The Washington herald., 1909-08-27

First Separate Battalion. recitation. B. S. Gynsn.
Hospital Corps; solo. selected. II. 4. Perry, First
Suiith and Gus Zeitlcr, First Battery. Field Arti
ery; solo, The Song of the Steepe." b. 5. Gy-
nsn Hospital Corps; selection, There Was Never
Girl Like You" First Separate Battalion Giee
Club; "Old Hundred. everybody.
The third and last day OF the home
ward voyage yesterday also provided a
few incidents to interest the militiamen,
All morning they were kept busy prepar-
ing to leave the ship. getting their out
fits. baggage. ani equipment ready 10 un-
load from the transports
As the transports passed Mount Yer
non the bands played Nearer. My God.
To Thee" AS they passed Forts Hunt
and washington the men were drawn I'D
at attention along the side Of the vessels
while the bands played The Star-Spang-
led Banner" and salute of three blasts
OF the whistle given.
The real thrill Of the voyage came, how
ever. when the Mcclellan reached the
channel of the War College The pilot
"sheared" a little too much 10 the star
board and the big vessel made directly
for the seawall. Backing her engines at
full speed the vessel was unable 10 lessen
her speed sufficiently, and ran up on thu
ping within ten feet OF the wall Her
bow rose high in the air.
To make matters worse, and necessI-
tate the aid OF a tugboat. the strong In
coming tide Slowed the stern around so
| that both bow and stern rested in the
mud. tho water churnlng up thick mud
/ from the bottom. The Mcclellan effectual-
| ly blocked the channel. better than Hob
son did at Santiago.
TOwed Dy Tugboat.
A lighthouse tugboat was hailed and
soon had the McClellans Prov pointed
/ for her. dock
/ The Sumner. which arrived at the
Washington Barracks dock at noon. in
the meantime dlsembarked her troops.
so that when the Mcclellan passed her.
the militiamen had gone 10 the Armory.
! The Mcclellan slowly pulled past the
Sumner and the old monitor Puritan and
tied up to the Lighthouse dock. Among
/ the first to leave the ship was Brig
/ Gen Harries and ms chief OF staff. Capt.
| MCClOskey. For the first time they were
held up by a battery during the maneu-
/ vers. II was a battery of cameras They
| eventually escaped
! During the voyage the officers on both
/ transports held meetings. during which
/ they discussed the lessons learned by
! the Massachusetts maneuve~s. Opinion
was unanimous that the field exercises
/ had been beneficial and would result IN
making the District Of Columbia Ma
tional Guard one OF the best in the
/ country
The enlisted men. it might be said,
/ have held imprOmptu meetings OF the
] = T~h fFrn pr- hn 20
/ gathered. They agree that the maneu-
vers have been instructive. but the meet
/ ings always broke up with the unani-
nous agreement Never againr
/ This was especially noticeable at the
/ height Of the maneuvers. when long
/ hikes" had been the order Of the day
/ after breaking camp at 4 o'clock. Since
/ the rest al Boston and the three-day
voyage homeward, the men have began
/ 20 look upon the whole thing as a Won
/ derful lesson and change their mind
about being with the Guard should
maneuvers be ordered next year.
Despite Mai Gen Leonard Woods
statement that he would try to include
the District militia In maneuvers 10 be
held next year, 70 is believed a permanent
camp win be held Officers Of the Mill
tia. however. say that no matter which
u - t-lF AAteA VIII NC A'NAse "4r-- $3.50
| companies.
Lieut.. Peyton Dismissed.
II was learned during the return trip
that Lieut. Robert R. Peyton, Of the
First Separate Battalion. was forced 10
resign his commission. This. Il is ex-
planned, was the result OF his being alb
sent for twenty-four hours last Saturday
while he was supposed 10 have been on
duty
The Mcclellan and the Sumner were IN
constant wireless communication during
the entire trip homeWard This is the
first time field wireless" outfits have
been installed on transports and worked
with satisfaction. The field wireless is
compactly put together in a steamer
trunk. suitable for transportation In a
wagon or on the back Of a mule
on the outward voyage the two trans
ports were compelled TO come within
megaphone hailing distance several times
for the transmission OF orders, losing
more than half days time. This was
avoided on the return. and all orders
were sent by wireless. Some messages
were sent 10 shore stations while the
vessels were close TO the coast
The weather forecast, baseball scores,
and other little scraps Of news were pick
ed up by wireless and posted. In this way
the officers and men did not feel entirely
Isolated during the three days.