The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-18
HUSSARS' SABERS CUT THE AIR
THE ANNUAL sABER CONTEST WON
BY PRIVATE T.. l.. GILBERT.

BY PRIVATE T.. L. 0iLbbhtA'
Privates Gordon and Harrison ana
Corporal Gibbes the other Prize
Minners-The Prizes Delivered by
Col. W. W. Gordon-The Commits
stoned Officers Acted as Judges
and Conducted the Drill.
The Georgia Hussars gave most m
teresting and successful exhibition saber
drill and contest at the Guards Armory
hall last night. The annual saber contest
is a feature in which considerable interest
centers not only with the members of the
troop but also among their many friends
and ehey played last night to well allied
benches.
The spectators, friends of The Hussars,
dlled the seats placed in the hal some
time before the troopers arrived. Capt.
Bierne Gordon brought over just twenty
nine men, exclusive of the commissioned
officers who acted as judges. The Hussars
arrived a the hall about s:45 o'clock, where
after a little preliminary work the troop
was at once divided into two classes as
follows:
First Class-Sergeants, c. A. /. Gun
ningham, J. b. West, w. G. HARRISON, r.
+. Constantine. and r. L. Pritchard; cor
porals, Edward S. Elliott, w. w. Gordon,
Jr, and G. A. Quantock; privates, Robert
Ellington, Il. L. Gilbert, G. A. Gordon, l.
Silverberg and o. L. Tnton.
Second Class-Corporal c. A. Gibbes,
privates, c E. Broughton, W. T. Brun-
son. r. c. Brooks e. r. Caraker, ]. NJ.
Carter, w. II. Connerat. IT., a. S. Cooper
A. r. Horrocks. r. L. Harrison, J. II. Ken
zie. d. b. Lunday, J. G. Nelson, W. f.
Train, f. o. Watkins, and J. B. Yates
Besides the contestants divided into classes
as above, there was large number of the
other members of the troop in the hall who
took no part in the drill.
The second class was the first to drill
The class was divided into squads Of four
each, and the best man in each squad was
taken for the final contest Capt. Gordon
and Lieuts. Minis and McAlpin conducted
the drill and were judges Of the contest.
Corp. c. A. Gibbes stood up last in the
first squad Private r. l.. Harrison in the
second, Private w. F. Train in the third
and Private Z. c. Watkins in the fourth.
The contest for the prizes in the second
class was then between these four. Pr
vate Train went down first, Private Wat
kins second and for a while the contest
waxed warm between Corp Gibbes and
Private Harrison, being finally decided in
favor of the latter
The nrst class was divided into squads
in the same manner. Sergts c. ~ =.
Cunningham and w. G. Harrison STOOD
best il the first squad, both of them be-
ing allowed to enter the nnai contest; as
each other so long without an error. Pr-
vate f. l.. Gilbert was best in the second
squad, and PriVates Robert Ellington ana
q Gordon niplspd from the Lag
squad in this class. These FIVE entered
the final contest for the prizes. Sergts.
Harrison and Cunningham were the first
to go down, and next Private Ellington
retired. Private G. A. Gordon, after
heroic struggle for supremacy, left Pri-
vate Gilbert the winner of the first prize,
while he himself retired with second prize,
and the congratulations of his fellow
troopers, which in fact, all had who were
fortunate enough to carry away some
trophy of the occasion.
Then there was a contest between the
winners IN the two classes, PriVates Gill
bert and Harrison, for the company med
al, which has been worn for the year
just passed by Sergeant Pritchard. Pri-
Vate Harrison went down on miss on an
order by the numbers, and Private Gill
bert was the winner, The medals were
then delivered by Col. w w. Gordon. Col.
Gordon said;
Capt Gordon and Hussars: ! was in
! hopes that your major would be here
this evening and present these trophies
of your victories, but he is absent from
the city, and the duty has devolved upon
me. l have thoroughly appreciated the
improvement you have made in the saber
exercise during the last year or two. For
time the interest in rife practice was
carried so far that / did not think 50 large
a number would be interested in this
exercise, as has been the case in times
gone by, but this evening 1 am glad to
say the average proficiency is fully up to
what have seen in ears past. You have
certainly achieved very high order of
merit.
'"Nhe duties Of a cavalry company
are supposed by many to be obsolete,
but 1 can assure you from the best au-
thority that such IS not true. There are
stiH many uses for the saber, and with
It It is possible for the eavalryman to
achieve superiority, eminence and glory
which rarely falls to the private in other
branches Of the service. | am proud OF
you, and there are many who will take
a deep pride and interest in what you do
The militia is nursery and school for
officers in case of a war. and every man
should feel it his duty, as 1t is, to learn
everything in the line of his duty. not
oughly as to be able to carry
il out practically when he
is called on to do So
Col. Gordon then presented the prizes
to those who won them, bestowing on
each scnae pleasant and deserved compli-
ment Private Gilbert, the winner of the
medal and the first prize in his class was
the recipient of a handsome pair of gold
sleeve buttons, besides the company medal
Private Gordon received the second prize
i'll the first class. handsome set of gold
studs. Private Harrison was given the
first prize in the second class, this being a
silver knife, and the second prize in this
class, a silver mounted cane, was award
ed to Private G. A. Gibbes
Col. Gordon complimented the troop on
the turnout and the showing made after
which II was dismissed. Some light re-
freshments were served and the rest of
or the evening was spent in dancing.