The Washington times., 1903-07-19

there is anything the National
Guardsmen of the District of CO.
Iumbia like it is the annual en-
campment of the organization. which
covers a period of ten days. Were it
not for the camp, which is established
far away from home to make the boys
feel home-sick before it is over, the lot
of the citizen soldiers would be a sorry
one. They would all be armory soldiers
and nothing more. They get experience
IN actual field duty while at camp and
that is what they need in order to be
OF service to their country in time of
war.
Gen. George II. Harries has long since
realized the need of giving his men
field experience. and today the annual
outing is looked upon as the most i'm
.portant duty the guardsmen have to per-
form. The majority of them make every
effort in order to get away from their
cuisines duties: some have great trouble
in obtaining leave.
Hard to Choose a Camping Ground.
This year General Harries has had
trouble in selecting a site for the en-
.campment. Twice he made arrange
ments for the outing. and as often the
surgeons of the Guard made adverse re-
bports on the places because of the I'M
lsanitary condition of the place selected.
1T was said by the Guard officials last
fall that the old plan of taking the
boys to some little "one-horse" Virginia
OF Maryland town would be abandoned.
and that a series OF land and field
maneuvers would be planned and the
place would be somewhere near one Of
the lower Potomac River forts.
The guardsmen have waited long It'd
patiently to hear something about the
plans for the outing and we're rewarded
by receiving the intelligence that the
medical men had made a report to Cen
eral Harries and set forth IN 1t that there
was too much malaria, too many mos
ouitoes. and too much of a whole lot of
other things that woui jeopardize the
health of the soldiery. Then the gener-
al selected a site near Marshall Hall,
Nd. for a two-fold reason. The boys
nual encampment for four or FIVE years
and they have been to Gaithersburg.
Md, and Leesburg, Va. and have seen
all there was to be seen. Then, again,
the site was near Fort Washington and
It was planned to have the guardsmen
make a nocturnal attack on the post just
before returning to the city. The medi-
cal men got busy once again. after
brief rest, and promptly reported TO
General Harries that the water was in
suficient and was procured with diff
Guilty They further averred that the
water was contaminated. and II the
giardsmen were compelled 10 drink the
water they found there. only half Of
the brigade would be brought back out
OF pine boxes. Some chagrined and much
perplexed. General Harries. after
having perfected his plans to take the
men to Marshall Hall. reluctantly re-
scinded the orders relative TO the Mar
shall Hall encampment and before Ieav-
ing the city to go to Detroit to attend
the grand reunion of the Spanish War
Veterans, he authorized the issue Of
orders for the Guard to go to Lees
burg, Va.
A Quaint Little Virginia, Village.
Leesburg is a quiet little Old Domin-
ion hamlet. inhabited by the most hos
pitable sort Of people. The town is hid
den in the mountains and the guardsmen.
having been there on several occa-
sions, wonder how the railroad officials
ever found the town so as to stop the
trains there. The little village is ex-
actly forty-one miles from the National
Capital and it requires about two hours
or more 10 make the trip on the trains
which carry the guardsmen down. Al
though the troops have usually been
taken on the annual outing about the
middle of July. this year they will not
start until next Thursday morning, July
%. They will pitch their tents on the
spacious undulating plain known as
GEORGES Farm" on the outskirts of
Leesburg. Immediately upon their ar
rival. and eat and sleep under canvas
until August /. By that time the men
will have acquired some much needed
knowledge about soldering and VIII
Rave been bronzed by the sun which
beams down upon the unshaded Vir-
ginia fields.
Ten Days Of Enjoyment.
Going 70 camp is an all-important
duty, but then the guardsman, II he is
the right sort of a fellow. can make it
ten days OF enjoyment and pleasure
instead Of ten days OF drudgery. as some
of them regard il.
The quick. snappy drills executed in
the drill hall are widely different from
the field maneuvers seen al camp. The
majority Of the citizen-soldiers eat of
of plates, drink out Of tin cups. and cit
on chairs Some Of them use napkins and
say grace. provided they do not live in
boarding houses. At camp they do not
see anything like the above enumerated
household articles. They take pot
luck" and make no complaint.
when you're in Rome. do as Romans