The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-06

In the regular army all military
eouEtesies are exacted from officers and
men and to fail to properly salute a
superior officer is a very serious Of
Tense,
These courtesies are not sufficiently
observed in the National Guard. even
In time OF camp and other duty and
more attention should be paid to this
subject by the commanding officers.
All being impressed with its Importance
and necessity for thorough military
training.
On this subject The Guardsman, says:
I'm the matter of military courtesies,
when the men understand that the dis
charge OF prescribed forms are simply
courtesies due from one to another. and
neglect is as much a mark OF incivility
and boorishness as to fail to acknowl-
edge a greeting upon the street from
a gentleman, and also that the proper
execution Is an evidence of the knowl-
edge of the soldier that Is looked for
first and most searchingly by almost
every military critic met with. very
little effort Is required to keep them
up to the point, but 1t must not be for
gotten at any time. If man sights
a courtesy. Is careless in his salute or
overlooks the salute. to ignore his dire
LECTION will be the cause of others
becoming careless. and the trouble Will
spread. In the matter of drill. and as
an influence towards holding and in
creasing the interest Of the men, fire.
quent "speil-downs' have proven
valuable. II you can arrange to have
a prize of some kind for the man win
ming the greatest number of times with
In month or two months. and make
the speil-down the feature of certain
drill nights, 1t will attract number Of
friends of the members and promote
friendly rivalry among the members
of the company, and Is ono of the very
best and most eficient means OF call
ing attention to minor details of the
manual and fixing those details in the
mind so well they are seldom forgotten.
The experience of your officers seems
to have been amply sufficient for them
TO become thoroughly posted upon their
duties, but the trouble with the isolated
command too frequently is that the
officers drop into a rut and neglect a
great many things that would receive
vigorous attention were they in contact
with other organizations. We assume
that the climate of the southern part
of the country is such that you can
drill out doors at all times of the year
except during wet weather. If such
Is the case you do not absolutely re-
quire an armory to drill In. and. with
the exception of the difiiculty of iight
nor evening drills. the outdoor drills
are really better than indoor. We
agree that with any organisation the
first thing TO do is to establish repu-
tation among the people of tho com
munity of being OF some moral beneft
to every member. When you can con-
vince the parents that the association
Instruction and experience they receive
In the company is of nature that-will
foster good habits. right thinking, up
rightness and gentlemanly conduct
among the members, you will have the
parents acting as your recruiting
agents. Parents. as a rule, wish their
sons to mingle only with those people
who exert a good moral influence over
them. We find that federation of drink
ing of any kind at the arfnory or at
military functions or at our annual
camp of Instruction distinctly operates
against our recruiting. both in the num-
per we get and the caliber of the In
dividuals. There are many forms OF
| amusement that can be provided that
are more or less instructive. that appeal
70 the Intelligence and better side OF the
yonng man, and that are far more
creditable and beneficial than the In
dulgence In Intoxicating beverages
Pick out your best men and have the
omcers actively work with them, and
go AFTER the so-cailed better class. So
ciany. OF the Young men of the COM
munity. Getthem interested. get them
70 become members, show them what
the company is organized for the