The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-19

lie military spectacles in New 1ork,
 already giving promises of becoming the
 metropolis of the New World. were the annual drills of irregular militia or the
 parade of an occasional regiment But
 in. the whole city there was not a well drilled and disciplined battalion or com pany. There were, to be sure, one or
 two brigades of uninformed troops, but
 New Workers had not yet begun to take pride in this branch of military activity.
 IL was in the summer of 1925 that there
 arrived in New York from Boston
 sailing vessel bearing company. fully
 uniformed. After landing and pitching
 their tents they gave an exhibition drill
 in City Hall park by word of caasnand and by bugle. This drill immediately attracted the attention and aroused the
 enthusiasm of not only the city officials
 but the public In general, and in it was
 found the inception of the present day
 Old Guard. For years its development
 was identified with that of various or
 ganizations, such for example as the
 Thompkins Blues, the City Guard, and the
 Light Guard, until in 1886 it was finally
 incorporated under the name by which 1t
 is known today, the Old Guard of the
 City of New York.
 While the history of the Honourable
 Artillery company of London is largely
 concerned with wars, history records com
 
 ganization or the Old Guard had chance
 to participate as organizations, though
 the ranks of the latter are recruited from
 veterans of many wars. But whenever
 in the fourscore years of its history war
 did come, the Old Guard of New York,
 like the Old Guard of Napoleon, and Tn
 this country the Ancient and Honorable
 Artillery company of Boston, has main-
 tained an honorable record
 Since the Spanish war, for which the
 Old Guard recruited a regiment of some 5000 members. its ways have run in the
 paths of peace. But even in bygone
 decades it brightest maneuvers have not always been oin connection with war. At every military pageant and celebration
 it has been to the fore, as for instance
 in the unveiling of the Sherman monu- ment when 1t acted as escort to Gem eral Miles; during the visit of Princess Eulalie whose guard of honor 1t was, and in scores of similar, cases. Its veterans have acted, too, as escort In some of the greatest funerals over which New York has grieved, such for in- stance that of Henry Clay and that of Gen. Robert Anderson, the hero of Fort Sumter. Even In the long stretches of peace it's drills and preparations In case of need continue but it's greatest efforts in the light of public notice, like those of the Ancient and Honorables of Boston, have come to be those of peace. Two well known annual happenings of the Old Guard since war last shook the country are it's sad and impressive memorial services, occurring on It's an- niversary day in April each year, with the memory stirring call of the roll of the Old Guards dead, and, in contrast, its annual ball. In the former there is glorious roll in memory of whom the drums are untitled and taps blown every year. In contrast, the annual ball has come to be the greatest military event of it's kind in the country by reason of the attendance of many of the fore. most men of distinction of the nation
 and by 8 long array of prominent guests, including governors, foreign ambassadors,
 and prominent military organizations In
 the past when this greatest of all mill
 itary balls was held in the Metropolitan opera house or the Madison Square Gar
 den, it's attendance ran as high as 17,000-
 @ stupendous military spectacle. But the
 growing cosmopolitanism of New York
 has necessitated a change and this year
 the ball instead of being held in the
 Madison Square Garden will be given in
 the Waldorf Astoria, and the invitations
 instead of reaching almost 10000 will be
 absolutely limited to 1900 and those care
 fully distributed. Like everything else
 nowadays this greatest of military balls
 is becoming more and more exclusive. But in the annals of war and in the annals of peace in which prepared
 ness for war Is the greatest watchword, the organizations apart from the regu-
 lar army are still a mighty force. What the Honorable Artillery com
 pany is to England, the Ancient and
 Honorables of Boston and the Old
 Guard of the city of New York are to
 this country, and each in it's sphere
 has served as an impetus to the main
 tenance of that great army of peace
 which as our Spanish war showed is
 still one of the staunchest bulwarks
 in war. Out of the profane sheer of General Blount in 1925 has come the backbone of Americas peace army and
 war army too, the militia and the na-
 tional guard. Back of all historically stand prominently two organizations,
 the Ancient and Honorab1es of Boston, and, in it's coalescence of New York's disorganized militia at the beginning of the last century, the Old Guard of the city of New York, neither of which from the American standpoint has any reason to blush when its records are compared with the older and similarly constituted Honourab1e Artillery com