Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-02-13

on THE New National Guard, printed In the
February Century, saws: within the last few
years q new branch Of the militia has been
founded in the seabo ard states, under the title
Of naval reserve A. present there Is we'll
organized battalion Of this character IN Massa-
chusetts and another in New York, each about
three hundred strong and divided into four
divisions. Poth are commanded and officered
by sx-offcers Of the navy and graduates of the
Naval Academy. They are instructed during
the winter a. armorics in the drill of the bat
TALON IS landing party, with muskets and
boat howitzers, and also on board training
ships in the of large guns. During
the last summer each battalion hired steamer,
on which the regular routine OF a man-o war
was rigidly enforced The government placed
It's finest squadron Of new cruisers with modern
guns ct their disposal for instruction. Tho
naval reserve steamer for the Massachusetts
battalion was attached to the squadron in Bos-
ton ksrbor and in Long Island sound for the
New York battalion weeks hard work was
performed with a surprising amount of enthu-
siasm- The men were instructed in the use Of
great guns and acquitted themselves at target
practice with credit not inferior to that of the
regular crews Of the squadron. They were also
constantly exercised in boat drill and In a sue
eess.ul landing party.
'.In view OF the difficulty of obtaining officers
and instructed men for the volunteer navy in
time Of war this most recent application of the
RfRHSApkc VI skuc tuc
promise of very great usefulness In the future"
SKv YORK As A NATIONAL GUARD ANTIQUITY.
In that same article Mr.. Greene emphasizes a
point which has been the text for many Ma
sonal Guard sermons in the columns Of The
STAR Mr.. Greene writes though there was
really no National Guard organization in the
United States that could In any sense begin to
compare with that Of New York, but he upsets
his position by saying: I'm the matter OF arma-
h., h, 1t.1l
disastrous if the troops OF different states
should serve together in the field In New York
the guard Is armed tat the expense of the state)
vita the Remington, caliber so; in Connecticut
VITA the Peabody, caiber AS; IN some OF the
states still to be found some OF the Spring
field. caliber so. With these exceptions the
troops are armed with the Springfield, caliber
As" This Is a confession worthy OF more than
passing comment. II the National Guard of
the various states were called into the field
next week the New York contingent. instead of
being ready for active duty, would be taking
primary lessons in handling the service rifle.
Thee Is one noticeable and seemingly inex-
cusabls omission In Mr. Greenes story. He
DISCUSSES and compares organizations, talks
about nixed-up militia laws. tells his readers
what is being done in New York and PeunsyI-
va1ia, sut neglects to make even the merest
mentlOn of the District National Guard al
though he local brigade Is known all over the
country y a model organization Much of the
article il intensely interesting and the argu-
ments fOraction on the part of the government
good and worthy the support of every
right-thinAng citizen. but why should the
best EQUIPPED and most effective brigade in the
country-tae center OF advanced military pre-
eepts and praetiees-be slighted in what pur-
ports to be the story of the new National
Quart! AZ matter of fact the u. G. n. q. is
the only completely modern militia organiza-
ton In the country.
WORDS AZ WISDOM FROM GEN. KAUTz.
n.
Of the United States army (recently retired)
says anythingabout military matters he gener-
ally receives anore than ordinary amount of
close attention. He has been writing of ma
tional defenselssness and touches upon an
Idea or two verify Of thought. Take the
matter Of drill' says he. Very much the
largest part Of drill tactics has practical APP
plicatlOn IN actual warfare. There was time
when II did When battles were won by the
shock of compact bodies OF men from three to
SIX ranks deep driQ was an important factor in
maintaining compact formations Now TO
conduct a compact formation, even at the reg
ulatiOn route step within range of the i'm
proved long-range arms would be fatal Com
pact formations are justihable only beyond
range for the comtert OF the men and to econo-
mize space. Then Why should We waste SO
much time on the mInutie Of complicated
drill tactics, repeating, from one year to
another. what a soldier Is able to acquire in a
few weeks as well as he ever can when he
might be SO much better employed! All we
need or Use of drill in actual war is to pass
nom column into line and from line into col
enn oy the simplest possible methoda"
MUSCULAR xLrTIAMEN.
The first battalion premises to develop some
OF the best all-rouad athletes in the city, and.
while the most accomplished gymnast NAV not
necessarily be the best pldier, it mus. be EVIL
dent to any one that every soldier must en-
nance IN effectiveness with q growth OF r,uscu-
lar strength and skill So FAR the gymnasium,
has been OF decided advantage to the Light In
fantry boys, and II undoubtedly deserves en-
eoursgement. Progress has been SO satisfac-
tory THAT on The evening Of March so will be
tee nrst Indoor military athletic games this
eity knows anything OF. The contests, which
VII De com iimt ntary, are open to members
OF the foCr companies and TO honorary CON-
tributing memUers- The probable program
has been arranged, and Is as follows:
J. Exhibition 2 sparring-II5 or l25-
pound class g. QCGrter-n-ile run fatigue
rnlform)- L. Running high iupnp. & Tne ~
war-companies \ and L. g. Sparrinr-TI9 or
l50-pound class Z. I76-yard hurdle race. x
Exhibition .. Three legged race or sacL
race 10. One-halfm mile race-leavy march-
Ing order. H. Wrestling r. bicycle race
Cf track wall permit. Is. Tug OF war-com-
panies and D. Il. oEe-lap sprnt races
yards Is. Putting l6-pound sho. l6. Spar
ring-heayy weight Il. Final tug OF war for
winners IS Obstacle race-l76 yards.
70 within a week OF the date OF tie games.
Seekers after information are referred to Capt
Allison Major, jr., president of tie Washington
Light Infantry Corps Athletic Association; John
A Heydler. secretary; Capt G. c. NJ Loeftier.
director Of athletics, or Instructor Maurice
Joyce
For the Information OF members the MANAGE
meat has issued a circular, in which il says.
As the success OF this. the first military ain
ierc meeting ever held at the capital will do
pend mainly upon the list OF entries from m.
-FOUR Companies, and feeling confden, ,bot
there Is sufficient material il every compa,y =,
enter strong athletic team, it ID very es.s,,aI
that every athletic-inclined member inte-est
himself and properly ut himself FOR these con.
tests at once.
The games will be of o military nature AZ ,,r
~ possible. All contests will be scorei hv
points, which will be credited to the winner,
a. vel as TO the company from which they arr
entered The company gaining the highest
number Of poi It's viii be entitled 10 a troph,
enblematsc Of the corps championship. ihS
individual corps champion will be presentst
with a suitable medal
Admission will be- by card only. On accom-
OF small seating space a limited number o
cards, emitting bearer and ladies TO entrance
Will be issued 20 every member Of the corps
competitors VIII be allowed An increase owe,
others
Complete records willbe kept Of every com
pany and member's performance in ali athIetis
sontests-"
As TO DISTINGUISHED N.prsxxx