The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-03-12
STATE GUARD
ON NEW BASIS
Plans Under Way for an Up-to-date
Armory In Salt Lake
REQUISITE BILLS SIGNED
improvements Will Bring Militia Up
to the Government Standard.

to the Government Standard.
The military arm of the state of Utah
IS to be brought up to the standard
required under state provisions formu-
lated by the United States government
Heretofore the state national guard
has occupied d complex position be
cause or strife among the officers and
men on the one hand and the state
officials on the other. The settlement
OF these internal difficulties is to be
emphasized by the erection, as soon
as possible, of an armory in this city
Ihat viii compare faVOrabiy with the
best there is i'm the country, if the
design already outlined is carried into
effect.
sized up with other states. Utah has
never been cOnspicuously prominent in
the matter of state defense. but if the
plans now nearing their fruition are
brought to a successful termination the
national guard Will meet all the re
Quirements demanded by the national
government and will also be a pride
10 the citizens of the state.
when he signed senate bills 81 and
90 yesterday. Governor Cutler made
possible the reorganization of the ma
tional guard. and now it remains only
for the officers of the guard to see
that the provisions of the apprOpria
lions are faithfully executed. They
have already started work
By an enactment earlier in the ses-
sion of the legislature. the state is TO
pay $4,000 annually for the support
of an armOry in this city. The pres
ent. structure -On Market street has
been a disgrace to the city. 1t is a
aamshaclde building Of the worst type,
and the chief of the fire department
has on several occasions called the
attention of the local authorities to it's
1railty and the great dangers that
lurked within its walls in the event
OF fire. There is at present in the
building S125,000 worth of property in
the way of equipment, that belonging
TO the battery, estimated at S45, 900, be-
ing the most expensive The latter
consists of breech-lOading guns, valued
at $4,000 each, and they are said to be
superior TO the best there is at Fort
Douglas.
Equipment Superior.
As a matter of fact, the equipment
now in the so-called armory in Mar
ket street is superior to that of many
of the western forts, and as it is, for
the greater part, supplied by the ma
Iional government, it is incumbent on
the state Of Utah to keep it up to the
required standard During the past
winter such Of the enlisted men as
could be induced to report at roIcalls
TO drill under conditions not conducive
To improving the morale of the guard.
BY order of Chief w. H. Bywater of
the fire department, no fires were per-
united in the building, and the men
had To do the best they could under
such discOuraging circumstances. This
was the great deterrent, and the Off
Gers found it out when it came to en-
listing the men for a second term. Fur
lhermore, there was an absence of all
those things which tend TO inspire the
men with any degree of ambition to
excel in the school Of the soldier. There
was practically no place in which to
hold social gatherings, and this fact
in itself has done more than anything
else to lower the standard of the guard.
With a new. aTmory, such as has been
planned by Brigadier General Samuel
&. Park and the other officers, it is
believed that the state guard can be
brought up to the high standard which
obtains in other states.
If the state was to erect an armory
iu this city it would cost $4,000 Tor
the ground and building, an expense
which the state could not stand. even
# the constitution permitted such an
expenditure In the first place the de
1nands on the state by various insti-
buttons of the commonwealth exceed
the revenue of the state by $500. 600;
50, when the question of a new armory
came up, 1t was obvious that some
other plan than direct appropriation
would have to be devised. The state
Is also prohibited by law from enter
ing into partnership with any corpO-
Ia ton or with an individual. Neither
could the state advance any money
along this line, and when the matter
was first preached il was deemed in
advisabl to ask for the issue of bonds.
Tor the reason that such proposition
y Guild have to be submitted to the peo-
pie, course of procedure which would
Ice followed by long delay before the
funds resulting theTefrom would be
available.
The plan finally adopted by the legis-
lsture was as follows: An armory
board war created, consisting of the
governor, the secretary of state. the
adjutant general and the brigadier
general, to take charge of all the ar
mOTieS in the state According to the
provisions Of the creative bill signed
by the governor, the armOry board has
power to lease suitable buildings for
armory and arsenal purposes for d
period not TO exceed twenty years. {
such rental as the board shall deem
reasonable. For that purpose an APP
preparation of $4,000 per annum has
been made. That sum in itself is a
small item and would go only a short
way toward maintaining the high
standard of the guard to which the
officers aspire. but they are materially
Of the United States government That
allowance is $1,000. and i'm addition u
II there is a generous bestOwaI of cloth
ing and equipment, an item in iteslf
of considerable importance
Outline of New Armory.
In view of all these conditions. the
persons interested i'm recOnstruCting
the guard are sanguine that some one
viii erect building in accordance with
the plans already formulated. The ac-
campaigning cut made from drawing
by the architects. Wade & Treganza,
gives an idea of the kind of structure
most approved OF by the armory board.
The general appearance is that of a
castellated structure. 1t is estimated
that il will occupy a lot SOX300 feet
The front will be two stories i'm height
and viii be about seventy feet in
depth. The material used in this part
OF the armory viii be brick and stone,
massed in solid form so as TO make
the front practically impregnable. on
either side will be stone gateways with
paved roads leading to the rear Of the
structure The drill hall will he one