Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-10
THE NATIONAL RIFLES
They Have Decided to Enter the District
National Guard.
The Detail. Not Yet Arranged, but
Being Considered by Gen. Ord
way-Sketch of the Corps.

The National Rifles have decided to be-
come members of the National Guard of the
District of Columbia and the probabilities
are that the organization will be mustered
into the militia in a body. The decision of
the Rifles was reached at a recent meeting,
which was only one of many at which the
subject was discussed, and was the result
of the steady education of the members that
a separate military organization in the Dis
trict could not be maintained other than as
an almost distinctively social affair. The
reasons for this were evident. The National
Guard, upon it's establishment, became the
only legally recognized militia at the capital
of the nation. -
In time of public necessity the authorities
could call upon 1t alone, and consequently
a separate battalion or company, no matter
how brave it's members might be or how
superior the soldierly accomplishments they
might possess, could merely exist as snow
organization, to use the word In It's IN
offensive sense, and of utterly no use In the
time of an emergency. Many members or
the National Rifles recognized the unenvi-
able position in which they were placed as
soon as the National Guard was established,
and were DESTROYS of having their COM
panions enter the militia at once, but the
majority of the men and many of the OIL
GERS were opposed to the idea. Among the
most strenuous advocates of entering the
and ne has steadily and persistently con-
tinued to favor such move. Others have
stood by him. and converts have been made
from time to time. until the decision was
finally reached a short time ago.
A Proposed Battalion.
The details of the mastering in of the
Rifles have not yet been completed, but are
under consideration by General Ordway
and Captain Oyster. great many persons
int al an, ha auxiOuS
see a new battalion formed in the National
Guaid. to consist of the National Rifles,
the National .Fencibies and the Corcoran
Cadets. The splendid record of each Of
these organizations would assure one OF
the crack battalions of the entire country
in case their consolidation could be accom-
pliShed. 1t is understood that General. Ord
way is heartily in favor of the idea. and
every one of the civilians and others inter-
ested in local matters to whom the sugges-
ton has been preached has applaudel lit
heartily.
May Retain Their ArmOry. ~'''''
1t has OF been settled, either. whether
the Rifles will be allowed to maintain their
home in their own armory. on G street, or
be assigned to quarters in the District ar
mory, now being erected adjacent to Con-
vention Hall. The probabilities are, how
ever, that the Rifles and the Washington
Light Infantry will be permitted to remain
in the armories which they have come into
possession of by means of their own eXer-
tions. Such permission would allow the
RitieS also to retain the social features of
their organization, which have been and
promise to be brilliant and successful. All
these details. however. will doubtless be ar
ranged to the mutual satisfaction of all
parties concerned, the rigors of iron-clad
rules will hardly be allowed to affect the
long desired and eagerly looked forward to
result of combined militia of the District,
under the protection and authority of the
United States.
When the Rifles are mustered in there
will be but one separate company in the
District-thc Old Guard, which is COM
posed of veterani who cannot be expected
to undergo regular discipline on account of
their advanced age and the reminders they
carry of the hot times in the early sixties.