SIDE LIGHTS ON MEN AND THINGS
By Edgar
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AT THE HEAD OF THE NEWLY CREATED AND BIGGEST DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
FROM a cadet at West Point to a major general of the staff in thirty-two years is "going some." But that is what Major General James B. Aleshire has achieved since his graduation from the Military Academy in x880. And General Aleshire is now at the head of the newly-created and biggest department of the Army. to be known as "The Quartermaster Corps." comprising the Quartermasters. the Subsistence and Pay Departments. and he will have associated with him as his assistants Brig. Gen. Henry G. Sharpe. now Commissary General. and Brig. Gen. Geo. R. Smith. now Paymaster General. This biggest department of the Army will disburse in 1914 eighty-five of the ninety—five millions appropriated for the maintenance of the Army. which is also "going some."
What a class that Class of '80 was. to be sure! From the time it entered the Army's alma mater in April. 1876. to the day of graduation, the Class of '80 made history for the institution and for itself.
It was "Hip! hip! hurrah, boys!" from reveille to taps. and the scraps and the hazings. the courts of inquiry. the demerits and the dismissals crowded fast on each other until rumor said that the Class of '80 would not be permitted to graduate.
But the Class of '80 did graduate and today it stands in the forefront of the classes in personnel and accepted ability. In addition to General Aleshire. Col. George W. Goethals. the builder of the Panama Canal. graduated second in the Class of '80. Others in this notable company are Brig. Gen. H. G. Sharpe. Col. Samuel W. Dunning of the Adjutant General's Department. Col. John L. Chamberlain of the Inspector General's Department. Capt. George Converse. retired. who lost an eye in his first Indian engagement; Charles E. Hewett. who resigned on graduation; Col. J. Y. F. Blake. who died a few years ago and one of the adventurous characters of the class. and two score or more splendid soldiers who have been bringing distinction to the institution on the banks of the Hudson. and incidentally to the uniforms they wear.
Major General James B. Aleshire was appointed to the Military Academy by Col. John L. Vance. then a representative in Congress from the Seventeenth Congressional District of Ohio. now president of the Ohio Valley Improvement Association and one of the directors of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress. General Aleshire was born in Gallipolis. Ohio, his father being interested in flouring mills. and it was in connection with his father's vocation that Aleshire learned the rudiments of business which have since proved of incalculable benefit to him.
Major General C. F. Humphrey, his immediate predecessor in the Quartermaster's Department, in asking for officers to assist him in the conduct of the Quartermaster's Department in China during the Boxer troubles. cabled to the War Department: "Want Aleshire and men like him." and Aleshire has made good in every branch of the Army since his salad days as a second lieutenant.
