Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-01
YEAR IN THE DISTRICT
Continued from Fifth Page.)


quartermaster general; Major Newmeyer,
chief of ordnance, was made commissary
general. and Major Tierney, Quartermaster
general. was made chief of ordnance; Major
Alexander. inspector general, was made
colonel of the first regiment, to succeed
Col Moore, who resigned; Capt. Ourand
aid-de-camp. was made inspector general
Major Smithmeyer. chief of engineers, re-
signed.
The troop of cavalry was disbanded be-
cause of the expense of maintaining
mounted organization, and for the same
reason the light battery was dismounted
The I'd Separate Company, cyclists. was
made part of the Engineer Battalion, and
assigned as a signal organization Inc
. Sd Separate Company. veterans, was dlS-
banded. The officers of the Engineer Bat
TALON. who had been enlisted men, merely
acting as officers, were commissioned ne
E Sd and 9th Battalons were wiped out OF
existence the two companies of the Sd
Battalion being transferred to the I'd Bat
talon and those of the 9TH Battalion TO the
4th Battalion. Capt Otto G SiInohsoh
formerly of Company A, 9th Battalion. was
. made major of the 9Th Battalion Inc "a
Regiment Band diSbanOed ana pri-
gade band organized In view OF 'lie ne
organization the annual inspection Oh the
troops was not held
The National Guard went into camp at
Fort Washington, Md. June 10. and re-
maired under canvas ten days. the resu! '9
being entirely gratifying. company D. "a
Battalion journeyed to San Antonio. 1eNas,
in July for the purpose OF participating III
interstate competitive drill. me COM
A volunteer detachment OF guardsiieI
visited Sea Girt. n. j., in September and
participated in some of the rifle matches
held there. The brigade was not oinciaHy
represented by a team at Sea Girt-
4 series of rifle matches between COM
pany battalion and regImental teams was
held in the rifle gallery during January,
February. March ana April. The matches
were resumed in December The annual
rifle matches of the National Guard were
held during October at the Ordway range,
in vi no second
ing of the National Rifle Association Inc
meet decided success
Lieut.. Col. Theodore Mosher who had
been connected with the brigade for five
years was relieved from duty in July and
ordered to resume his duties as captain OF
one of the companies of the "a United
States Infantry. Capt. Charles III. Heyl.
captain of the G5d United States Infantry,
assigned to succeed Capt. Mosher as
adjutant general of the District militia,
and was commissioned as such. with the rank
of colonel. Capt. Herbert j. Socum, 18th
United States Cavalry, was assigned TO
duty with the local brigade as instructor.
Late in the year Lieut.. Col. Urell of the I'd
Regiment was made colonel of that com
mand while Major Richard A OBrien OF
the ID Battalion was made lieutenant
colonel of the ID Regiment. Among the
officers who resigned were Major w. Z.
McIntire, Quartermaster general Major E.
r. Campbell of the 4th Battalion. and Capt
E. A Shilling. under whose command Conn
pany Il. I'd Battalion. won the title of
champion military company of the United
States at Savannah, Ga, in 1896, and sec
ond prizes in the interstate drills held at
Memphis. Tenn, in 1885. and San Antonio
Texas. last July. Capt. James E. Bel, in
spector general of rifle practice. and Capt.
II. II. Parmenter. quartermaster. both of
the I'd Regiment. were made Inspector gem
eral of rifle practice and quartermaster
general. respectively. with the rank of
major on the general staff.
The Weather.
The weather presented no especially re-
narkable aspects during the year. The
coolest time was soon after the new year
had begun January %, when the mercury
went down to degrees below zero.
There were two distinct shocks Of earth
quake felt in Washington May 81, Decora
tion day. At the naval observatory the
shock noticed perceptibly. The quake
lasted there about a minute. Only the
Waterman was present At :he weather bu-
feau, and he noticed Eothng out OF the
ordinary. Persons sitting in the upper
rooIrs of the Capitol were conscious of
vibration of the immense building. which
las ed for several seconds. The shock was
felt in different sections Of the city. 1t was
reported by the weather bureau that the
shock lasted FIVE minutes-ifs maximum du-
ration
The city was vistei by a wind storm.
accompanied by terrific doYnpour of
rain. the night of August 10. The damage
slight, but houses in the vicinity of
Washington were struck by lightning.
The hottest day of the year was Satur-
day. September IL. when the mercury
climbed up to % degrees.
Cuban Question.
During the past year the cause of Cuba
has been kept before the people of the Dis
trict and great deal of sentiment in favor
of the freedom of the island has been
shown. On May IL mass meeting was
held in Columbia Theater and prominent
cause Of the afflicted islands. Again. on
June =. there was a similar assemblage at
the National Theater. But the greatest
event of the year of local interest to the
people of the District the heroic act
OF a Washington boy, Karl Decker. who
Rescued Miss Cisneros from a filthy Spanish
prison The grand reception given Miss
Cisneros and Mr.. Decker at Convention
Hall excited much enthusiasm for the
cause Of Cuba
Bridges.
Although no new bridges were construct
ed in this vicinity during the past year,
preliminary steps were taken for at least
four important structures of that charac-
ter. chief of which is the proposed mem
orial bridge across the Potomac from the
old observatory grounds at the foot of New
York avenue to the Arlington reservation
in Virginia. Acting under authority of a
provision of law enacted at the last ses-
SIGN, Lieut.. Col. Charles y. Allen, Corps of
Engineers. in charge of local river and har-
Dor improvements, has conducted a thor
oUgh survey of the site of the proposed
memorial bridge. 1t is expected that his
report on this subject giving The results of
the survey and including plans and osti
mates for the structure will submitted
to the Secretary of War in few days for
transmission TO Congress. Col Allen has
also completed a survey for a bridge across
the Eastern branch of the Potomac on a
lire with Massachusetts avenue extended
eastward, and his report has heeu sub
mitted 10 Congress for action. He recon-
mends the construction Of a steel truss
bridge at an estimated cost of SAG Si3
Another important bridge In cOnte .npla-
ton is that over Rock creek on a line with
Massachusetts avenue extended westward
The site OF this bridge was surveyed by
Capt Il. u. Gaillard. Corps of Engineers
In charge of the Washington aqueduct. I'M
der authority Of a provision of the District
of Colombia appropriation bill approved
March 3, 1877. His report that subject
is now before Congress. He submitted ;go