Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-05
Tonight, Perhaps, Fort Wash
ington Attacks Fort Hunt.
CONFLICT I'm OUR MIDST
Guards and Pickets Will Surely Balk
Beleaguers, However.
BOAT DRILL FINE TO BEHOLD
Nautical Wiseheads Show How It
Shouldn't Be Done and Experts
Give Useless Directions.

Special From STAFF Correspondent by The STAR
Dispatch Boat Fairbanks.
One day is just like another at For,
Hunt. The men are beginning to feel
the monotony of camp life on an army
post II 1t were not for the fact that
the battle has started and nightly at
tacks will be made there would be many
more complaints heard than there are.
From before sunrise until sunset the
same round of duties confronts the sol
der. He hears the same thirty-six bugle
calls day and he is confined to the same
limited sphere of action. Dress parade
and guard mount are getting tiresome.
Many express the wish that they were
home.
Today's program is not varied from any
other day since the National Guard has
been here. There was fire command drill
beginning at o'clock
Firing of real powder from the disap-
pearing guns has created great excite
ment in camp, especially among those
who do not have the hard work Of man.
ming the guns. The men most interested
In this work, from spectators point OF
view, are the members of the light bat
their field pieces.
Lecture Is Added Excitement.
There was also a lecture to the officers
of the reserves by Lieut.. Brown. who has
been instructing them in artillery drill and
other matters. The LIST Battalion lat
Regiment, and the LIST Separate Battalion.
as usual, practiced outpost duty. Many
thank their stars that tonight they. will
have a chance to actually put their knowl-
edge Of outpost work to practical use.
Beginning at 5 o'clock this evening
outposts will be established. Fort Hunt
will be surrounded by a line of guards
and pickets.
An attack from Fort Washington is ex-
pected. 1t Is the opinion of many men
here that 1t will be impossible for Fort
Washington to land a party of any size
that will not be discovered In time. spe-
cial guards will be posted at the most
vulnerable points. Instructions of the
last ten days will go long way toward
protecting the women and children and
supplies of this beleaguered spot.
There Is a great deal of Joy In the camp
of the LIST Battalion. 1st Regiment. 1t
was left for Company A to divide the
honors of martyrdom and victory.
With half the company making NOISY
and ostentatious effort to land at the
wharf at Fort Washington. the concen-
.trated fire of three companies of troops
was drawn to them. First Serg. Eckert,
with the I'd Platoon, meantime was care
fully working up the river bank.
Eckert and his men landed about three
hundred yards north of the wharf and
met with absolutely no opposition.
Capt Wash's ruse had completely
fooled the enemy. Eckert's orders were
to capture the fire control station and
the water tower. These principal features
of the post were taken without opposi-
ton, as was brigade headquarters, where
Gen. Harries and his staff were busy tell
ing each other stories of a glorious past.
why! How did you get here?'' one of
the staff is reported to have said.
Game through your lines without OPP
position" was the calling reply of the
victors
However the victory is not without its
sting The entire LIST Separate Battalion
was captured while trying to effect land
ing at PiscataWay creek. And Maj. NC
Cathran's detachment was repulsed.
The Fort Hunt men showed good Judg-
ment in dividing their forces, as the re-
suit showed.
Boat Drill Is the Thing.
Mai. Davis, in command of Fort Hunt,
determined several days ago to drill the
men in boats. Yesterday there was a
large part of the hot day devoted to
"boatage" While the majority of the
support was being drilled in outpost duty
two companies backed and filled and per-
spired under the watchful eyes CT about
twenty officers and instructors, all of
whom had a great deal to say, and who
said It in loud. forceful tones.
IT seems to be a weakness of human
nature that wherever there are boats
there also aresmany men who profess to
be expert sailors and Oarsmen. So 1t was
in the boat drill. When a call was made
for men who could handle oars several
crews volunteered.
The oars are tremendous sweeps, not
the common or garden variety of oar, but
heavy things. with blades five feet long.
The boats hold about twenty men and re-
quire four oarsmen and a man to steer.
At last one boat was loaded with men
come thick and fast. And there was an
exhibition of rowing that would do we'll
as a comic subject in moving picture
show.
There were officers lined up on the
wharf who knew no more about boats
than did the men in them. But every
one gave orders. And every time an
order was given the men IN the boats
showed their knowledge of boating by
doing something else.
Maj. Davis finally found silent mo-
ment- He shouted to the boat which
was spinning round and round under the
influence of its crew. which was rowing
regardless of time or correct form He
ordered 1t to pull up alongside the wharf
and stay there
Aye. aye, SIR called back the first
sergeant In command Of the rudder, and
Immediately headed for the channel, and
did not stop until he. was. nearly out of
sight Of the wharf
Other boats were loaded also When one
man was told to take a position In the
bow and stand up with a boat hook in
his hand. ehe promptly climbed into the
stern and sat down.
Another man got his boat loaded and
began to shout lot of orders about
port and "starboard" and ''helm" His
crew, however. having no conception of
any nautical subject whatsoever con-
t1nued to row every man for himself and
nnaHy managed to get a nice violent up
ana down motion of the oars which looked
fine. but which did not move the boat
from its original position
After a good bit of this ma rine drill
the boats began to come back from their
Wander1ngs. Oarsmen who had caught
on TO the fact that a long pull and a
strong pull and pull all together is the
thlng after all. could not be restrained.
In spite of many orders from officers
ashore. they bent to the oars and rammed
the wharf as If they were determined to
dstroy the governments water front.
lie DOW man was instructed to stand
In the boat with a boat hook in hand
ana eaten mold OF something on the wharf
One man. In his effort to obey jnstruc
tons. hooked Maj. Davis about the legs
However, when the officers voices were
tired and they refrained from giving or
ders, the boat practice went along smooth
ly enough. Last nights use Of the f1otilla
justified the mornings work.
Second to Shoot; Hours to Scrub.
The men at the guns worked last night