The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-29

lnSITuCtEu IN hhlutlnRs n II VI Ilo
things to make the recruit do is TO make him
salute: To his proud spirit IL is a mark of
at a tune he will enter the armoTy with his
avoid seeing an ofncer. By and by he will
tho oflcer is required to return his salute; and
then he'll feel better II may 10 remarked
whore there are about twenty times as many
men as there are officers, some officers walk
through the back streets and almost sneak to
~salutes. But thGt is by the way.
Before the recruit is out of tho sa~uad,.where
his rideNhIs uniform comes up; to be taken
back, as q rule. Then 10 time comes the night
his Captain, as being out OF the squad. The
FIRST night he drills with the company is O great
night. and yet not OF unalloyed Joy. There Is
much moro pushing than there was In the
squad; he IL almost certain to be in the rear
rank; and II by good luck he finds himself at
company is in column he is end man. he is NJ
most certain to hear some one say suddenly.
knows What sh has happened he finds 'hirisoi Z
place and between two other. men, while an
TemarEs. you're 10. 3 now" 1t is all pretty
hard at FIRST. But he soon catches on.
Then battalion drills bother him at first,
though they are much moro interesting than
company drills; the orders are new, he doesn't
hear them, or If he hears he doesn't under.
and pretty soon he finds what IL 10 ALI about.
ae buys the drill regulations and studies them;
ton. not TO 20 able to correct, his officers.
There Ia one clause in the regulations that does
not interest him much; it says that in cases Of
lowed blindly or words to that effect. That
covers every mistake that the officer may make.
studies the book for himself.
Meantime his companS Inspector of rifle
to the armory on drill nights and fires away ia
the rife range out In the basement. He fires
down; and presently he wins an armory decor:
alton, which he pins proudly on the collar or
hts fa II Y P Blous Sc n A sstut 1hsR me- hir Isp0 snl e anus his
himself shooting moro carefully. to win a
sharpshooter's medal, and then to get on his
Or perhaps he goes in for athletics. Twice
a year the reglmental athletic association gives
Ing, start on foot and on bicycle on the drill
floor after drill or else boxes And does stunts
on the weights and the parallel bars up in the
for an impromptu dutch" at a nearby saloon.
there would be. he finds; of course. some men
will set drunk on water. but they're not the
Then comes his first review and parade. a
time of Joy and dread. Can he go through the
manual without knocking his helmet or his
shake on? That IL Il terrible question, an
swered usually afiirmatively.
Then the drill season ends. and the regiment
begins to prepare for camp, or else it hibernates
for the summer. as, the graduate of Dublin
University expressed 1t. In the latter case. let
1t sleep on. In the former the recruit is inter-
ested.
But he is not a recruit any longer: he Is q
tull-iedged member of the Guard.
In some of the regiments there are practice
guard mounts. lectures. on sentry duty. and
practice In sentry duty IN the armory; in other
his advisers that the camp Is the state Camp
Of Instruction. and 1t is felt that the men would
NOT benefit by their stay there if they knew TOO
room for instruction at camp.
But before the camp opens comes Creed
moor. Creedmoor is somewhere out on Long
Island. Tho National G~uardsman doesn't
much care To know its location. at all events,
ave days t there in the a spring eI and e early SUMNER tnrtn 70
on which to INSTRUCT their men in the art OF
hitting a target. Assembly" on each, of the
from $3.50 A.. NJ. to 1880. and the detach-
ment which is going to Creedmoor aims to
1t reaches tho liho range about 0 A. NJ. and
begins TO shoot at once.
To qualify as a niarksman a man must mako
IS or more out OF 20 at 100 yards. finland;
becomes a second-ciass man. and the score does
at 800 yarus, and must get 30 out of q possible
90 at the two distances: Tho man who has
dnds at creedmoor that his winter work pays;
s Through r, on T Snss sim.s He IN who t1ouh seorn' the
He shoots away at 100 yards. making bulls
eyes and missss-not punching his hits. and
and imngines himself Through" he is much
Disguised TO find that his score there does not
couLt on Ills qualification score.
At 200 yards he may kneel or sit: and there,
with one coacher embracing him from behind,
another shading his sights, and a third man
to make 25 II possible. because then he'll have
to make only 8 at 300 yards. AS u rule he
Then he goes back to 800 yards. and lie.
down facing the target. One coacher sits on
his back 70 steady him, another shades the
this range the two men who are not loading
take turns in tearing his cap from his head
after each shot and %clapping It over his eyes.
Don't look at the target" they cry; and
then one remarks. That wasa 2 O'Clock outer"
or You missed that at II o'clock, or worry
more seldom. "a pinwheel!" In the last case.
the man who is on his back pounds him en-
thnsiasticaily. and the shooter feels happy.
give me a frst:rate score: Iii make en-
whispers: same place now, MI your lu iGs
and don't breathe while your" aiming press
siece Until the Bullet is out Of it," and he obeys
all the iniunstions except the first. and the
In tho course of time he makes Is or 10 at
300 yards. qualifying with 30 or 81. Just the
needed score. or Just one more than tho needed
20 hack. YOURS throueh.' he SAYS s,' "C Gam
shoot for sharpshooter today | feel Just Ike
ranges are open. he fails TO go through.
and eo remains q 30.degree marksman.
With Creedmoor out of tho way, camp looms
up. The regiment goes and comes by train.
l. spends q week in camp, reaching there ono
In camp is planned out beforehand, and
CHANGES little from year to year. Al . o'clock
the men are up, answer roll call, and get
morning coffee and bread: at 5:30 company
drill begins. lasting until 6:+5; breakfast
comes at Z; guard mount at s:l5, battalion
drill from o to IL. Dinner Is at -. SUPPER at
6:ao, evening parade at $3.50, tattoo at 10 80,
taps at O:45. The nonrs may not be quito
correct, but the sequence Of duty ie. At 2:3O
+; NJ. non-cOmmissioned officers have TO attend
a lecture; on Sunday evening parade IL the
only duty. 1t will be seen that from II A. NJ.
to O:3V p, NJ. there are no duties. Tho aver
age man sleeps, plays cards Or baseball. takes
a sho wcr bath, walks UP the hills back of the
camp: his time is Ills own.
Once during the week every man gets tho
guard; then. instead OF going into battalion
drill, he attends guard mounting. goes to the
guard tent. and passes tho next twenty-four
hours on guard. doing his sentry duty as well as
he knows how. and learning lois IN little time.
When no comes Off guard the next morning
he 10 excused until parade. so camp IL not q
hard week; there Is a good deal of fun in It,
and most men regret when saturday comes.
And after camp, except for the supplement-
airy days at CreedmoOr, there is nothing until
the neYt OctpIar DrinuA tbn aIu drill .aaSnn