The San Francisco call., 1898-01-31
The First and the Fifth Regim ents on Ju bilee
 Day Parade.
Delay in Signing the Connnis- sion of the Assistant Adju-
 tant-General.
Army Officer Gives Good Pointers in Regard to NOn-Conan1is-
 stoned Officers.

During the past week but little has been going on in National Guard circles, for during that time the members of the several companies that took part in the parade on Golden Jubilee day were resting from their wearisome tramp over cobbles and uneven basalt blocks. There was on the day of the parade consid- erable comment on the appearance of the two regiments that took part fin the first division, and there were some, who, standing on the sidewalk. on those DOT tions or Market street where the pave ment Is neither even nor comfortable for man or beast to walk upon, found fault with the marching of the men and the alignment. Had these individuals seen the men of the two regiments marching on Van Ness avenue, where the pavement is smooth, they would have discovered that as the companies passed in ''com- pany front" the marching of each and the alignment and distance were equal to that Of the regulars, who preceded them. Considering the fact that the members Of the National Guard have drills but once week and that they do not receive the same amount of instruction as do the men who are enlisted for service in the regular army, it must be said to the credit of the members of the First and Fifth Infantry Regiments that on the parade they carried out the suggestions or their commanding officers to make g inc appearance. The members of the Fifth, in their service uniforms, gave a correct idea of what soldier looks like when Tn actual service, while the First, In full dress uniform, gave evidence of how soldiers look on occasions of cere- mony. As the taxpayers are the ones who support the Guard, it is well that there was difference in the dress of the two regiments, so that they might nave an opportunity to see how the Ma field.
 It is now nearly month since Thomas Cluf was appointed assistant adjutant general on the staff of the division com mander, but up to last Saturday he had not received his commission, and the headquarters in the Baldwin Hotel are still in charge of an aid. Cuff is anxious to take full charge of the office and as sume its duties, but legally he is unable to do so for want of the signature of the Governor to his commission.
 It is probable that now that the Jubilee week is over there will be considerable work done in the First Regiment of h. fantry and that not only the lieutenants, in accordance with the suggestions of the ad1utant general made some time ago, will be given an opportunity to handle a company. but that the non-commissioned officers will have an opportunity to be thoroughly instructed in their duties. In view of this, the following. from a paper recently contributed by Lieutenant c. w. Farber, Eighth United States Cavalry to the Journal of the Military Service Insti- tuition, will prove interesting to those who Will see IAldI IHe HOU-COIIlS are perfect Tn what they have to do. The paper is en- titled ''To Promote the Efficiency of Non Commissioned Officers:
 Good. capable non-commissioned officers form strong a back bone to an organization be it troop, company or battery. that if the non- commissioned officers are not up to the mark of reasonably fair efficiency, there is no end or annoyance to the commander. Whenever called upon to go through it's paces, the or ganization shows up its defects most glaringly: these to a certain extent are beyond the rem edy of the captain, and the service suffers ac- cordingly. All officers who have commanded troops and have been called upon to fill va cancies among non-commissioned officers have observed that sometimes the material for commissioned officers was indifferent had or altogether absent At such time the cap tain shakes his head, signs, selects the one he deems best entitled to the extra s2 makes the man corporal and trusts to luck If on drills the new corporal goes wrong, does nothing, which is nearly always the case, the captain shouts himself hoarse in trying to command the troop and the corporaPs squad at the same time. If on guard or on other duty the corporaFs military knowledge Is deficient the captain hears rom the commanding officer. and he Is also kindly informed by his brother officers of the corporaPs lack of brains. The corporal, however may be a good man, but one who has never had any ambition Now on account of the honor so suddenly thrust up- on him. the corporal finds himself in a per plexed situation. and in the eyes of his com rades in a more or less ridiculous one Yet this same man once reused and brought to a realizing sense of his position. may with study and attention. become a good non-com- missioned officer but during his developing period the troop is denrivad of ono homo oS
 
 the military vertebrae How many non-com- missioned officers are there in each troop who understand how to make out the troops re- turns and reports. keep rosters and the troop recordsy How many who know what the ra- ton consists of, and how to get 1t, are we'll versed in the method of performing guard duty and do 1t properly? Even drills. the number who can take out a squad and go through all the evoutions perfectly. is small indeed. As fe-closers, and even fin the squad room they require constant prodding How many times Is not the captain compelled to directly jump the private for little remiss- nesses which the corporal or sergeant has neg lected to correct, and which correction was strictly within the sphere of duty of that non commissioned officer? Again, there is too much familiarity with privates, not that the private soldier is uAworthy of the notice of the non-commissioned officer. or that he should have no intercourse with him, that would be absurd; for two brothers or father and son, might be serving in the same com pany, or the non-commissoned officers best friend might be private-the distinction is only one of degree In particular class in the military system. There are certain things which the non-commissioned officer can do, and others which he cannot should not do. But how many corporals. even sergeants. are there who can exercise the proper regard for the proprieties of such intercourse7
 THE FIFTH REGIMENT.
 By Regimental Orders No 1 it appears