Evening star., 1895-06-17
Efforts to Disconnect Liquor From
Camp Washington.
Some FLOATING SPEAK EASIES
All the Commands Doing Good
Practical Work.
FIRST COURT IA RT AL

way had trouble with half dozen sDecl-
mems CT the toughs who seemed to delight
in running speak easies,'" but the trouble
was only short-lved, for two officers rowed
up stream from the Fort Washington
wharf one morning, and in less than an
hour every drop of liquor on every one OF
the boats was inextricably tangled UP with
the waters of Swan creek, on the surface
of which there yesterday foated at least
four craft that were heavily laden with
all manner of drinkables. TWO of the con-
Germs were of the house-boat sort, and one
of them-the larger-has a big proibenade
deck, on which dancing might be lndulsed
in if any of the visitors SO desired. Satur-
day a great deal of business was done, ana
things assumed such roseate appearance
looked at from the standpoint of the dive
keepers-that one OF the proprietors an
nounced his intention to bring down from
Washington a number of beautiful ladies'
who would act as barmaids and dancing
partners for the boys in blue VINO mlssnt
care to waste their time and throw away
their money on pitgrinages such as would
delight the hearts of those who nave come
down fl ON Washington for the purpose OF
acquiring wealth.
Gen. Ordway was very much anhoysu
when he became aware of the presence OF
those d;sturbers of the peace who proposed
to smash the discipline of Camp WASH
ington to the end that they might prolt
thereby. He had taken time by the fore,
lock by notifying the collector OF interha,
revenue for this district of the likelihood
of Just such a condition as now exists, and
the collector sent his deputy to camp al
most before the tents were up. very Httle
investigation showed that the two afks
were provided with United States licenses.
The disturbers therefore could only be le-
gally interfered with by the county au-
thorities The deputy collector must be re-
sponsible for the statement that the county
fhor hay
made no response. Finding that there was
no person other than himself possessed OF
authority who really could or would DO
anything, Gen. Ordway concluded that II
the traffic were discouraged the arks would
probably be towed away. The shore from
the wharf up to the creek marshes was
therefore patrolled and there was also
patrol ahoat. The new plan went into
operation Saturday evening, and although
quite q number of men succeeded in run
ming the guard it is safe to say that the
receipts went down almost to zero accom-
panied by the rapidly falling hopes of the
men and women VINO had conspired against
the peace and welfare of the camp. Lieut..
Mellach had charge of the patrol and lie
and his men made it very plain to the
soldiers who desired to break the reason
able regulations that there would be no
trif1ng with offenders. Yesterday morning
Mai. McIntire and Maj. Harries visited all
the floating saloons to notify the keepers
thereof that it would be impossible for
them TO do business with the camp.
In view of the fact that the officer of the
day-Maj. r. A. O'Brien-would have his
hands full caring for the crowds at the
wharf. Gen. Ordway deemed it best to sup
plement the efforts of the regular guard by
posting a mounted officer on the reserva-
ton shore of Swan creek First to do this
duty was Lieut.. Robbins of light battery A,
who is down here mainly for the purpose of
assisting the adjutant general in his office
work. Lieut.. Robbins was relieved by
Capt. Horton of the general staff, and he,
succeeded
gleton of the general staff. The night tour
which, because of the darkness, was es-
pecially troublesome. was taken by Capt.
May of the general staff, to whom Lieut.
Mellach acting under instructions from
brigade headquarters, reported with twelve
men who had volunteered to patrol the
shore. Several volunteers also accompanied
Capt. Mays relief, among them being Maj.
McIntire. Maj. Tierney, Capt. Broome aud
Lieut.. Heiner, U.S.A. Feeble attempts were
made to land one little boatload from one
of the arks, but there really no diff
Guilty in cutting off all communica ton.
When the steamboats, for Washington had
departed and the lights were extinguished
in the saloons, Maj. Harries-who had
charge of the patrol from the opening of
hostilities-directed the withdrawal of the
sentries, and everybody made his way back
to camp over one Of the rous hest bride
paths in all Maryland and through a dense
growth of timber and underbrush in which
Cimmerian darkness dwells from sunset to
sunrise.
Admirable Guard Duty.
Sundays guard mount was undoubtedly
the best one the camp has yet known The
new guard was composed of the men of the
second battery who are on duty, and in
every respect the performance was quite
superior. A large crowd of guardsmen
gathered around in the vicinity of the flag
staff soon the band commenced to
play Nearer, My God, to Thee," with
which sacred selection guard mount opened
up. The non-participating soldiers were
critical, but they had very little with which
to find fault, for Capt e. c. Edwards of
company A of the second had been hard at
work putting everything into shape and
polishing up wherever such an operation
was necessary. Lieut.. Heiner, one of the
fourth artillery officers on duty here and
the instructor in all matters pertaining to
guard duty, expressed himself as being
much pleased with the Intelligent manner
in which the men who composed the main
guard until o'clock this morning applied
themselves to their work. Guard duty is
onerous enough on week days, when the
number of visitors Is small, but when, as
yesterday, the multitude is exceeding great
and anxious to do many of those things
which it could not do, then the task is truly
burdensome. Maj. R. A. O'Brien was officer
of the day, and if any officer ever had
enough to keep him busy it was the SOL
dierly commander of the second battalion
A hundred problems that had to be in
stantly solved We're presented to him, and if
he erred seriously as TO any one OF them
no one around camp is aware of the error
Capt. E. C. Edwards was commander of
the guard, while Lieut.. Logan Prosise of
Capt. Edwards company was the junior
officer of the guard. A more enthusiastic
or efficient trio of officers would be difficult
to find in camp or elsewhere. The crowd at
the wharf was handled with excellent
judgment, and there were very few of such
casualties as might reasonably have been
expected in great plenty on such an occa-
sion. The wisdom of erecting a strong
fence across the wharf was shown almost
every hour, and was especially apparent
when the thousands moved down the hill
from the parade ground to await the COM
ing of the homeward-bound boats. OF
course. there was a great crush, especially
prior to the time when the last boats We're
expected to leave for the city; every one
always wants to take the last boat. This
probability had been anticipated, but for
awhile the multitude showed signs of be-
coming obstreperous. At one time or an
other, while the boats were being waited
fer, five women tainted, and some of them
were not easily revived. Right there sew
eral of the surgeons and members of the
ambulance corps rendered valuable service,
the latter taking the sick women on the
boats on stretcherS and made them COM
Portable on board as soon as the boats tied
up to the wharf and before the bulk of
the passengers was permitted to set foot