The Oskaloosa herald., 1902-08-14
THE BEST OF ALL.
Camp Lacey Was Never Excelled
In History of Guard.

Colonel Caughlan, in command of the
Fiftieth owa, which broke camp Mon
day. remained until yesterday to see
that everything was adjusted. When
asked by Herald representative how
the camp suited him he replied:
ut is the very best camp that the,
Fiftieth eyer had and we shall all look
Nsack tofhe school at oskaloosa as an
eS~sed8gly profitable one. It's results
will De, far reaching and permanent in
nature. In the first place we got
started off on the right foot by having
with us Samuel Gibson, of the regular
army. who ed as Sergeant Major.
The seryid this officer were in
valuable. 4 hold of matters the
first thing at Nd mount and set
the non-comm Ia officers right.
and his INSTRUCT om the start was
of sort that Cd not be otherwise
than beneficial.
by the way, II Is one thing lack
ing iesrrr1ard. >fThere is almost a
tot7 -e OF that snap and finish
thai apparent in the regular sol
did We don't seem to be able to
aa )lish our work with the soldierly
~ Itch, the exactness and the firm
4 THAT marks the doings Of the reg
srs. Nor is it possible to create this
atmosphere about a camp that is held
but for few days. The camps are as
long as many Of our citizen soldiers
can afford to be from their homes and
their places of business, but the time
allowed to the military school is far
too short
II believe that the state guard is be-
coming better year by year and the
officers who are in command are doing
all in their power to bring this about
The trouble lies mostly with the com
panies. They will 80 to their homes
today and camp life is laid aside.
Weeks and months will pass before
some of the company members will
take up a gun for drill and by this
time the effect of the lessons taught az
camp will have passed away entirely.
The company officers are not to blame
for this, but the trouble lies with the
men in the ranks. II you are a
guardsman you should take enough
interest in your company to at least
be present at roll calls and drills
Drilling must be persisted in everlast-
ingly The finish comes to the soldier
in no other way.
He must be drilled until obedience to
commands becomes mechanical and
until movements are eXecutd without
conscious effort. The finished musician
looks at the notes not at the keys be-
fore him and the printer watches the
copy not the letter boxes in the case
1t is this way with the sldier. Untn
his movements become mechanical in
drill there will be absent that finish
so necessary to make the good soldier.
Another thing, the boys should be
| more ambitious in their work No
man can be good soldier without be
ing ambitious. The men should have
have a desire to stay with the guard
and not drop out with the expiration
of their. enlistment Officers should
come up with the ranks and the
guardsman who has a long term of
service to his credit is the most likely
to be advanced. It has not been so
much this way in the past, know, be
cause we have had so little of ma
terial of this sort upon which to draw
but the guard is becoming better year
by year and the long service men are
doing their part toward this better
ment.
1.-THE state of Iowa has done what
it could to encourage the enlistd men
| to continue in the service, and it re-
wards continued service in the guard
with decorations thatare greatly priced
hu
| for FIVE. ten and fifteen years service.
| This little attention has done much to
keep many men in the guard"
"A sort of lively interest is main
| tanned when there is company rivalry
or a strife for first place-to be the
| crack" company in the regiment.
| Officers are encouraging this and find
| that it promotes company interest and
| pride where other measures have
| failed"
"The rivalry in the companies of the
Fiftieth regiment is not great. Some
companies excel in one thing and
some in another, and the average that
places a company in the LEAD does not
always ten the story as it really APP
| pears"
Oskaloosa people have treatd the
| regiment in royal manner. We can
not speak too highly Of the hospitality
of the people of this city. Certainly
we shall never forget the boys of Com
pany F, 51st, for the many things that
they have done for US"
''The officers have liked the idea of
having the camp in a neutral city.
That is. holding the camp in place
thai has no company in the regiment
| encamped. The people have no pets
| and the several companies oil the regi-
| ment are thus on an equal footing be-
fore the public so far as attentions are
| concerned. II Is very probable that
this plan VIII be followed more gen
orally hereafter"
Eyes, it was a good camp. | wish
that we could have had a couple OF
more weeks just like the one that
has passed so quickly and so pleas
antly."