Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-12
COMPANY c THE cHAMPNIoN
MidEets OF High school Battalion
Win in Competitive
Drfn.

After q drill Of more than usual merit
from the standpoint OF a high school cadet
company. the light blue and red 81 Com
pany { waved victorious az the Young
Mems Christian Association park last night
in the competitive drill Of the companies
Of the High school battalion for the honor
Of being designated as the color company
for the coming year.
With threatened storm and an almost in
tolerable heat, the people OF the city
showed their interest in the work Of the
cadets by filling the grRndstand at the
park comfortably long before the compa-
MES were ready to begin their drill. The
judges were Captains Wright, Groves and
McClintock Of the regular army.
The rules Of the contest as laid down by
Commandant Tompsett provided that each
company should have fifteen minutes to
present its drill. Twenty-one evolutions
were provided and three minutes in the
manual OF arms.
Half an hour after the time fixed In the
program Company D appeared under the
pickering lights, which half concealed the
work Of the companies all night, and at the
command Of Captain Harry Kelly began its
evolutions. II took the company twelve
and one-hRlf minutes Of its allotted time
70 ptEAuIH the tNOllAlUubs company a
was the second to enter. 1t required the
full fifteen minutes for this company to
reach the final order, which it did by for
getting to perform two Of the required
movements. Company B completed its
work in twelve minutes. Company E took
the full time allowance. Then came Com
psny c. the lilliputian company Of the
school. 1t took the little men just eleven
minutes TO perform the required evolutions
and it was the only company in the bat
talon to perform every evolution laid down
in the program. 1t was followed by Com
pany F. which took the full time allowance.
The judges based their averages on the
basis Of ten for each movement, making a
possible score Of 30. The points scored by
the several companies were: c, 1Ss; E.,
1SG; B, 172.3S; A, 1865; D, I6s; F. 17s. Re-
duced TO percentages the averages are:
80. S., 81, SO plus, so and so, in the order
named above.
Following the company drill came the in
diyidual drill for the medal. Thirty-hve
contestants entered the race and the way
they dropped out under the critical eyes Of
the judges was something which broke the
hearts Of their friends. In less than FIVE
minutes the contest narrowed down TO
Hugh Wallace, first sergeant Of Company A,
and Paul WERNER, first sergeant Of Com
pany F. These two non-commissioned Of
hcers, under the command Of the com
mandant Of the battalion, moved like clock
work for as long q time as 1t took to bring
the thirty-three men out Of the line. Then
Sergeant Wernher was found looking TO the
right when his eyes should have been
straight ahead, anG Sergeant Wallace was
declared the winner.
As soon as the Individual drill was com
pleted the battalion was ordered out for
dress parade, and many Of the people in
the grandstand had their first opportunity
Of hearing the battalion band. At this
parade the announcement Of the victory Of
Company c was made and the colors were
placed in its care.
A humorous touch was here given the
proceedings from the fact that the two
smallest lads in the company, which in
Guides the smallest in the school, were Sc
lected to guard the colors, which were car
ried by the color sergeant, c. Robinson,
who stands six feet two Inches. With
all Of the pomp Of the army the colors were
assigned to the victorious company for q
year and the contest was az an End, the
people leaving to the strains OF the bat
talon band.