The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-15
ARTLEY WON MEDAL
IN ANNUAL PRIZE DRILL of sA-
VANNAH CADETS.
PRIVATE WALTON SECOND.
500 INVITED GUESTS WITNESSED
AN EXCITING CONTEST.

self the Best Drilled Man-It Took
Nearly Three Hours to Decide
the COntest-COmpany Medal Was
Awarded to Winner by Col. Cor
don in an Interesting Speech.
Private Walton Received so in
GOId-ExhfbitiOn Reflected Credit
the Command.
The prize drill of the Savannah Ca
diets at the Guards Hall last night was
one of the most enjoyable of the an
nual exhibitions and entertainments
given by that popular company. Aft
er two hours and a half hard drilling,
Private w. II. Artley was declared the
winner, and to him was awarded the
company gold medal, while to Private
Findley Walton went the second prize
of IS in gold.
Fully 500 people witnessed the exhi-
bition as guests of the company. The
members of the various commands in
the city, as well as a number of off
GERS from Fort Screven, many of whom
escorted the fair sex, attended the
drill, and gave generous applause to
the excellent drilling of the men. The
manner in which the men executed the
manual of arms reflected credit on
them and on the officers of the COM
pany, and met the appreciation of the
most critical.
The orchestra of the First Regiment
Band gratuitously furnished the mu-
sic for the evening, rendering selec-
| tons during the intermissions in the
drill. At the conclusion of the exhibit
ton, the Cadets and their friends
whiled away the hours pleasantly in
| the dance. Special dance programmes
had been printed. Refreshments were
served during the latter part of the
! evening, and altogether the occasion
was most enjoyable one.
The Contestants in Line.
The company, under the command
| of Capt. West was marched into the
hall promptly at 8 O'clock, and were
| put through a few preparatory COM
mands. 1t was then divided into two
platoons, of seventeen men each, and
the drill was begun, but one platoon
being drilled at the time. The five
men remaining in each of the platoons
were then pitted against each other
| for the final contest. 1t was easily
discernible from the outset that the
| drill would be a long one, for the te-
nacity with which the men stuck to it,
and the scarcity of mistakes showed
| plainly that they were not to be put
| out on a few commands.
The officers of the company alter
mated as judges and commanders, two
of the officers acting in the former ca
| pacity while a third put the men
through the manual of arms. After
| ten minutes of drilling, but two men
| went down. Gradually, one by one,
the line was thinned, until finally the
five who would meet an equal number
from the second platoon were left
standing. These We're: Sergt. Purse,
| Sergt. Willard, Private Patterson,
Private Bevy;raud~ Private Walton.
The drilling in the second platoon
was not as good as that in the first,
the men falling out in more rapid
succession. The five men who sue
Ceeded in avoiding a mistake in the
ordeal were: Sergt. Thompson, Pr-
Yates Coney, ]. d. Artley, w. H. Art
ley and Boron. After a short inter-
mission these were pitted for the final
struggle with the five winners of the
first platoon.
Survival of the Fittest.
1t was truly a case of the survival
of the fittest. and so fit were the con-
testants that the officers found it a
difficult matter to detect an error. Pat
terson, Willard Thompson, ]. D.
| Artley, and Purse were thrown out, In
the order named. The five men who
| remained will comprise the Cadets
Regimental team in the annual contest
which takes place on May Is, there be-
ing four men and an alternate from
each company in that contest.
1t took long time to drill down any
of the men who We're left standing
the difficulty experienced arguing
| strongly the fact that the test to which
the men had been put was fair one
for those who were left were il could
easily be seen, were the best drilled
men in the command. Priv. Boron
was the first to make a mistake. Wher
Priv Coney was next thrown out be-
cause of the position of his hand ir
the present arms" an excited hum
of conversation followed. for it was
he who was then the wearer of the
medal
There were now three men left
standing, and each was being watched
by an officer with a trained eve
Load! Ready! Aim!-Click went Priv
Levy's gun before the command Fire
and out went Levy. There were now
| out TWO Blue bottles lett handing on
the wall" Privates Artley and Walton
and every eye in the hall watched every
| move of the two contestants, as stand
ing before the large audience, with
their minds concentrated, they ex-
ecuted the commands with precision
and despatch.
Down to Two Men.
Both men We're sure of a prize. but
each was determined to get first. This
was impossible however. 1t finally
came to point, efter fully fifteen min
utes drilling where the officers began to
score close points, for they saw that
unless the strictest execution was en-
forced there was a fair chance of their
remaining up all night. The end came
| when, at the command Port arms, -
| Private Walton twisted his gun a trife
more than is countenanced in the
| strictest enforcement of the manual of
arms. When Walton was thrown out.
| the members of the company rushed
forward and warmly congratulated
both Artley and his worthy second.
At the conclusion of the drill the
prizes were presented by Col G. A.
Gordon. In delivering them Col. Cor
don addressed the men in a most in
| teresting and soldAerly manner ex-
| planning to them the benefits derived
from military life, recounting the lau-
rels won by the Savannah Cadets, and
urging them to renewed effort. He
! complimented the winners of the two
prizes, saying that they had just cause
to feel proud of the honor of being de-
| Clared the best drilled mon in the Co