The San Francisco call., 1899-05-20
CADETS IN COMPETITION
GRAND PARADE BY THE ENTIRE
FIRST REGIMENT.
A Large Crowd at Mechanics Pavil-
ion Loudly Applauds the In
tricate Movements of the
Young Soldiers.

Company D, League of the Cross Ca
diets, of Sacred Heart Parish, carried off
the honors last night at Mechanics Pa
vil!on in the fifth annual competitive
drill of the First Regiment of that organ
ization. Two other companies competed
for the officers trophy, A of st. Mary's S
Parish and H of st. Brendan's.
The seating capacity of the Pavilion,
both on the main floor and in the gall
leries, was tested to the full capacity, and
no prettier scene could be imagined than
that presented when the full regiment,
headed by Casassa's band and the League
of the Cross fife, drum and bpgle corps,
made it's appearance on the floor and
passed in review before the stand. In
the absence of Major General Shafter,
who was too i'll to attend. the regular
army was represented in the reviewing
stand by Captain r. H. Noble of General
Skaters staff, and Lieutenants r. A
Brown and I. H. Slavens of the Fourth
Cavalry who had consented to act as
judges of the drill. Major General Dick
inson and Brigadier General Warfeld, of
the National Guard, and their staffs oc-
cupied places of honor in the stand. The
only civilian with them was Mayor Phe-
lam
After the review and inspection con-
Quoted by Major General Dickinson the
regiment marched off and a stirring num-
Der by the band filled in the interval be-
fore the appearance of Company A on
the floor ready to go through the evolu-
tions of the drill prepared for the occa-
sion by Colonel Sullivan When the com
pany did come on, headed by Captain Va
liam c.. Hopper, the cheers showed its
crowd of Well-WiShers, whose hopes of
victory seemed well based as the young
men moved off in the first figures of the
drill.
Before the appearance of the next COM
peting company there was spectacular
skirmish drill by Company d, captain
Dwyer, the men in campaign uniform,
followed by an exhibition of the hospital
corps showing the manner of rendering
first aid to the wounded on the field.
Company H Of St, Brendan's parish fol
lowed in the effort to capture the prize in
the competition. 1t was in command of
Captain ]. Power and was composed of a
splendid looking lot of young fellows, who
seemed to the manner born. They went
at the work cut out for them as though 1t
were an everyday matter and barring a
few bobbles in the beginning seemed to
have struck a winning gait, which they
maintained to the end retiring from the
floor to the music of the great bell in the
center of the Pavilion, which had been
set dinging by one of their admirers.
Company G of st. Brigids parish, rest
ing on the laurels gained in three preced-
ing competitive drills, contented Itself
with an exhibition saber drill that was
almost perfection. 1t cut and slashed to
a man in the most approved style, and
parried and carted and tierced and dug
holes in the pavilion floor with its sabers
until the vast crowd applauded again and
again. Then it was lined up in company
front and the great flag was unfurled
from the roof to its salute.
BY this time Company d had donned
it's parade dress and was marched past
the stand and lined up for the inspec-
ton of the judges before it began what
proved to be the winning movement of
the competition. 1t was commanded by
Captain I. D. Dwyer, with George H.
Sullivan first lieutenant and Vincent Car
roll second lieutenant. The members of
this company were more youthful look
ing than their competitors, and although
they seemed to possess the grace and con-
fidence necessary to carry off the prize,
there were not many who thought they
would They had not been long at drill
when this doubt was succeeded by a GER
tainty that they were the people,
1t was quite noticeable that movements
that had seemed tame and commonplace
when executed by their predecessors on
the floor were fairly electrifying when
performed by the boys of ID. They put
a vim and a dress and a finish into the
drill that was so Soul-SatiSfying that it
was not necessary for the last number
to convince nearly everybody present that
the decision would go to the young fell
lows from Sacred Heart parish. They
they marched off they surrounded their
captain and saluted him with drawn sa-
bers and three times three cheers
Awaiting the decision of the judges the
entire regiment was assembled, and un-
der the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Thomas F. Ryan marched in parade, at
the conclusion Colonel Sullivan announc-
ing that the judges had found in favor of
Company d. The winning command then
marched on and saluted and Mayor Phe-
Ian acting in the stead of Archbishop
Riordan, who was too i'll to appear, pinned
the trophy on to the breast of Captain
Dwyer. and the competition was over. The
band played I'VE Won't Go Home Till
Morning" which some one remarked
was ra ather odd for a temperance Organi-
zation, and everybody made for the cars
One number was cut from the pro-
gramme This was the mastering in of
the entire regiment as an organization into
the League of the Cross Cadets. So much
time had been taken up by the drill that
it was considered impossible to perform
the ceremony in good season and 1t was
postponed to another occasion.