The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-04-21
Adjutant General Hughes Fayors
the Plan.
SUCCESSOR.
One viii Be Selected by Military
Board Tuesday.
There viii Also Be Another
Colonel to Elect.

AoJutant General Hughes has called
a meeting of the military board for
Tuesday, April %. and of the line Off
GERS OF the First regiment of the Kan
sas National Guard for Thursday, April
p, at ? p. m
The meeting of the First regiment
olIlcers IS for the purpose of electing
Ihe successors to Colonel Wilder S Net
calf and Lieutenant Colonel c. S. Elan
ders of Paola. 1t is expected that these
ofrleers viii be elected to succeed tnen-
selves. They are elected for a term OF
four years.
There are i've members on the milf
tary board: the adjutant general, brig
adler general, two coIonels and Judge
advocate. The object of the meeting is
TO hgure out from the records made in
1904 what members OF the Kansas Ma
tional Guard are entitled to the five
gold, five silver and I'VE bronze medals
offered by the United States government.
for craftsmanship. The rules and reg
ulat1ons of the service, which contain
considerable obsolete matter, win also
be revised during the meeting.
One of the principal objects of the
meeting OF the military board however.
will be to discuss the advisability OF
/ spending about 500 for the purpose
/ of sending a team of Kansas rihenen
to Sea Girt, New Jersey, next August
for the purpose of competing in the
National rife shoot to be held there
under the auspices of the United States
government.
In addition to the twelve principals
and three alternates who compose the
team, it is expected that there would
I also go on the expedition team cap.
/ tain, team coach and team "spotter;''
| also the adjutant general, brigadier
general, two colonels and inspector gem
/ eral of the Kansas National Guard,
making in all a party of %. The spot
/ ter in the party, however, is not one
of the kind Indigenous to Kansas; he is
the man who spots" the shots on the
target as they are made.
The money to pay the expense of this
| trip will be taken out of the fund pro-
vided by the United States government
There is already about $4,000 of this
money available for Kansas, with S20,-
900 more coming in this summer, SO it
is considered highly probable that the
military will decide that it is good
plan to send the team of Kansas marks
men to the Sea Girt shoot.
Prizes Of medals and money of great
value are offered to the winners at this
shoot Some of the prizes are worth
as much as 81 000 There will therefore
! be a great deal of competition to be
1 included in the list of snarksmen to be
taken on the trip, and the probability
! IS that the fifteen men who are selected
/ by the military board to receive the III
/ teen medals for craftsmanship in the
Kansas National Guard will have first
call on the positions with the team to
/ represent the state. The men who go
! on this trip viii have all their expenses
! paid, and will also receive the full ray
] allowed to regular army soldiers during
1 the trip and competition.
The military secretary Of the United
! States war department, who is in
/ charge of the competitive shoot at Sea
! Grit has written numerous letters to
/ the adjutant general of the Kansas
National guard, urging him to present
! the matter to the military board, and
| secure favorable action on the PROPOSE
ton. In one of his letters he says:
t'At the breaking out of the Spanish
1 war, our small regular army was as a
class the finest body of military rife
| shots in the world, and this enabled
them to charge, over open ground, to
| the Spanish rife pits, with compare
lively few casualties, because the
Spaniards could not shoot and had new
er been taught, and our men were such
fine shots that when the enemy showed
his head or body at a distance of 400 or
500 yards or often much further, he
was generally put out of action.
The nation match at Sea Girt, N.
J. will begin August "A. Ample accom-
modations in the shape of tentage, bed
ding and necessary facilities Will be
provided at Sea Girt for all competing
teams, and the expense of the teams
for allowable items Of pay, subsistence
and TRANSPORTATION, at regular army
rates. can be paid from the states al
lotment Of the annual appropriation.
"It needs no argument to prove that
accurate rife shooting is S12 points out
of 10, when we figure the efficiency Of
soldier for the line of battle, and
while your team may not win a prize
It will be brought in contact with the
finest shots in the world, and be able
to gather information and get ideas rel
ative to shooting which it would be i'm
possible to obtain under any other cir
cumstances. Your men will carry this
information back to their homes and
stations. and 1t will be gradually dis
seminated to other members Of your
guard"
Kansas had a team of rife shooters
in the competitive matches at TT. Riley
last summer, and showed up very weak
in marksmanship With the exception
of Florida, it was the lowest scoring
team in the list The Kansas rifiemcn
said they were not accustomed to the
kind Of targets used in the competitive
shooting. There is no doubt that KAN
sas has in its guard some fine rife
shots.