San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-07-21
IsETROSPECTlON
OF the Militia Encampment by the
Lights Man.

Lights Man.
The encampment has closed Its
work. AS to the success of the under
taking there are different opinions.
Some may say il was q success. The
msjority will say, without hesitation,
that 1t was q failure. 1t is COM
psrstively speaking, In its Infancy,
but from the experience attained in
the last two, it might have been
better. AS tar as the drilling and in.
struclions in the battalion drill
were concerned 1t was high
ly successful judging from the
work performed by the second
regiment. If the colonies of the other
regiments were as competent and as
popular rs sCol. Smythe, the state
guard would be In much better con-
dItion. General Roberts makes q
good commander. He knows his
business al d among both the officers
and men he is very popular.
The bathing facilities were, as
stated in letters from Austin, pub
listed in the LIGHT, simply
horrible. TITS o wonder that there
wasn't great deal of sickness caused
| by the "cess pool" that was there to
| be used to battle In. The thing was no
more than fifty feet wide, one hundred
| long and waist deep to q very
! smallsnow. 1t was standing water
| and horses were led In it to drink,
| ct rect tramps were flowed to battle
| in it and for $500 men to use 1t for
| bath tub and not get sick IL is q Won
der The men had to use that or pay
| q quarrer for barbershop bath, pay.
ing 25 cents to 60 to town and reGurn
| on the train. 1t was . very easy
matter 10 leave camp and return with
out pass Or co9ntersign. The barb
wire fence was ungarded from the
| gate for at lesst haif mile.
! From the beer aud lemonade stands
there is no complaint to come, for
they simply coined money. Lone Star
beer sold readily by the glass.
The social features were most
gloriously successful. To the citizens
of Austin and to the ladies, especial
~, the militia boys can not sing too
pud their praises. Every night there
WAS an entertainment given to one or
the other of the companies, and the
1 two big general entertainments were
the most brilliant ever given in Aus
tin. The big ball Monday night
was more than q success. Moth
ing could have been more brilliant.
Nearly all the fairest women In
Texas were there. Every city in the
state WAS represented. 1t was the
grsndest thing of the week and was
participated In by more than one
thousand people. That is what the
boys wanted, though they wanted
some amusement at camp. 1t cost
money to go to town and to dress for
those occasions. The boys couldn't
'.cut up" and have fun in their own
way without some officer coming
around and warning them that it
would take off of their Chicago score.
There was no dance hall, no music, as
there ought to have been. There
were On nslf dozen bands there and
there could have been promanade
concerts, which would have been
highly enjoyed by the boys. There we're
no electric lights and the water was
hard to swallow.
| The United States troops were treat
ed very nard. They were placed in
1 the worst part of the ground, with no
access for ladies. The officers W ere
not heard to say anything about their
\ discomfOrts, but the men were loud In
their grumblings, and said they con-
| sidered IL an insult to their officers
and themselves.
Tha last night at the camp was
marked by q sad accident. One of the
Seeiy, who was walking post at the
mess sheds, was shot in the leg by
some unknown person who was heard
to say that he was out that night to
shoot sentinels. He was not seriously
hurt, though.
1t has not been decided what com.
pany secured the pr ize tor the best
camp inspection, but it lies between
the Fort Worth Fencibles and the
Stanley Rangers, OF Denison, who got
q perfect score.
Miss Persons, sponsor for. the Stan
ley Rangers, was voted as most popu-
lar.
Corporal A. 8. aardwicke, of the
Abilene Light Infantry, won the
| Bruce medal for the best drilled man.
The officers who will take the regi.
ment to Chicago are Col. Smythe, Of
the second: 1t. Col. Stryon, of the
sixth; Major Rodney Cory, of the
first, and Major w. A. Taylor, of the
fourth; Sergeant Major Charles Mel,
of the second. The companies have
not all been named but of the second
the A. Faulkner Guard, Taylor Rifles,
Governors Guard and the BRENNAN
Light Guard were selected. The
state will not pay the expenses of the
Houston Light Guard, Sealey Rifles
or Belknap Rifles to Chicago. They
withdrew from the contest.
The LIGHT man, while at Aus
tin, received many courtesies
from Mr.. Walker, the genial and
popular night clerk of the Driskill,
which he wishes to acknowledge
with thanks. The song sung by the
boys who went to Austin is this:
81 attended the encampment,