Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1893-11-24
BEAUTIFUL AMAZONS,
MILITARY TACTICS FOR YOUNG
LADIES.
What the Bergen Reformed Church
Is Doing at Jersey City-The Girls
hear Arms with Dignity and
Grace-ln Great Demand for Char
ity Parade.

hear Arms with Dignity and
Grace-ln Great Demand for char.
ty Parade.
Fifty girls between the ages of four
teen and eighteen, all beautiful, of
cnurSo, have formed a military com.
pany in Jersey City and are now on
gagged in drilling for future exhibitions |
in the cause Of charity, and they are
uniformed in gowns OF the most fetch
ing fashion. These young ladies are
all members of the Bergen Reformed
church, of Jersey City. 1t is given
out in fashionable church society there |
that the girls were prompted by a |
spirit of emulation, the young men of |
the church having been thus organized
for a nearly year. But of course |
that was the excuse, not the cause, Of
this new organization.
All women. even young women in
Jersey City, love the military, and so
this company of boys was made the
excuse for a movement which has
begun by half dozen ambitious girls
last March. Capt. Laws, a retired
military man, and his wife are also |
members OF that church, and il was to |
them that the girls appealed for adj
vice and assistance when they deter
mined to shoulder arms in real mill |
tary style. There was no trouble with |
the Captain, who at once agreed to |
drill the girls, and his wife was equally |
active in promoting the scheme. But
the parents of the enthusiasts were
slow to see the advantage to be de-
rived until the Captain talked wisely |
about the value of physical culture.
That consideration, and the fact that
many charitable objects would he
vastly benefited by so novel an enter
tainment, overcame parental doubts,
and the company was formed.
Organization was effected under the
rules governing militia companies, the
officers, with the exception of Captain
Laws, being elected by the members Of
the company. 1t is known as the
Girls Brigade of the Bergen Reformed |
church, and the interest the girls take
in the work is attested by the fact that
the attendance at the drill is some-
thing unusual in military organiza-
tions. The young ladies have thus far
provided themselves only with what
they call their fatigue uniform. 1t is
blue, OF course. The privatcs wear |
close fitting tailor made jackets, which |
reach below the hips, and full, plain
skirts, which show bit of black stock
ing above the tops of the patent leath-
er shoes. The hats are those impossi-
BILE little round affairs which startle |
the stranger in England when he first
sees them on the headsAthat is, on
the ears-of English infantrymen.
The only color relief in the uniforms
Of the privates is little dab of yellow
forming their shoulder straps.
By the exercise OF a strong pull and
much diplomacy New York Sun re-
porter was favored with an opportun-
ity to see the company drill. If there
has been anything prettier shown
about here than that line OF girls, as
they fell in in response to the order of
First Sergeant Gertrude Taylor, it has
not been the good luck OF the reporter
to see it. AS they we're aligning them.
selves from the right guide young
woman who must be a descendant
from the handsomest couple of Hol-
landers who settled at Communipaw,
the Sergeant interrupted herself in
the roll call and shouted: Private.
Una Stockbridge, observe the position
of q soldier"
Private Stockbridge blushed and
shifted her dainty weight from one
foot to the other. The action, while
it was extremely pretty, did not seem
to satisfy the Sergeant, who asked:
"Don't you know what the position
OF soldier is?"
The private blushed some more, and
said that she had read the tactics, but
had forgotten that paragraph.
"Well, I'll tell you what it u.s." said
the Sergeant severely, and she recited,
Stand erect, with the eyes looking
straight ahead, heels together, and
with the little finger on the seam of
the trousers"
Then the Sergeant blushed for this
exactly correct recitation had been
greeted with an unexpected volley of
laughter. The Sergeant squared ter-
self, looked straight ahead, and said
with greater severity than ever:
"In the present case that means |
skirts"
Then, before the drill began, Capt. |
Laws inspected the company. At
guard mount in the army, when the
Adjutant inspects the guard, he pays
attention not only to the cleanliness
and good order OF the soldiers clothes
and accoutrements, but also to their
personal cleanliness. Nothing that is
regulation is neglected in the inspec-
ton OF the Girls Brigade of the Ber-
gen Reformed church. So the soldiers
were required to hold their bare hands
out before them and turned them over
as the Captain passed. The fun of the |
thing caused ripple of smiles to run
down the line, and that disclosed a
row of cleaning white teeth. The
drill followed, and company of the
regular army would have to mind their
eyes mighty sharp to do any better1
than those girls did.
Capt. Laws knows a thing or two
about physical culture, and is watchful
to see the recruits are not oyerdrilled