Chaplain Out

He said he felt quite well, thank you. The War Department was not so sure. It was said the War Department was anxious to be rid of him because he had agitated for higher rank for his comrades in arms and prayer (TIME. Oct. 17). Upon this the War Department did not comment but ordered him to Walter Reed Hospital for examination. He went unwillingly--and last week Col. John T. Axton, Chief of Army Chaplains, was retired as of next April. Secretary of War Davis wrote him a letter expressing regret that he had been found "physically incapacitated for active duty." To succeed Col. Axton, who is a 57-year-old Congregationalist, the Senate was asked to confirm Lieutenant Colonel Edmund P. Easterbrook, 62-year-old Methodist Episcopalian. Chagrined, Col. Axton announced that he would join the staff of Rutgers University (New Brunswick, N. J.). The chief of Chaplains will become College Chaplain.