PRAISES AMERICAN SOLDIER.
General Morton Tells of Valor at
Army Officers' Banquet.
What is said to have been the largest gathering of army officers, graduates of West Point, away from the academy itself, was held at the Hotel Baltimore last night when nearly 100 officers assembled in the ball room at the first of a series of annual banquets to be given in Kansas City. Brigadier General Charles A. Morton of Omaha, commander of the department of the Missouri, was the presiding officer.
General Morton, in response to the toast, "The Army," said that the valor of the American army on the field of battle had never been questioned and that its efficiency and strength has only been made possible by its superiority. The general spoke of the condition of the army today and declared that its increase had never been in proportion to the increase of the population of the country.
Following General Morton, Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., welcomed the officers and their guests to Kansas City. The mayor extended to them the usual courtesies and promised immunity from arrest while within the corporate limits of the city.
The following toasts were responded to: "The Navy," Lieutenant R. S. Landis, U. S. N., and "Military Education by Captain H. A. White of the military school at Fort Leavenworth. "Our Dead" was a silent toast.
Brigadier General Frederick Funston, who was to have responded to the toast "West Point," was obliged to leave the banquet room early and was not heard. General Funston was the guest of honor. Other guests were: General Rambold, Colonel Loughborough and Colonel Lechtman.
