Insulted General

Humble pie is not included in the rations of a general officer of the U. S. Army, active or retired. No exception is tight-lipped Charles Pelot ("Fight 'Em All") Summerall, veteran of many an Army campaign since 1892, who retired last year as Chief of Staff to become president of the Citadel, South Carolina's State military college at Charleston.

Last week General Summerall was called to Columbia to appear before the State Senate's Finance Committee which was preparing appropriations for the Citadel. Last Autumn the General had made known that his school was running a deficit. This, he had told the Ways & Means Committee good-naturedly, was an "embarrassing novelty" to him since "in the Army we had no such thing as a deficit." Up rose Senator Wiley Cicero Hamrick of Cherokee County last week to inquire:

"By what authority did you increase the deficit? What necessity is there for the State to make definite appropriations if departments and institutions may spend more than is appropriated?"

General Summerall rose, gathered his papers and announced that his resignation would be in the hands of his board of visitors within six hours. To no avail the Senator from Cherokee recanted. To no avail did excited Legislators follow the insulted General out of the building with mollifying words and gestures. "I understand the English language," said blunt General Summerall.

Back in Charleston that evening a mayor's committee humbly begged him to reconsider his decision. Day after he left to speak at the centennial celebration of Jacksonville, Fla., 64 mi. away from Lake City, where he was born 64 years ago.

In his absence the News & Courier of Charleston, last stand of chivalry, sympathetically editorialized: "It ought to serve as a lesson that there remain a few men who resent light bandying of words about their good faith."

General Summerall, his soldier's pride hurt to the quick, was adamant to all civilian pleas. Not until the Citadel cadet corps, as soldier to soldier, appealed to him did he relent and withdraw his resignation.

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