The morning call., 1891-01-16
STATE SOLDIERY.
Acknowledgement Orton's Bien.
NAL Report on the Same.
Numerous Changes Which Have Taken Place
Uniforms and Arms Provided-Decor-
atoms and Regulars in Camp

The report of Brgadler-General R. H.
| Orton as Adjutant-General of the State of
California has been issued and those in
terested in the affairs of the citizen soldery
VIII md 1t faithful resume of affairs clos
ing four years administration which has
given general satisfaction, because in charge
OF affairs was man whom the National
Guard had confidence in, and who himself
pest knew Its wants and defects from a per-
sonal and Intimate acquaintance extending
over long period
| The Guard as now organized consists of
40 companies of infantry and IL of artillery,
armed, equipped and drilled as infantry.
ll@nt batteries of artillery, l company of
cavalry and l cadet company, making 60
| luil companies and cadet company, form
ing regiments. battalions and / unat-
tached company. Previous to the Legisla-
ture of 1SSSS9 thereI were 90 full and cadet
I companies.
That Legislature, however. authorized the
formation of ten additional companies aud
also amended the section relating TO cadet
! organizations, that all the members thereof
| De pupils in some public school within the
limits OF the respective commands. This
amendment also forbid the publishing of
attendance of such cadet companies in the
| monthly orders giving the record eff attend
ance OF the companies, and the reason for
this was that the large attendance of such
cadets Gin measure compulsory, because of
| their attendance during the week at school
caused the percentage of the regiments to
which they were attached to appear proper
tIonally larger than that of organizations
without such cadet corps, thus also gaining
| q al
| entitled to-
Under the amended law companies were
| ORGANIZED as follows: AT San Diego Sep
| TENDER I, 1889, San Diego Rifles, now Com
pany A, Ninth Regiment of Infantry; Ven
tura, December 10, 1885, what is now Com
pany ID, Seventh Infantry; MarySvilie, Red
| Bun and Redding, December 10, 1889, what
are now Companies q, ID and Z, Eighth
Battalion OF Infantry; Arcata, December
-, 1859, what is now Company Il, Tenth
Battalion of Infantry; Riverside, January
! s. 1870, what Is now Company q, Ninth In
| iantry Santa Ana. January g. $780, what is
now Company +, Ninth Infantry; San Fran
| cisco, what is now Company ii, Third 1n-
lantry, and previously so-called cadet
company of the regiment
FURTHER CHANGES MADE.
Changes were made also in regimental
organizations a new regiment was organ
lzed in the First Brigade, designated the
Ninth. Company b OF the Seventh, at San
DAV5Oi II, dG UIiUit, anu Il VI Odu DEL
nardino, were detached aud became compa-
nies b, ID and E Of the Ninth, to which were
attached the companies organized at San
Diego, Riverside and Santa Ana. Those
organized at Pasadena and Ventura were
attached to the Seventh. The Ninth was
| organized on February s, 1890.
HE Eighth Battalion, in the Fifth Brig
| ade, was formed of the two companies at
Chico and Cousa, with the companies at
Marysville, Red Bluff and Redding, and
| tile Tenth in fhp Sixth RriCadp al the new
company at Arcata attached to tile one at
Eureka, which Tor many years was the only
one III that far northern brigade. The
| Eighth was organized on the 10th of March,
| 1880, and the Tenth on the 18th Of May OF
| the same year,
In this manner every company in the
State, except the cavalry troop in this city,
was brought into IL reglmental or battalion
Organization, the division organized on
more systematic basis and the companies
| distributed more evenly than ever before
| and in accordance with military require
ments. The Adjutant-General has only one
| change to SUGGESTIVE organization OF d
company at OToville, to he attached to the
| Eighth Battalion, raising 1t to a minimum
| regiment OF six companies An application
| from the residents of that town to form a
company is-on file in the Adjutant-Geaeraps
! office. Ex-Governor Waterman in his mes
| sage to the Legislature recommended the
( organization of ten more companies.
the amendment regarding cadet compa-
MES necessitated the muster out of the COM
| panies attached to the First and Second
| Artillery and Third Regiment of Infantry
| which took effect ON March 81. 1889, leaving
| in the service that attached to the First In-
| fantry, which, being composed of pupils of
| the High School, was the only one therefore
| that conformed to the requirements of the
| law.
| Then regimental signal corps were abol-
ished and the formation of brigade signal
| corps authorized. Of which there are four:
I mn nltarr a No.
| Second, 40, April 80, 1889; Third, 10, June
| is, 1889, and Fourth, 10. July II, 1889.
The counties of Monterey ami San Benito
! were transferred from the First TO the
Second, and Yuba and Sierra from the
! Fourth to the Fifth Brigade, because they
| properly belonged to the brigades to which
| they are now attached, bringing them
nearer to brigade headquarters, and be-
! cause ii was desired that the new companies
should be attached to organizations within
| those brigades.
The report gives in full the Congressional
measure known as the Henderson bill. TO
promote the efficiency of the militia" and
which, 1t Is said will probably be reached
ana passed during the coming session." 1t
is therefore suggested that the California
Code be amended to conform to the pro-
posed changes in the Federal laws-in tact
many Of the sections needing amendment
because they are full of obsolete provisions.
NEW UNIFORMS PROVIDED.
INC Uhllorm Doaru mas continued It's
work, until now the entire guard is pro-
vlded with new uniforms. Each company is
allowed by law $50 per annum 10 purchase
uniforms and to repair the same, but for
many years that section has been dead
letter, for the reason that no appropriation
has been made to carry out its provisions
The companies should receive this money!
The amount is small, but sufficient with tile
| amount of clothing on hand to keep them
IN pretty good condition for the next two
nnfC al
| $4,000 should be appropriated to provide
| this necessary article of clothing
| During the period covered by the report
| the State has drawn for two fiscal years its
| allowance from the Federal Government
| that for one year taken in rifles and that for
| the other III equipments. All the companies
| thus have eighteen new rifles and most of
| them forty-two old ones, some of the very
| largest companies having 8few more old
ones The old rifles were issued in 1873 and
| perhaps per cent are unserviceable,"
| though many of them can be rendered ser
| vice ableby the insertion of new parts, a
| supply OF which will be drawn on the allow
| ance for the current fiscal year, reducing the
unseryiceables to perhaps 8 per cent. After
| this year the whole allowance can be taken
| in rifles, say ten to each company per year.
| so that in four years more the old ones can
| be almost entirely replaced. This can be
! done under the present allowance; under
| the henderson bill in half the time. Equip
ments for the new companies are on tue
| road.
| Adjutant- General Orion recommends that
the former system of target practice be re-
| established, claiming that nothing has been
| gained by the change requiring the troops
| 10 practice two days instead of one. Says
lie: "The object of the annual target prac-
,ice is not to learn to shoot. but to make a
record so that a comparison can be had
with that of previous years, and thus ascer-
tain the amount of progress made in that
| important part of the soldiers instruction.
| Such being the case, one days practice is as
| good or better than two. The latter system
leads to innumerable complications, makes
| twice the work, and no advantage is
| gained" The Importance of the prelim-
mary instruction to be gained from the sys-
tenn of theoretical instruction and practice
| given in the new regulations lis not realized
by the greater part of our military COM
| manders."
i Ii IL