New-York tribune., 1906-07-29
HIGH TIMES At SEA GTRT.
WorAc and Play Equally Pleasant for
JerSey M6itiamen.

Never before has the annual duel between
Mars and Cupid at the New Jersey state militia
camp at sun kissed and ocean cooled Sea Girt
reached the proportions it has this season. All
records have been broken and the end is not yet
Mars in khaki afOOt, galloping wildly with jing-
ling sabre red neckerchiefed at the cannon's
breech or f1attened to grassy earth squirting at
distant targets. has really been combating a foe
OF chiffon frock and lace parasol thus disguised
as an innocently curious spectator. Grim looks
have been fOiled by eyes of tender interest The
attempt to scare away with noise of gunpowder
has proved boomerang requiring Mars to say
In cOntrite anxiety. please don't faint. / was
only fooline" Whereupon the little boy with
bow and arrows has winked maiciously and
asked a grasshopper chum whether these mod
ern quickfrers beat the old weapons.
Along the white beach under the stars and in
Ieafy paths broken with moon rays chiffon and
khaki are rustling side by side. What is that
noise less staccato than the zip of target rifle
tnd more specific than the gurgling slap of waves
on the sand? It is rumored that articles Of
mutual capitulation are being drawn up. This
unnatural strife must somehow be ended. Per
haps the result of these nightly conferences will
be made known next fall in the engagement col
umns of the papers-if Mars be no deceiver and
his opponent not summer coquette.
OF New jerseys five thousand gallant soldiers
who camping out at the rate of one regiment
week, it is safe to say that not one has lacked
his proper opportunity. Those that married
have found nothing in the rules of to forbid
Irritation with their wives in new and stimu-
lating environment, while the problem of sisters
has been readily solved by the device of ex
change. The fact that regiments come and go
but Asbury Park and Long Branch girls are
steady visitors, knowing the past and looking
unto the future does not worry the non-analytic
minds Of the straightforward warriors.
It is a mistake to assume that the rank and
file have been the only ones involved in the pet
ticoat duel; indeed. the tender age of many pri-
Yates suggests the AdOnis period of preference
for gambols and skyarkings. These are not yet
tried soldiers, and really ought to be protected
against the sirens But the "nOn-coms" and
officers of all degrees, from lieutenant to briga-
der general, have been at the front of every
gagement, showing their subordnates what the
state expected of them. Commander in Chief
Edward c. Stokes, the most military Governor
chat New jersey ever had, since he lives at the
camp ground and reviews a regiment every
Thursday, has set lofty example by inspiring
the war correspondents to write pleasing if un-
truthful tales of his prowess One story told
how he had wooed and a Southern belle
under most romantic circumstances. This just
showed what was inevitably in the air. The
spectacle of the Governor in a frock coat and
plug hat, astride prancng steed, reviewing
two thousand soldiers and five thousand individ-
uas in chiffon, would have led Sherlock Holmes
10 make the same deduction.
Sea Girt IS pleasant from any point of view
whatever An artist loves to see the mile long
sweep of green parade ground, with the rows of
white cone tents on the right the fore space oc-
cupied by three apple trees and the Governors
cOttage-Vla that exhibited at the St Louis
Exposition as a state building. two spotted cows
In the middle distance and the background set
with wind clocks, red flags and target slopes of
black on white Army men say it is the best
camp and range in the country, not referring to
its strategic situation amid summer resorts
There fine permanent buildings, such as