The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-08-03
AMERICA 5 SANOANARMY
NATIVE GUARD BEST DRILLED
IN WORLD.
Marine Ford Who Organized Guard
and Brought 1t to Present Efficiency
Talks of His Men.

The man to whom the credit of or |
ganizing the famous Tutuila Native !
Guard and making them one of the (
finest drilled bodies of men in the world, |
is aboard the cruiser Philadelphia. I
His name is p f. Ford, Jr. and he is |
a marine in the United States navy.
Ford is now on his way home as his
term of enlistment is ended. He pro-
poses to re-enlist however and will then
be sent back to Pago Pago where he
will probably continue to keep a gen
eral supervision over the guard.
According to Ford and officers on the
Philadelphia the native guard is one
of the finest bodies of men in the Unit
ed States service. They are not quite
as proficient in the use of the rifle as
are the white forces Of Uncle Sam but
when it comes to drilling they are said
to be superior to any other body of
men in the entire service.
The inception of the guard began in
May of last year. 1t was decided to
organize two divisions Notice was
sent out to the various chiefs that each
village would be entitled to it's proper
ton of men. The idea of becoming
soldiers caught the fancy of the natives
Immediately and the result was that
practically every young man on Tutu-
lila and Manua islands owned by the
Unite. States was a candidate. Ford
He was thus enabled to get the pick
of all the men on the islands and, in
consequence, the guard is one of the
most magnificent set of men to be seen
anywhere. 1t proved an easy task for
them to pass the physical examination.
The requirements were similar to those
for entering the regular army. Admis-
sion to the guard was generally deter
mined however by the ability of the
n Tn iTn n 6cre1
of the English language. All of the
candidates were tried out" by Ford
and finally in June of the same year
the selections were made and the men
sworn in.
Two divisions were organized. For
the island of Tutuila there were 3S men
stationed at Pago Pago while for the
Manua Islands force of 20 was sworn
in, The latter body of men is stationed
at the town of Tau. The men were re-
quired to enlist for four years. For
wages they were promised SIG a month
for privates. Two corporals receive
$40 each, one sergeant $24 and two
first sergeants, who take alternate
rank as officers of the day $50 each.
In addition, tho men are given a 50 ra-
| ton. Once selected the next work was
to drill them. Ford did this thorough
| ly. He put them through the regula-
| ton manual of arms in use in the SER
| vice. For fourteen months he served
with them and when he left they were
| able to go through a regular company
| drill.
within a few weeks" said Ford,
they had picked up the commands and
were able to follow them without the
| slightest difficulty | gave the COM
| mands in English but so apt and en-
| thusiastic were the natives that they
were not confused in the least l ven
! ture to say that they are the superior
of any other part of our service in
I, point of excellence of drill. They liked
the idea of being soldiers. The ques-
tion of pay did not, l think. enter the
| slightest into the matter. One of the
| sergeants can take the company and
! drill them as well as | can.
THE principal weakness however
was in shooting Like every native
| they had not the slightest conception
of the use of SIGHTS. When the guns
were first Piven them they did not un-
| derstand what to do with the sights.
When a native shoots he puts the gun
up and, without the slightest attempt
| to take aim, fires in the direction of
the object he wants to hit He simply
| let's the gun go bang, bang and if it
| hits, all right and if it don't it's all
right. They all shoot too high. With
careful trainir~ however they have
made remarkable improvement in their
| shooting. At the recent test fifteen
| qualified as sharpshOoters and thirty
as marksmen. They We're tried at the
regular A and A army and navy tar
gets RANGING from 100 to 600 yards.
so far as their efficiency is concern
ed. | regard them as a very valuable
addition They can be effectively used
as the advance of landing parties in
| expeditions against other natives. They
are absolutely devoid of fear. / do not
think, however, that they would be of
any great use i'm fighting against white
races, for ! think that no dark skinned
race can cope with the whites. one
drawback to their efficiency is the fact
that they are not good bushmen They
can maintain a certain amount of si-
lence but once get "A party Of them to-
gether and it is impossible to keep
them as quiet as is demanded of a
scouting party
"They are resolute men however and
will execute an order to the strictest
letter of the law. One has to be very
careful what sort Of order is given tC
the guard for they will certainly put
1T into effect at any almost any cost
They We're nut though some sham bat
ties and skirmishes. There was ten
dency however when the whole GROVE
got to firn~ to disregard the instruc-
|
their old method and blaze away in
discriminatory In the actual care OF {
gun they can beat the world. ioL
have no conception of the attention
which one of those men Pives to his
rifle.
Their uniforms are quite origina
from the standpoint of an army or nav,
man. They wear red turbans, Whit
navy undershirts, blue dun"aree lava
Iavas with two red straps around tn
hem. Their feet and legs are bare
This uniform is especially adapted L
that country, however
o Mr.. Ford is justly proud Of his tw
companies. The men are in no sens
police and attend to guarding the Gus
tom house and jail. Each town has IT
own police system and the guard ar
in no way connected with them. IN
guard are regularly enlisted in IN
United States service. None Of the ma
| tives hold any commission rank al
| though the Detty officers like sergeant
and corporals are natives.