The herald., 1898-04-02

patch either the squadron or the ships from
the gulf feet on a mission of that kind.
However, should such decision be arrived
at. In the absence of a declaration Of war,
the interception Of the feet would be an
| entirely arbitrary matter on our part 1t
is true that there is added danger to us
from the presence Of the fleet at Porto
o, but my opinion is that we could sue
.Ssssfully resist its approach and take care
of our interests"
MILITARY INFORMATION
The military formation division Of the
war department has in preparation pub
LEGATION giving great mass of information
concerning the militia of the different
states and territories based upon returns
for 1897. 1t IL of particular interest at this
time, in view of the possibility of this re-
serve army being called upon for active
military duty. For the sake Of ready refer-
ence, there has been prepared a succinct
summary showing the more important fea-
lures of the operations Of the guard. The
total authorized strength is 1874 ,S4S more
than the organized strength. Oklahoma has
the smallest force. 500. and New York the
largest.
There are regularly organized state hos
pital or ambulance corps in California.
Georgia, Illinois, Indiana. Maine, Massa-
chusetts, Minnesota. New Hampshire. New
Jersey, New York. Oregon, Rhode Island.
Utah, Vermont and the District of Column
bia. Many of the states have very COM
plete and efficient regimental hospital and
ambulance corps. Signal corps are re-
ported as organized in number of states.
Official state encampments of instruction
kI-t- cko knc 1907
The duration of the encampment varied
from two days in Nebraska to ten days In
the District of Columbia. six days being
the average. Regular troops encamped
with state troops in Alabama. California,
Texas. Michigan. Minnesota. Tennessee
and Vermont.
Seventeen states, Connecticut. Georgia,
Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota.
Montana. New Hampshire, New York,
North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island. Ten
nessee, Texas. Vermont and Wisconsin, are
reported as owning their camp grounds.
As to armament, the conditions are:
Infantry-All Of the states except Della
ware. Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana and New
York are completely armed with the
Springfield rife, caliber As. In New York
the Remington rifles are now being ex-
changed for the Springfield rifle, caliber 40.
Cavalry-The cavalry Of all the states is
armed with the Springfield earbine. caliber
As, except Illinois, Louisian q, Oregon, South
Carolina and New Mexico. The Illinois cav
airy Is reported same as in regular serv-
ice." The greater part Of the cavalry Is
also armed with the saber and revolver In
addition to the carbine.
ArtilleryAThirty-on out Of the thirty
nine states having artillery organizations
have one or more Calling guns. Many Of
the states have the 32 breech-loading rifles.
but a large proportion Of the artillery
armament is old and out Of date.
EQUIPMENT
The equipment in 1897, though in slightly
better shape than the year before. Is still
far from complete. Considerable improve
ment was shown in the care Of the equip
ment. In almost all cases the artillery
harness is old and practically worthless.
Most Of the field and staff officers In all
the states own their mounts. There was
slight increase in 1897 IN the number Of shell
ter tents. The tentage is reported as am
pie for the entire guard Of Colorado, Con- |
necticut, Delaware, Kansas. Nebraska, |
New York. North Carolina. Pennsylvania,
vermont, washington, Wisconsin and the
District Of Columbia
Weekly driTs by company and field exer-
cises were held in many states and twenty
states report a regular course Of instruc-
ton at the home stations during the winter
months. Guard duty was performed in a
manner far from satisfactory. There was
a marked increase in the amount of out |
post duty. Target practice was held In
states.
Though many Of the states permit the |
existence Of independent commands, the |
tendency IS more to discourage their sup |
port or organization particularly in the |
vicinity Of the home stations Of the guard, |
for the reason that they absorb material |
that would otherwise find its way into the |
ranks Of the regular organization, and, be-
sides, not being subject to the uniform ad- |
and discipline OF the regular |
state forces. they cannot be counted on in |
In the following states and territories |
the guard was called on to aid the civil |
authorities in maintaining the law: Ala |
bama. California, Colorado. Illinois, Ken
lucky. Ohio. Pennsylvania, Texas, Wash
lngton and New Mexico.