Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-10

M7RD
.~~DzV

ion In regard to the real need of more ad-
equate protection for the President. AS TO
how that ought to be done there is quite
diversity of views. The creation of pure
ly military guard, surrounding the Presi-
dent and his Office and home with soldiers.
does not meet with entire favor, and would
probably prove to be irkSome to the occu-
pant of the White House. and in many re-
spects obnoxious to the public. A better
method. it strikes me, would be to provide
some system by which the ways and means
of securing the safety of the person of the
President far that is possible would
be intruSted to some man of wide expert
ence and superior intelligence He might
be regarded as a bureau chief, having as his
SubOrdinateS the secret service men or de-
tectives who might constitute the guard Of
the President. The entire force would take
their orders from this chief, and to him
would be intrusted the duty Of arranging
all the details for taking care of the Pres
ident, whether he Is in the city or abroad
on some trip.
This would do away with the mistakes
of judgment which must inevitably occur
when such arrangements are left to less
experienced or inferior heads. The Presi-
dent ought not to be confined as prisoner,
neither should the freedom of movement
which he should enjoy subject him to I'M
usual peril. salary of five or six thou
sand dollars year ought to secure COM
petent man, and with proper qualifications
for such position, he ought also to be
person that would be desirable to come into
intimate personal relations not only with
the President but with the prominent men
of the country"
THE question of precedence" remarked
an officer of the diplomatic corps to Star
reporter. lis always a vexatious one to
those in charge of any function involving
the presence of the diplomatic corps, the
army and navy or other bodies where there
is a difference in rank 1 was therefore
lad vxrif In,
which a question of this kind was inge-
niously settled at the services at ST Johns
Church last Tuesday in commemoration of
Sir Michael Herbert, the late British am
bassador. 1t occurred in the seating of
the officers of the army and navy. AS is
well known. Admiral Dewey outranks
Lieut.. Gen. Young. the senior officer Of the
army. while at the same time the officers
of the army body take precedence over
the officers of the navy because of the
priority of organization. 1t was planned
that the officers of both departments should
attend the services in separate bodies. with
the naval officers in seats behind those oc-
cupied by their brethren of the army. Had
this plan been carried out Admiral Dewey
would have been seated in the rear of the
youngest lieutenant of the army in attend
ance. That would hardly have been re-
garded as the proper thing, although it
might have been strictly in accord with the
rules. But the contretemps was happily
averted by one of the ushers placing Adj
mral Dewey and Gen. Young together in a
vacant pew fronting the chancel. This was
a small pew, and on that account had been
left unassigned. Furthermore, Admiral
Dewey was given the post of honor in the
seat, and at the conclusion of the services
proceeded to his carriage in advance of
Gen. Young. and of course. in advance Of
all the other officers of the army and navy.
but he was the only naval officer that had
iCri = IL
of diplomacy and excited the admiration of
ali who observed it,
:: * x
prominent attorney of this city was
guilty of an amusing lapsus linguae while
making an argument before justice of the
peace few days ago. In order to demon
strate the alleged illogical conclusions adj
vanced by his adversary the lawyer in
question prefaced his reply with the words:
May 1t please your honor, l cannot con-
ceive upon what possible hypothenuse my
brother bases his argument"
"In connection with the military parade
incidental to the Sherman statue unwilling
ceremonies next Thursday afternoon the
public will have its first opportunity to
compare the recently organized 1st Battery
of Field Artillery. National Guard of the
District of Columbia, with tine battery of
the regular establishment stationed at Fort
Myer, Virginia" remarked an officer of the
local brigade of citizen soldiery. The work
of organizing our battery was not begun
until after the LIST of last July but the I'D
of that month the command. fully uni
formed, armed and equipped proceeded
over the road to Leesburg, Va, and went
into camp there with the remainder of the
brigade.
This artillery organization promises to
become one of the most efficient branches
of our National Guard. 1t is greatly ham
dicapped, however, by not owning it's horses
Every time it moves strange horses must
be hired, and that constitutes a serious
drawback. because it is almost as important
to possess wel-drilled horses as it is to
have well-drilled men in a military COM
mand of the field battery type