The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-07-22

MILITIA COMPANY EQUIPPED WITH
BICYCLES ORGANIZING HERE.
VIII BE known the Matthews
Light Guard-One Hundred strong
bicycles I'm Service.

Soldiers on bicycles have been vaguely
talked OF in this country for a coupie of
years past. but there has not been much
advancement along this line There is a
company thus equipped at Toledo, o.. and
another somewhere in the West, yet there
has been no very active movement to or
ganize companies equipped with wheels. A
company has been organized I'm this city
and christened the Matthews Light Guard.
in honor OF Governor Matthews. The nov
city OF the thing in this city and in this
part OF the country is proving very at
tractlve, and the promoters OF the scheme
believe they Will be able TO muster in
nearly one hundred men by the time they
offer their services to the State. Under
the statute governing military organiza-
lions there Is no provision for cyclists.
and the company will OF necessity be
classed as Infantry, and will have to follow
the prescribed infantry drill and be sufi-
GENTLY well drilled in that before they can
be mustered In, and not until then will the
bicycle drill be commenced. The company
will be essentially militia company, and
the bicycles will be a secondary considera-
ton, though the complete bicycle drill, as
arranged by Brig. Gen. Albert Ordway,
will be used
The Matthews Light Guard began organ
izing about a month ago. and have now
sufficient numbers to warrant their begin
ming the infantry drill by the first Of next
month They have secured Washington
Hall, the old home Of the Hendricks Club
where they will establish headquarters. The
han on the third floor VIII be used as an
armory and drill room. and the parlors on
the second floor Will be fitted up for social
purposes. They propose to give dances and
entertainments OF various sorts this winter
TO raise funds to aid in equippine, the com
pany. The average height Of the members
OF the company viii be five feet ten inches
Wnlch u TWO inches above the standard
required by statute for infantry. The off,
GERS or the company are. NJ B. Scott
captain; {. c. Thomas. first lieutenant; j.
Morse, first sergeant
Though there has not peen any system
Stlc eHort IN this country to organize in
tahFy companies equipped with bicycles,
they nave been in use in England. Germany
and other European countries for several
ssars, anu IL mas been demonstrated that
they are or great value in military move
ments- Iney are, of course, valuable only
as means Of Iocomotion. but IN this re-
spect are considered TO be as great an adj
vantage, almost. over cavalry as the latter
IS over infantry. The cycle companies would
nave the advantage over cavalry OF being
able 70 put a greater percentage of its men
In action. 1t requires, usually, about one
out OF every four in a cavalry company to
care for the horses. A very small number
or men Sould guard large number OF
wheels: The care required is another strong
point IN favor of the wheels. While the
chief utility OF the cycling infantry would
be in courier and reconnOitering duties,
they would also prove OF immense value in
moving large bodies OF men rapidly TO any
desired point The wheel Is noiseless and
could dash upon an outpost before it was
aware of the approach OF the enemy. That
Wneelman can make better time than a
horseman on a long distance is practically
oemonstrated every day of the year.
Major General Nelson A. Miles has re-
war the bicycle would prove very vaIu-
able adjunct 10 the military forces. Ex-
periments with them by the troops at Fort
the most severe tests. In his annual report
Tor 1898 General Miles says: The results
ooIalned. under the most adverse and dis
couraglng conditions, prove conclusively
that the bicycle~Ein in the future prove to
De a most valuable auxiliary in military
but for rapidly moving organized bodies
OF men over the country" General Miles
ais2 gave expression to his opinion of the
utility or the bicycle IN military move
ments at the banquet OF the League of
american Wheelmen. at Chicago in 1S92.
use OF the bicycle for military purposes
Is one that would naturally attract the
attention of military men. AS the art OF
war Is one or the oldest in the history of
mankind IL is natural to suppose that the
military mon would adopt any invention,
any improvement, anything that is new
that Is useful for mankind i'm times of
peace which can be utilized in times of war
The battle-ax, the short sword and the
pike have given place to the automatic
magazine rifle, the steel cannon and the
dynamite gun; the war canoe, the galley
and the line of battle ship have given
place TO the submarine torpedo boat.
We all know that in military mat
tiers one of the principal arts of
war is rapidity of movements the power
TO move troops and munitions of war rapid
ly from one part of the country to the
other. A man mounted upon a wheel can
move over the ordinary road faster and
make greater distances than he could pos
sibly do mounted upon a horse. When men
are able to make, they have already
made, twenty-four miles within an hour.
II is about as fast the ordinary horse
can run, and cyclists can keep IL up longer
than a single man upon a single horse.
possible in case OF war to organize corps
OF men that would excel any body OF n
fantry or cavalry"
Lieut.. Col. a. II. Saville, of the English
service, says that the cycle possesses nu-
merouS qualifications as a suitable mount
which not found in the body OF any
living animal. He thinks cyclists should
be included among the armed forces, not
merely for the purpose of obtaining in
formation as 10 the movements of the on
envy, but TO render assistance to the cav
airy at a critical time
The supporters of the idea OF the wheel
being used i'm the military service claim
many advantages for il. In case of strikes
or riots in cities a company of infantry
mounted upon cycles could reach any given
point in a very short space OF time. The
company and provide effective barricade