Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-09

Fifth Battalion Incident Cosed
The report of the court OF inquiry an
| Tointed at the request Of First Lieut.. +.
| Carroll Mattingiy. Company ID. 5ih Bat
TALON. has been referred by the command
Ing general to the Judge advocate general
Tor review. 1t will be remembered that
Lieut. Mattinsly asked that a court OF in
Quiry be appointed In connection with a
| request from Maj. Simonson, the battalion
commander. that Lieut. Mattingly tender
his resignation. A court was accordingly
convened by the regimcntaI commander
several sessions were held and large
| nunoer OF witnesses examined The re-
DOT. mas not ben acted upon by the CON-
manning general, and, of course will not
De made public until such action is taken.
~ Is understood. however. that the court
.ouno against Lieut.. Mattingiy, and sus-
tanned the course pursued by Mai Simon
| sen. VI course, IL would be mere surmise
10 discuss the action on the report to be
taken by the powers that he.
Doings ef the First Battalion.
| Al the regular monthly meeting of the
| First Battalion. Wednesday evening last.
| the following were elected to membership:
T. Harry Hayes. for Company A: W. E.
Durphy. Harry A. Nelson. Company ID: Ar
| thur o. Noble. Maurice HON Her. Company
| ID. The commanding officers of the several
| companies of the battalion were instructed
! 10 muster in at once all recruits who had
been elected, and not wait for the usual
| two months probation required of new
members.
The designations of Capt. Jesse b. h Lee
| OF Company c, Sergt. Major John A. Heyd-
| Ter. and Sergt. John A. Wilkinson OF Com
pany {, and Private Frank n. Wells of
| Company were accepted and the names
| OF Sergt. Major Heydler and Private Wells
| were placed on the veteran roll of the
| corps.
An invitation from the Fourth Regiment.
Maryand National Guard. to attend the
| dedication of their new armory In Balti-
| more. Nd. April IS. 1893. was referred to a
| special committee to see what arrange
ments, II any, could be made for the corps
| 10 go over TO Baltimore on that occasion
but IN view of the probability of the guard
| being called into active service II is not
| seen now the battalion can possibly attend.
II is understood that out of l40 officers
| ana men OF the battalion recently examined
| by the board of surgeons. only five were re-
1 lecteo as notSup to the standard required
| for active service
Louis NJ Nunes an sx-member Of Com
pany "A, now at Atlanta, Ga, has written
| tenoering his services with his old COM
| mand In the event It is called into active
| service.
Report of MINOR Bell.
Major James E. Bell inspector general OF
rine practice. has forwarded to headquar-
ters his joint report for 1886 and 1897 Fol-
| lowing are extracts therefrom:
While the scores show an Improvement
and the brigade figures Of merit is the high
| est in the history of the organization, yet
| l regret to say that the number of men OF
the third class is much larger than II
should be. I'm view of the most excellent
gallery and range facilities which have
been provided Free ammunition, attrac-
tive matches, free transportation. have all
been tried without materially reducing the
NUMBER or men who do not, or will not,
complete their scores. Seven hundred and
d.a6 Srd-
class men, and I43. in 1897, were of the
same class. These lists do not by any
means show the number OF men who are
incapable OF qualifying, as but few would
be found to rank less than of the first
class. II they took the trouble to fire the
required number of shots in the seasons
schedule. The carelessness and indifference
OF the men in failing to perform this very
essential military duty is deserving of the
seN crest censure
The facilities for gallery practice which
have temporarily been deprived the guard
Will be increased and every opportunity
aHorded the men to make up back scores
| and Improve Indifferent ones. The range at
| Ordway Will be open at least five months.
curing which time the regular ordered
| pi actice, voluntary shooting and attrac-
tive matches will certainly place at the
| oisposai OF the men every opportunity
| which could reasonably be asked i'm which
| &c nnlsn anc Improve scores.
Lack of Interest Dssplayed.
1
| menting upon the lack of interest DISPLAYED
| In the fall matches of 1867: specially
that of 1897. which for the numerous and
costly prizes was one of tbe best and most
attractive within my knowledge Less than
lOO guardsmen were entered for these
matches. and In the officers match, in
which there was no entrance fee, with a
| list OF prizes aggregating $50, there were
but two line officers entered.
Il am pleased to say that the rifle prac-
tice season of 1897 did not pass without
leaving one bright and shining example of
| earnest and conscientious work which
can be pointed to with pride. 1 refer to the
record OF Company A. I'd Separate Bat
TALON. with its forty-one officers and men
qualified as sharpshooters, with an average
OF over $50 per man. Capt. J. 8. Tomlinson
deserves all praise for securing this result
His record In other commands i'm connec-
ton with the guard have been worthy of
emulation, but this browning achievement
stands as a monument to what an en-
| thusiastic, energetic officer can accomplish
Il wish to call attention to the fact that
| IT Is the exception when the aiming sight
| ing and position drill is taught the recrui,
Company officers seem to think IL is the
duty OF the inspector Of rifle practice to
attend to such matters. 1 recommend that
| an order be issued. or that attention be
called to the present requirement of the
drill regulations relative TO q portion Of
each drill being devoted to the exercise
II
bers OF the guard who desire 10 improve
their scores was not without beneficial re-
| suits. as indicated by the decrease Ia the
number OK tEird-class men and increase in
| the brigade figures of merit. l therefore
recommend that the practice be contin-
ued and that eighty rounds be issued to
those who. having completed the prescribed
practice. make application for the same
Tut that not more than forty rounds be is
sued to an applicant in one day.
Distinguished Marksmeu,
''It might be well to take into considera-
| ton the propriety of arranging some plan
for passing to the grade of distinguished
| marksmen such members of the guard
who. by reason of there not being an an
nual brigade rife team, the only means at
privilege.
1T has been suggested in this connection
that any soldier who has qualified as a
sharpshooter for nine years may, on his
cwn application. receive the badge Of IN,
ard be SO recommended in orders, but that
1t be NOT obligatory upon his part to pass
to that grade. This proposition was dis