The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-05-25
sKr11 WITH THE FoI1s.

A Visit to Boys Brigade Fencing School.
 The boys of the Sixth New Haven
 company, Boys Brigade, have, in addi-
 ton to the regular drill in military
 tactics, formed a fencing section.
 As one enters the corridor of the Dav-
 enport church chapel on Friday even
 ings he hears the following commands given in quick succession: "Cut and
 disengage, onel Lunge, two! Resume
 guard, threew These commands are
 accompanied wit hthe clashing of steel
 and the stamping of feet Through the I door are seen two ranks of young men
 arrayed against each other. Dressed in their neat military uniforms and armed
 with rubber buttoned foils they present
 pleasing appearance At the dicta- tion of the instructor they thrust, lunge, parry and recover with lightning like rapidity, with a grace of motion sell dom shown by more experienced pupils.
 The fencing master MT. Louis Leyer- zaph, politely invites the observer to enter, explaining the exercise as "school fencing" All is very quiet, de- eorous and scientific, while the instruc- tor is conducting the class work
 After the class work point fencing" is taken up. The work the boys en- joy very much, as it enables them to make use of what they have learned in the class and, as no commands are given, they are at liberty to take and make opportunities for scoring on their opponents.
 The instructor, standing by, gives the order to begin. The fencers get "on guard" at once, crossing their foils with points on a line with the opponents eye Then begins a. series of feints, thrusts and parries, following each other with bewildering rapidity, and is continued for about five minutes.
 One of the boys by "cut and dis engage" passes his opponents guard and lunges in "carte" with a force that bends the slender foil so that it breaks in two pieces,
 ''Halt! You thrust with too much force," the instructor shouts. That is not necessary"
 When these two finish their bout two more take theA places and each one trys by the use of feints beats, cuts, disengages, etc., to outgeneral and score on his competitor
 The boys all look forward with pleas. ure to these Friday evening gatherings and their instructor says he has a class who are showing remarkable prof1cien- cy, and all of whom are acquiring an expertness and an unusual grace of carriage.
 The Sixth company is one of the two l companies in the state that have formed ] fencing sections, although judging from ! the results shown, and as this form of | exercise is gentlemanly, not violent, 1 and conducive to good health, it seems | a eonundrum why more companies do l not introduce this exercise as a valuable | assistant to the military drill.
 Captain A. H. Sharpe, First Lieuten- ant Lew Fish, Second Lieutenant M. First Sergeant c. Hitchcock, Second Sergeant F. Adams, Third Ser geant C.. Stevens, Corpofals D. Myrick, W. Rathbun, G. Buckman and Privates E.. Holt, l.. Hastings and A. Gates are those who made promising showing.
 After the fencing class the company 1as it's regular drill in military tactics Inder the command of Captain Sharpe. It The Sixth Is one of the best drilled in the local Bays Brigade, md for fine marching, graceful car 'iage and discipline ranks second to lone in the state.