Evening star., 1902-01-01
THE ANNUAL REVIEW
CONTINUED from Thirteenth Page.)


rifle, and the shipment of small arms is
expected in the near future.
The brigade participated in the parade
on the occasion of the second Inauguration
of President Mckinley. March 4. and made
an excellent showing. The annual en-
campment was held near Leesburg, Va,
from July Is to July %. and proved the most
satisfactory and instructive in the history
OF the organization. Field maneuvers on n
somewhat elaborate scale formed part OF
the work The assistant secretary of war,
the Lieutenant general commanding the
army, the president of the board of Conn
missioners of the District of Columbia and
other prominent officials visited the camp.
Col. Henry MAY of the 1st Regiment,
who had been relieved from duty pending
proposed inquiry to his qualifications
10 hold his commission, was, after long
drawn out wrangle. restored to duty. BY
reason of i'll health Major Theodore Mosher,
United States army, was relieved from
duty as adjutant general of the District
militia, bu; his condition having improved
very materially the order was revoked
The local brigade was allotted $1,000 from
the annual appropriation of 81 100000 for
arming and equipping the organized militia
of the country.
Major Jesse B. K. Lee. 1st Battalion, re-
signed, and Captain S. Porter House was
promoted to fill the vacancy.
A novel point. involving the constitu-
tiopality of the local militia law. raised
the 18th of December in connection with
petition for writ of mandamus to compel
the commanding general to revoke the or
der discharging 'in the interest of the SER
vice E. Franklin Lord of the Engineer
Corps. The effect of the order, Lord claims.
Is to deprive him of his alleged interest in
personal property owned by the corps. The
proceedings instituted in court are the out
come of a factional upheaval that marred
the even tenor of affairs in the Engineer
Corps last summer.
~ For the first time in the history of the
brigade the troops received compensation
for their services, the initial payment being
made the Ith of February to cover the ser
fa- la- I,nlf Of rhn
The second payment occurred in July. while
the brigade was in camp at Leesburg.
The proposition to erect new armory
building was again agitated the latter part
of the year.
The naval battalion of the District of Co
lumbia National Guard the 9th of July
started on its annual cruise aboard the
United States steamship Fern. The out
Ing proved peasingly beneficial, and ex-
tended down the river and Chesapeake bay
and on the ocean for target practice.
The work of renovating and refurnishing
the United States steamship Oneida, con-
verted yacht loaned the naval battalion.
was completed. The Oneida is declared to
be the handsomest craft now on the Poto-
mac river.
Commander Robert P. Hams and Chief
Engineer Thomas w. Power rendered their
designations. The vacancies have not vet
been filled.
Fires and the Department..
Many changes have been made in the
fire department during the twelve months
just ended and many responses to alarms
were made. The most important change in
the department was the retirement of Chief
Joseph Paris, who had spent many years
in the service, and the appointment of Mr..
Robert W. button as his successor Under
the new chief many reforms have been
instituted and numerous changes have been
made to promote the efficiency of this i'm
portant branch of the District service Con-
gress provided increases in the salaries of
the hremen, tellermen and stokerS. Fore
man F. j. Wagner promoted to be
third assistant chief engineer. Chief Dut-
ton instituted a change in the method of
paying the members of the department.
Under the new method the entire depart
ment is paid off in less than two hours
while under the old system practically an
entire day was consumed. Numerous
changes have been made in the numbers of
alarm boxes and there has been an i'm
prOvement shown in the manner of putting
up boxes An effort was made to have pri-
Eate alarm boxes placed in hospitals and
asylums and the work was begun, but as
the appropriation was insufficient the work
was not carried far. Several new compan-
les We're installed. including chemical COM
panles, IN the suburbs, combination wag-
on and the water tower.
A fireman is now stationed at the theaters
at every performance. In November the
annual parade of the department was high
ly successful although the number of men
in line was smaller than usual. The num-
ber was reduced for the reason that Chief
Dutton objected to leaving any part of the
city without full protection in case of fire
In his estimates for the coming fiscal wear
Chief Dutt1n asked for Substa ntial increases
in every direction. He not only asked for
additional companies, but also for increased
salaries. During the year there was only
on fatal accident Fireman Charles A.
keefe of truck was killed at VI street and
connecticut avenue. when the truck and a
MetropoItan electric car met the cross
lis Il Iarr- 90.
month One of the most disastrous fires
during the year occurred during the night
before the Inauguration of Pres'den. Nc
klnley. kuOX's storage house on Virginia
avenue near 4le street was destroyed and
It's contents went up in smoke. The esti-
mated damage was about $1O0,GO0. About
the middle of January the big building of
the Pope Bicycle Manufacturing Company
No nj 18th stree; northwest was de-
stroyed by fire The loss was estimated at
slF.Vun- No other fire caused as much loss as
100000. Damage amount ng to about SO
eo was done TO the building and stock of
NJ Dyrenforth go Pennsylvania avenue.
W llldrds Hotel was the scene of an ex-
citing ire during the first month of the
year Some of the guests We're frightened,
but none was injured. During the year
the Merchants Hotel Dotson's butterine
factory, the Lawyers Club. Mayer &
PettitS clothing store and w H MfchsePs
feed establishment were among the busi-
ness houses that We're badly damaged.
During the fall a number of threateninc
IiTtS occurred III the woods about the citV,
but very little damage was done. Several
fires occurred in the counties of Maryland
and Virginia, destroying valuable resi-
dencts.
Local ReformatOries.
The dedication OF the new assembly hall
az the boys reform school was the most
important addition 10 the local refornato-
tories. y movement started in April for
the reclamation OF youthful criminals at
tracted the attention of those Interested in
this important work. The action of the
Commissioners in selecting a site for the
new almSh0use near Shepherds landing
seemed 10 give general satisfaction The
annual reports of the reform schools
showed that these institutions were con-
tinuinS the good work of caring for and
reforming the youthful persons committed
to the keeping of those in charge of them.
The number Of prisoners at the workhouse
and Jail showed about the same average
as during the preceding year. Early in the
year. about the 10th of January the Pres
ident made one jail prisoner happy by
committing his death sentence and sending
him 10 the penitentiary for life. This pris-