The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-05-27
SOLDIER ATHLETES ]
HAVE FIELD DAY
FORT SMELLING EVENT WILL BE
HELD JUNE 2.
In Accordance with New Army Regu-
lations, Fort Smelling Men Have.
Been Having Athletic Drill-Field
Day Events Will Include Tent.
Pitching and Wan-ScaIing.

Uncle Sam is trying to make ath-.
letes Of his soldiers. 4,
He conceived the idea about year.
ago. and started Immediately to put )
into effect a plan to make the sOl-I
diers of every post finished athletes.
A supervisor of athletics was named
for every garrison, and arrangements
were made for q series Of feld-days5
meets. At Fort Smelling, Lieutenantsi
II. L. Jordan was appointed to HAYES
charge Of the athletics, and the rel
suit of his energy and the enthusiasts
he has instilled into the men ,atgfthe1
fort in gymnastic pursuits, will. BEL
demonstrated at field day to be held |
June r. "a
The field day is open to all men of
all the military organizations. Men
of 40 years of age or over are sex-E
cused from regular athletic drill if
they so desire. The non-commis-
stoned officers will participate shoul-
der to shoulder with the line men:
The commissioned officers, however,
will simply form a part of the au-
dience.
Field day at Smelling will differ
from the usual athletic tournament.
It will be along military lines, and
the events will tend to develop those
who are the most proficient in MILF
tary duties. There will be the putt
| ting Of the sixteen-pound shot, the
throwing of the sixteen-pound ham4
mer, broad and high jumping, and
foot races-such as might be expect-A
ed at a test Of muscular endurance.
But in addition there will be a con-
Test in pitching shelter tents. The
shelter tent is, a very small affair,
pitched blythe two men who , are
supposed to soccupy it, It is less than
| the length Of an ordinary man, and
| when occupied, the feet Of the occu-
| pant may always be seen protruding.s
| In pitching, seven stakes have to be
| tached. In the contest the men will
| be lined up, each equipped with a.
| blanket roll consisting of a shelter
| half (half a shelter tent, blan-.
| ket, necessary tent equipments for.
camp life and all articles a soldier
is supposed to carry in light march,
| ing order At the command pitch.
~ break. The men will undo their
rolls, and, pairing, pitch their tents.s
| The pitching" also includes the ar
| rangements in neat order within each
tent Of all material in the rolls. =
How long does it take on the average
to pitch a shelter tent? Well, a..
whole battalion at Smelling, while at
practice, has accomplished the feat in.
three minutes. It is believed the ex-.
perts on field day will cut this time
| in two
Along the same line will be a con-
test in pitching wall tents 1t takes
| four men to pitch one of these. The
tents are about eight feet square, re-
| quire the setting Of from fourteen to.
fifteen stakes and guy ropes.
If it is possible to get necessary
| walls erected, there viii also be con-.
tests in wall-scaling. THE men will
| be divided into teams, according to
| the height of the wall to be scaled.
| The men are practicing pyramids
three men in height, which is pre-
| liminary work in the drill for scaling
| a ''three-man high" wall. This event
will be somewhat spectacular and
smacks of the old-time "zouaVe" drill.
On arriving at the wall to be scaled,
the team forms a pyramid, the upper
| man climbs on the wall and pulls one
man up with him; these two pull up
| a third, until finally the last man is
hauled up, one of whose companions
being made an intermediate link in
! a human chain.
| 1t is expected that by the time field
| day arrives, SO many men will be en-
tered that it will be necessary to hold.
a preliminary meet in the morning
and. the finals in the afternoon.
| This fall it is probable a field day
for the entire department of Dako-s
| ia will be held at Fort Smelling, in
which will participate the winners of
/ the field-day events of the various
4 posts. The result will decide who
shall bear the titles of champion attn
Eletes Of the military posts of the
northwest.