Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-05-13

| jINpTFrT On the night of the 9th
| W1NW1< instant they paid their
| T respects to the second
~ ~ battalion. The gen.
| Nv eral appearance Of that
organization was decidedly good and all around
there were evidences of Improvement over
conditions which prevailed year ago. In the
absence OF Maj. O'Brien, who was sick. the
battalion was commanded by Capt. Edwards of
company A. The battalion was nearly fifteen
minutes late in getting into formation. At
companies right" the lieutenant in command
Of company dressed the company from the
left and at the command prepare for in
spection the color guard did not
march to the front and continued inactive
until it was prompted to move by the COM
handing officer of the battalion. The color
| guard. however presented an exceptionally fine
appearance; their guns and equipments were in
| excellent condition. There was no trouble
with the staff. the only break credited to them
being their keeping their swords at carry
| at the preliminary inspection. The battalion
commander got black mark for going to the
head OF the column before giving the command
crest
GETTING DOWN TO DETAILS.
Company A-The general appearance of this
| company was very good; the men were well set
up, but the alignment was slightly defective.
The captain gave the command fright
| shoulder and then attention to muster"
! when he should have given inspection arms"
| Three of the men took their pieces with both
| hands when they were returned to them at in
| spection; one man did not resume the port"
after inspection; one man brought his piece to
| an order" after inspection with the hammer
down, and one other dId not drop his hands to his
sides after giving up his piece to the inspector.
| The enlisted men wore full dress letters and
| numbers on their collars. There were two or
| three other minor errors common to such oc-
| casions, but they did not materially affect the
performance OF the company. The rifles were
| In almost perfect condition. and taking the
whole ceremony right through. the company
has every reason to congratulate itself on its
efficiency. for which Capt Edwards deserves
| much credit.
Company B-Ths company presented fair
appearance. 1t is composed OF young men who
either have been or are members Of the High
School Cadets. and is first-class material out Of
which to construct a sound command. The
| company was commanded by a first lieutenant,
whose one error consisted of his failure to
order inspection arms" Had all the men on
secured a much better marking than was given
IT. The absentee percentage was very large.
The frequently printed warnings as to shoes
| and collars had evidently gone unread by some
OF the men, for two of them wore russell shoes,
one was conspicuous the wearer of pink
outing shirt one wore a cap that had on its
front the High School Cadets monogram,
while several Of the caps either had no orna-
ment at all or were incomplete in that respect
The individual blunders consisted simply OF the
failure Of one man to resume the port after
his piece was returned at inspection Of arms
and the taking Of the piece by another man
with both hands.
Company C-This well-known organization
presented an excellent appearance. Every man
was well set up and the sizing was thorough
standing at ral
out Of place. and when open ranks ordered
the only lieutenant present incorrectly took
post in front of the center. In the matter Of
arms and equipments things were in very good
condition indeed, and lad one man brushed the
dust off his cap and another refrained from
wearing soiled gloves there would have been
no room for anything but commentator. The
captain had his skirmish whistle hooked at the
second instead of the first buttonhole of his
blouse. and the company wore large letters and
numbers on the blouse collars. A sergeant on
the right did not resume the pert before
closing chamber; one man lowered the hammer
OF his piece before closing chamber, and the
sergeant on the left attempted to do the same
Two men failed to resume the port" before
closing chambers; two men brought their
pieces to an "order" after inspection with the
hammers down; one man in the file closers did
not appear to be well instructed in inspection
arms"
Company D-This is another High School
arms and equipments were in good condition
and there is promise Of it making a very cred
liable command 1t incorrectly formed,
though Having twenty-four corporals and
privates, it should have been in three 'fours''
instead of in four, with two blank files in the
rear rank of each four. Several men in the
rear rank did not trail arms opening ranks;
several left their Places and there was a gen.
eral unsteadiness while the company was at
rest" The captains errors were in COM
manding attention to roll CALI instead of
attention to muster" and in having the names
of the enlisted men called first The locks Of
several Of the guns needed cleaning and at
least one rifle needs repairs. One man wore a
cap which had the High School Cadets mono
gram on it; several caps had no ornaments
whatever. while other caps were incomplete in
that respect. One man did not resume the
port when his rifle returned to him; one
man lowered the hammer before closing the
chamber; a sergeant on the left wore blouse
with the prescribed letters and numbers
worked on the collar in large characters; a pri-
vate in the ranks wore the chevrons of cor
poral.
HOW THE FIRST BATTALION SHOWED UP.
Last Monday night the first battalion went
through with its inspection. and on the same
night the field and staff of the first regiment
were inspected and mustered in the officers
room, which, by the way is declared by the
inspector general to be the correct place for the
inspection of a regimental staff.
The battalion as a whole made a very fine
showing; one which reflected the highest credit
upon its new commanding officer, Mai Burton
X. Ross. Incidentally, this is a good place to
mention the fact that Maj. Ross when captain
of company b, succeeded for three years in
succession in having an attendance percentage
Of 100 something no other company COM
mander has ever come near doing.
The preliminary formation of the companies
was not quite satisfactory, one first sergeant
being obliged to command fall in three times
before he got his men in line, and one man was
smoking in ranks after his company was formed
There noticeable lack Of military cour-
tesy. salutes between men and officers being ex-
tremely conspicuous by their absence. After
the formation of the battalion, however the
steadiness and conduct were simply perfect
The companies were formed in the wrong order,
being neither according to drill regulation-by
seniority of captains alphabetically, ac-
cording to general orders, the latter being cor
rect by decision of the commanding general
| 1t was noticed that sharpshooters' crosses and
marksmens buttons were not worn. The bat
TALON was about five minutes late in forming
The only mistakes credited to the staff were in
the non-commissioned department, where one
member got ready for inspection some time
before the inspection ready for him. One
member of the color guard seemed to think it
proper that he should take the rifle from the