the enemy, ene-my, but for hour wat nearly aurrounded aurround-ed and once on the olnt of being captured cap-tured A confederate officer gave him a anrnge mlir cut on the head, but he continued fighting gallantly, leading hi men nnd tinning an untaxing victory vic-tory It wot for this bravery that (leneral lluford complimented him, fol lowing It by recommending hla promo, tlon lAter General Merrltt auccced-ed auccced-ed Ueneral lluford In command of cavalry, cav-alry, operating In central Virginia. Ht waa In the lllrhmond campaign In 1801, fighting Kith Fherldan at the head with hi column In hi hU'orle raid through the valley, alwaya doting In on the ormle of the dying; confederacy Hla division (the Plrat), composed of seventeen regiments of rivalry, embracing em-bracing (leneral Custer' command, won him honor for tbe masterly celerity celer-ity In which he drove Karly and his troop through Winchester. Mere HrlllUnt Athletenienli. Mertllt'a neat brIIIUnt achievement sat at Cedarvllle on the Shenandoah Thla waa followed by hla glorloua victory vic-tory nt the battle of Cedar Creek, where, without Infantry support, he made Inrewaant cavalry charge tre-mrndoua. tre-mrndoua. overwhelming. The enemy could not survive hi nteault of tornado tor-nado Impetuosity. With Sheridan Merrltt dlaplayed a dlttlngtilthcd part In forcing the surrender of lee. On that memorable orcnalon, o graphically graphic-ally described by (lrant nnd Hhcrldan, (leneral Merrltt waa appointed one of H nOVKItNOtt-nUNHIlAt. MnitltlTT. the three commissioner lo carry out the terms of the treaty And now In a new and globe encircling war this brave, Mgacloua aud competent nun of th people, who In hi turn was farm er'a boy, typeaetter, publisher, editor, lawyer, cadet, soldier and then n. victorious vic-torious and alwaya conquering officer In the great armies of th war, I again wanted at tho front. Those who know him bett agree that he has a Judicial temperament and la eminently flttid for action in civil or military affaire requiring lsdora and Justice. II will be beard from again, |