The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-02-17

arduous fer the next year or so.
The business of maintaining a nation
al guard Is no small matter In itself
1t amounts in the main to a regular
military post. the strength, if brought
up to regulations, being a full regiment
OF twelve companies. The equipment
alone of such an army is immense. and
the routine work connected with issu-
ing and checking such equipment is
considerable. Since 1903, when the
guard was put on the same basis as TO
equipment and instruction as the regu-
lars, this work has increased greatly,
and today it amounts to a heavy bust
ness proposition.
Reports of the adjutant general pub
lished for the past ten years are all of
one tone in regard to the need of bet
ter salary for the office and more am
pie accommodation for the guard. es-
pecially for the companies of 1t located
in Salt Lake, which constitute by far
the larger portion of it. The fact that
the ar1nories so far rented have been
entirely inadequate and at the same
time unattractive in the extreme Is
pointed cut again and again, and in
the last report filed by Adjutant Ray
Naylor the excessive rental paid for
the armory on Pierpont street is shown
to be a much greater cost to the state
would be.
Equipment Is Large.
A visit to the quartermaster's depart
ment in the armory on Pierpont street
shows an amount of equipment amount
ing to somewhere in the neighborhood
of 5000, 900. This includes blankets and
clothing, camp equipment, tentage. har-
ness and staple supplies. besides the
great items of arms and ammunition
wagons Here are boxes of clothing of
a heavier sort than is needed by the
local guard which have never yet been
opened. and here. too. are many boxes
of clothing awaiting the formality of
condemnation as unfit for use. The
segregation OF all this and the placing
of the regulation and field equipment
in proper shape will be a work of some
months.
On the upper floor of the armory are
the offices proper-two for the adJutant,
a general Office for the headquarters of
the regiment. a large room for band
band uniforms and instruments are
kept. Opening off the large hall, which
was formerly a dancing hail. is the L.
brary a small one containing some
valuable military books and the reports
of the adjutants of all the surrounding
states.
Here, too. are the rooms of the hos
pital corps containing emergency and
regular field equipment for hospital
service. The costly instruments of the
signal corps are stored in the basement
of the building. where two CT three
rooms are set apart for them.
Place Badly Crowded.
The place is badly crowded on ac-
count OF lack of space both for storage
room and for actual practice. The two
long alleys provided for target practice
have been pressed into service for stor-
ing supplies. and thus the men are de-
prived of an indoor practice place. The
courtesy of the range north of Fort
Douglas has always been granted for
lopz-range shooting, but that can be
used only IN a limited way. Another
courtesy extended by the commanding
officer at the post is the privilege Of
storing ammunition. as the guard has
no arsenal
one OF the show pieces of the guard
Is a Spanish gun made in Madrid In
177s. and taken at the time of the bat
tie of Manila by the Utah batteries 1t
vas presented to the state by Major
Richard W. Young, and was later
placed in the armory as q suitable
place in which TO keep it. 1t, together
viii, two calling guns which we're used