Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-23
Most Wonderful Feature.

Most Wonderful Feature.
To the mathematicaly minded the pre-
cision Of movement seemed the most Won
derful part Of the whole proceeding. The
combination Of electricity, calculating In
struments and human efficiency, all CO.
ordinated by repeated drill, gave remark
able illustration of mans power of achieve
ment.
Bur to one not entirely materlalistic the
beauty of the night battle would appear SO
strongly as almost to cause forgetfulness
Of the real meaning OF the wonderful scene
The huge searchlights flashing on the OPP
posite shores from a fire command station
on the Fort Washington side gave marvel
Gus effects. At first the appearance was as
If the forests were af1re. A sheet OF lame
advanced steadily, surging up, apparently,
as it struck the high trees, and then sweep
ing back till it covered a searcnlight on the
Fort Hunt side and made the brilliance
double Then. as some big, brilliantly
lighted steamer would come up the river;
the broad beams of light would be lifted
and would meet above SO that the boat
would pass under an arch of flaming
swords, held high by giants.
At first the work Of the guns was done
last night without any discharge, but to-
ward the end each gun Of certain batteries
was fired twice. with blank charges.
Drill Inspection.
Col Coffin, Col Urell, Maj. Stevens and
The Evening Star reporter drove this morn
Ing to the various batteries at Fort Wash
ington and watched the District boys go
through the drills with the big guns. With
the precision Of regulars the members of
the gun crews opened the breech, inserted
cartridges and pulled lanyards after the
guns were sighted at the given ranges. Col.
Coffin was as greatly pleased at the pro-
ficiency of the militiamen as Col. Urell was.
He complimented the men highly upon their
work. especially upon the short time In
which they had attained such excellence.
At most of the batteries the regulars
were working with the citizen soldiers, but
at Battery Smith there was one three-inch
gun in full charge of District gun crew.
The men were from Company f. and were
Sergt. Wingate chief of the detail; Cor
poral Sayer. gun pointer; Private Calender,
No. /; Private Gill, No 2; Private Rober-
son, No. 3, and Private Brennan. No. f.
The men seemed somewhat embarrassed at
first at being suddenly under the inspection
Of the officers, but quickly got into working
order and gave a smooth drill. At the bat
tie command drill last night the same crew
handled the gun while firing blank charges
When Col. Coffin. Col. Urell and the
others were returning to headquarters they
found a detail of fifteen men from Com
pany NJ. Of Col. O'Bren's supports, drill
ing, under Lieut. Grain Of the Artillery
Corps, with three Colt automatic rapid-fire
guns. There were five men to gun, and
they, like the others inspected, worked like
veterans. Col. Coffin was SO favoraby I'M
battery over to the men for their use.
When the Oneida of the District Naval
Reserve reports for duty at 10 o'clock
Thursday morning, the hostlities of the
big maneuvers will begin officially and will
last until late Friday night or early Sat
urday morning. In the meantime there IS
great interest in the smaller attacks. to-
night upon Fort Hunt and tomorrow night
upon Fort Washington.
At Fort Hunt this morning both officers
and men were confident that the enemy
would be unable to effect a landing. The
supports were on guard last night and cap
tured two men endeavoring to run the lines
and get through to Fort Washington. One
man was a regular named Sweet, who had
ton and was anxious to get back The
other was Lieut.. Phillips of Maj. Somers
reserves. under Col. O Brien at Fort Wash
ington; he was detained, but was finally
permitted to pass the lines.
Eleven men were reported i'll among the
militia at Fort Hunt today, but all of the
cases are slight. and it is expected that the
patients will be husky enough to repel in
vaders tonight.
Noteworthy Incidents.
The great tragedy Of the post last night
was the theft of ham from Maj. Stephan s
headquarters by dog. The dog did not
eat all the ham. but thoughtfully left about
half OF 1t near the store tent
At Fort Washington the most gruesome
occurrence was the suicide of horse. He
belonged to a contractor. and had been left
picketed while the driver took his mate to
the farrier to be shod. In some way the
horse twisted the halter about his neck and i
then got his foot through loop and pulled
until he was strangled. Col. Coffin asserts
that this is not nature taking.
Corporal Charles A. Cramer. Company A.
I'd Regiment, who had been detained i'll
WASHINGTON by illness in his family. joined
his company at Fort Hunt this morning.
Mai. Stephan has four companies of sup
ports at Fort Hunt to repel Lieut.. Col ,
O'Rrien's four companies tonight, but he |
has only one company of reserves to serve
the guns. His opponents have three But |
the reserves at Fort Washington will not |
take mart in the attack tonight. The in |
enuality will be evident when Maj. Stephan |
attacks Fort Washington. What the Fort |
Hunt contingent lacks in numbers it will |
make up in zeal.
Capt. Philip S. Golderman Of the Artillery |
Corps lectured this morning on Submarine |
Mines in the mine casemate at the Old |
Fort to the officers of the reserves. Col |
Urell attended the lecture.
Dr. Woodman, regimental surgeon went
up 10 Washington today on The Evening |
S:ar dispatch boat.
Adjt. Roberts of the 4th Battalion is en- |
tertaining his wife and child al Fort Hunt |
today. c. e. T. ]