Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-12-04

to the troops becomes an order OF some
class to he published copied and filed
away.
Then the delinGuencies OF the men,
frequently of small character. have to be
noticed fines charged up and reports
made to the proper authorities. III the
delinuuencies are at all serious SUM
mary court martial or garrison court
martial settles the case. ana an r, tme res .ho
headquarters building generally Is
busy place all day long. and those peo-
pie who imagine Uncle Sans officers lead
"a lazy life are greatly mistaken. -,
With the clerical part of military life
the newly Joined lieutenant has little to
do at first. BY degrees he becomes ac-
customed to the peculiar and involved
system of bookkeeping In the army:
which. by the way, Is not taught AT an
at West Point, and he spends much time
each day going carefully over the elabor-
ate morning report to verify its correct
| ness before it goes to the sergeant MAJOR
to be consolidated with those of the other
companies. If the lieutenant Is In a cav
airy regiment he finds that, in addition
| to all this work, he has to be familiar
with the health and condition of every
horse in his platoon as well.
The actual time spent IN drills at an
army post is not so much as might be
expected Guard mount every morning
| and parade at night, If the weather per-
mits. are not drill, but ceremonies usual
| ly agreeable There is no fixed rule Tor
the time of drills. as that Is LETT 10 ,ne
post commander. Recruits are drilled
more frequently than the veterans, and
| great deal of time Is spent out at the tar
gets, for in these days of open order ev-
| cry soldier must be a good shot. Al all
| of these exercises the lieutenants attend
to supervise and instruct, although In
| the matter of instruction 1t frequently
| happens that the non-commissioned ofii-
| GERS are more experienced.
| When winter shuts in all the Northern
posts out in Colorado for instance, the
drills are usually held indoors. At pres
| ent great deal of interest I'm athletics
| has been aroused in different garrsons
and the officers have encouraged TINS IN
| terest and arranged both indoor ana OUT
| door sports in season. Nearly every regi-
ment has its baseball nine and many
have an excellent football team az well.
| In some of these organizations the
| younger officers not only instruct. but
| play themselves. In the cavalry good
| portion of the winter must be spent in
| the riding school, and here the officers
| bring to bear the excellent training they
| have received at the riding school at
West Point. The horses are trained as
well as their riders. Many of them know
the bugle calls so well that they Will
obey them before the trooper has made
the movement to do so.
During the winter there Is sort of
|
| this is a custom general throughout the
army. The session lasts one hour or so
in the morning. The text book Is the
drill Regulations, United States Army,
and each is carefully gone over and dis-
cussed during the term.
| Then there Is the lyceum. where the
officers meet and listen TO papers on the
| various subjects OF military science,
| which are prepared and read by the diff
ferent members each week. In this the
| HA, fs off 90 moi
in the shade for fresh from the Acad-
envy, their ideas are brighter and their
minds more alive to the needs OF the day
than those of the bulky captains and ma
jors who have passed the greater part OF
their lives on the plains and are better
acquainted with the nature of the Indian
than with the strength of armor plate.
One of the regular duties OF the Junior
officers that becomes very monotonous
| after a few repetitions is that of going
ON as officer of the guard. The guard
| is mounted every day. winter and sum-
mer. and. consisting OF a captain as Of
tcer of the day. two lieutenants as Off
GERS of the guard. and dozen men. re-
mains on duty twentyfour hours. The
men are stationed as sentinels about the
| various buildings, stables, &c. and are
| expected to see that no unauthorized
persons enter the premises, to prevent
theft. and guard against fire. AT night
a countersign or password is given them
and the officers of the guard make fire.
quent rounds of the sentinels. questioning
them about their orders and duties and
taking care they understand their re-
sponsibilities The two officers divide the
night between them. and in the billiards.
of the winters their work is no easy
thing. Sometimes they get little
amusement from questioning the senti-
nelS.
know your orders. sentinel" was
asked a not overnight 1rshman on
guard here some time ago.
'Yis. sor.''
Know the points of the compass?"
continued the officer.
"SiS sor.
IF you faced the rising sun. your left
hand would be on the north of you and
your right hand to the south of YOU.
What would be behind you?"
Me knapsack. sor,' sententiously ans
wered the soldier.
Once in while q strike in a neighbor-
ing city or an Indian difficulty threatens
to be serious. and orders sent the
command to hold themselves in readiness
for active service. Then excitement
suppressed. indeed, but deep and delight
ful-reigns in the hearts of the young
sters who wear the blue.
Such was the case in Colorado in the
spring of 1894 when Gov. Waite tried to
have little civil war of his own in the
streets of Denver, and later when the
regiment was sent down to Trinidad to
open the railways in that vicinity during
In the summer many of the Western
officers families go East. The post gets
hot and dusty. and the men are glad
when they get orders to prepare for a
practice march across country. Equipped
as for campaign. the troops march out
and tramp hundreds of miles over the
broad Northwest. acting as an army
would act in marching through a hostile
country Then is brought into practice
the lyceum and school work in the the
OrV of the art of war.
The danger of Indian outbreaks is now
over. except in the extreme Southwest.
where the nature of the country Is such
that lot of Indian renegades may take
to the Businesses of the Sierra Madres
and defy the cavalry for weeks. Down
there they don't indulge much in prac-
tice marches. but keep the troops ready
at San Carlos reservation for rapid and
concentrated action.
1t will be seen that the lot of any army
officer is not very different from that of
any other member of this workaday
world as regards rendering value for his
pay. In one way he is better Off than
the average man. for he knows that if he
behaves himself and obeys the laws and
customs of the service he will be provid-
ed for to the end of his life.