The times., 1898-06-05
IN THE DISTRICT GUARD
No Hope of Getting in On The
Presidents Second Call.
THERE Is ANOTHER PLAN
A Regiment to BE Organized with
the Expectation That 1t May he
Accepted as nm independent COM
mand-FiIling Up the Depleted
Commands.

The officers of the District National
Guard have given up all hope of their
commands being included in the quota
of the second call for volunteers. They
are satisfied that the quota of the Dis
trict will stand as it is for the present
ar least, but they hope to form regi
ment and get into active service as an
independent command, the President
having the authority to enlist az many
companies, battalions, or regiments at
large as he may desire.
AT the meeting held at headquarters
Thursday evening, it was urged that
the various companies be recruited up
to their full strength and that rife prac-
tice be given more attention than it has
attracted heretofore. There was also
an informal discussion Of the prospects
of brigade encampment. There are
many members of the guard who re-
gard such a thing as an impossibilit
since the outbreak of the war, but they
have not taken into consideration the
fact that the money is appropriated for
that purpose and the funds are now ly-
ing in the Treasury awaiting the orders
Oh lne commanding SeNerdl.
While this appropriation is already
made. it does not become available till
the end of the fiscal year and can be
used for no other purpose. 1t is quite
likely. therefore, that the District Ma
tional Guard will camp somewhere this
Summer. The location of the camp is
not yet being considered.
The topic that is upperInost in the
minds of the officers at present is to find
the best and quickest way to fill up
their depleted commands.
The several companies that compose
the First Regiment are perhaps in bet
ter condition, numerically speaking,
than those of the other regiment. They
have few men and fewer officers in the
field than the Second, so that the work
of reorganization will not be difficult.
IN the Second. however, all is chaos.
There is not q complete company in the
regiment and some are without com
missioned officer. The highest ranking
officer in the command is Capt Streeks,
who is in charge of the regiment, and
the battalions are under the command
of first lieutenants, all except the Sixth,
which is under the care of a captain.
Lieut. Mattingly. of the Fifth Battalion.
was placed in charge of what remained
of Company A, Fourth Battalion, and
has succeeded in putting things in or
der and the company WIN once more
resume the even tenor of its way. ..
There was a meeting OF the remnants
of the Light Battery al the armory last
night. Lieut.. Toepper. the only surviv-
ing commissioned officer, was in charge
and expressed surprise at the number
of men that were present. He said that
the battery would commence to drill
in the various sections are filed. Be
fore the formation of the volunteer reg
iment 1t was expected that the District
would be represented in the field by
battery of light artillery that would
eclipse anything of that kind outside of
the regular service. Mai, Charles O.
Hine came all the way from Ohio TO
take command and instruct the men in
their duties as artillerymen. When it
was found that there would only be a
regiment of infantry from the District,
Capt. Hine secured a position as major
of the Second Battalion. Senior First
Lieut.. Griffith became first lieutenant of
Company E, and Second Lieut. Broome
commenced the organization of a COM
pany Of immunes that We're mustered
into the service the early part of the
week, and left here for Fredericksburg,
, H.
After a long wait the District is at
last to have a naval reserve battalion
that will place ii in the front rank of
the sea going militia Of the country. The
officers of the battalion have received
their commissions from the President
and they have opened a recruiting Office
in the rifle gallery of the Center Mar
ket Armory, where one officer Will be
found TO receive recruits after Z o'clock
in the evening.
The officers are nearly all graduates
of the Naval Academy at Annapolis,
and have had a thorough schooling in
the naval service. Commander r. p.
Haines is in command and he will be
at the armory today from to 5 o'clock,
when the medical examination of the
recruits already enlisted will take place.
The officers SO far commissioned beside
Commander Haines are Lieut.. Com
mander and Executive Officer w. A.
Megrath, Paymaster Sidney Beaver,
Navigator J. A. Colwell, and Chief En-
gineer A. E. Smith.