Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-16
ARMORY ECHOES,
A Challenge to the Militia from
Hawaiian Sharpshooters.
Gossip as to Candidates for Comms,
stoned Officers in the Battery and
the Wellington Rifles.

the Wellington hltleS,
The members of the militia have been
hard at work for the past two months
mastering the new tactics which have
recently been adopted in the United
States army The men have already
learned the primaries of the new man
aul, and the work now is directed to
holding their knowledge by practice.
The rifles with which the companies are
armed are not conducive to an easy
drill in the new manual, and a new rifle
has been adopted by the state. Col
! Clark of the second regiment sent out
a blank last week, upon which the cap
ta,ns OF the companies are to make a
| demand for enough new rifles to equip
the commands and for fatigue caps of
| the latest pattern, adopted by the adj
! jutant general. The new cap will be of
the regular army style, not as handy
as the present cap but more stylish
Besides this, Col. Clark has prepared
a resume of the work done by the sec
ond during the past year and has sent
! it to each company, together with a set
OF questions and answers, in which the
| enlisted members are to be schooled.
| In speaking of the seconds record for
the year, Col. Clark speaks highly of the
| record made in craftsmanship. The
rifle practice work has been marked by
the large number of men qualified. 1t
| is stated that $2991. 92 has been spent
by the regiment for rife practice. OF
this amount, $1039 so was paid by the
state, the difference coming out Of the
| treasures of the companies. During the
year the second performed nine days
| duty-three at the dedication of the
Grant memorial in New York, five in
camp and one in the annual drill. The
attendance during these tours OF duty
was So per cent.
The members of the regiment have re-
ceived practical instruction in bicycle
! reconnaissance map drawing practice,
march and camp-out, military occu-
patton of city and outlying towns in
| an emergency.
Inspector General of Rifle Practice
| Curtis Guild has received a challenge
from Honolulu for a rifle match. AS
there are many crack shots in all of the
regiments of the state, 1t is likely that
the challenge will be favorably acted
upon. The challenge is as follows:
Headquarters LIST Co. Sharpshooters.
Honolulu, Dec. 81, 1897
| Inspector General of Rifle Practice,
Adjutant Generals Office, Boston,
Mass
Dear Sir: AS captain of the list COM
| pany of sharpshooters of Hawaii, 1
write to ask your assistance in arrang-
ing an international rifle match with
some team from your state organization.
We would be willing to shoot team
| OF twenty from any one regiment or ten
from any company, ten or twenty
rounds per man, at 200 yards, and later
| try a match at 200 and 500 yards.
| Our last foreign match was in Octo-
ber 1896, when we defeated the Denver
Rife Club team Of ten men by a score
of sos to S57, 20 shots, at 200 yards.
We use the Winchester single-shot
military rifle (45-calibre), with Buffing-
ton sights in most cases, and the mill
| tary target (Sx10 bullseye).
| If you can arrange match for us in
the spring or early summer, please add
/ dress me as soon as you can and
| obhge. Yours very respectfully,
Frank S. Dodge.
| We have just tried the new figure tar
4 get, but like the old one much better,
4 as being a better test of Workmanship.
F. S. D.
The request of Capt Joseph Bruso,
! Jr., Of Battery B for retirement with
! the rank of major, is the first request of
( the kind to be made from this section of
| the state. The friends and members
| of Battery B did not wish Capt. Bruso
to resign, and as he himself did not wish
| III
may still be kept on the list and be con-
sidered connected with the militia. 1t
is believed that Capt. Brusos request
will be granted.
The election of a captain for the bat
! terry will bring out number Of names
and it is a question if there is dozen
men in the command who are at pres
ent agreed upon a successor to Capt.
| Bruso. The commander has had a
list of the company property made out,
| and is anxious to turn over the prop
/ erty to the man next in charge. Until
| this is done and some action is taken
at headquarters on Capt. Brusos re-
quest, an election cannot take place.
The Wellington Rifles are without a
captain. The company is not yet re-
cruited to its full strength, and until
| it is full Lieut.. Fish will not ask for
an election When it does take place, it
is almost a certainty, according to the
! talk of many of the men, that Second
Lieutenant c. s. Holden will be elected
! to the eaptaincy. The feeling which
/ set in against Lieutenant Fish last year
because of his attitude on the basket
| ball question is still strong, and if he
aspires to the captaincy he will be dis
appointed, according to the men. The
election of Lieut.. Holden would leave a
scramble for the vacant lieutenancy.
This will go to Sergt. Gray il he will
accept the commission. There are many
men who have their eyes on shoulder
straps, but they would stand no show
against Sergt. Gray. Among those who
are named as candidates are Corp. Pre-
BILE, Corp. Jordan, Sergt. Earle, Sergt.
Pierce. Corp. Preble is probably the only
one of this quartet who is willing to put
! some work in the canvass.
The annual meeting Of the City
Guards was held Thursday night. The
report Of the company treasurer was
read, showing the company's finances to
be in good shape. Lieut.. NJ H. Tisdell
was reelected to the office. Five appli-
cations for enlistment were received
! The committee from the light Infan-
try promise another enjoyable social on
the evening of the 26th. The company
orchestra will furnish music.