Evening star., 1909-05-26
WON BY THE BABIES"
New Company E Takes Color
ed Cadets Drill Prize.
FIRST TIME IN COMPETITION
Manual Training Schools Score Now
Even With M Street High.
JUDGED BY COLORED OFFICERS
Great Crowd Witnesses Maneuvers
of Five Companies Comprising
Separate Battalion.
FIRST TIME IN COMPETITION
JUDGED BY COL0RED OFFICERS

COMPANY E of the Armstrong Manual
Training School won the fifteenth annual
competitive drill of the companies COM
posing the Separate Battalion of High
School Cadets on the American League
Park grounds yesterday afternoon.
The triumph of Company E over the
four other companies In the competitive
drill was unexpected and was accompa-
MED by several notable features In the
first place, it was the first time that
Company E has ever competed In the
annual drill of the colored cadets, there
| being in former years only Companies A,
B. C and D. Company E. too, was COM
posed of green recruits, It's privates be-
ing boys who entered the high school
from the graded schools only last Feb
ruary and who have been drilling for
only a few months. It competed against
companies of older boys, including prl-
Yates who have been studying military
| tactics for at least a year.
| BY the winning of the Armstrong Man
ual Training School company also honors
Ihave been equally divided between that
school and the NJ Street High school, In
| the seven previous years that these
| schools have been pitted against each
other in the annual drill the NJ Street
cadets won four times and the Arm
J strong soldiers only three times. There
, are now four victories to the credit OF
| each school
By a remarkable coincidence Company
| E took off the honors this year in the
competitive drills both between the white
| cadets and between the colored cadets.
Last week Company E of the Business
up the best drill of all the twelve COM
panies from the white High and Manual
Training schools.
Big Crowd on Hand.
Company E triumphed in the presence
| of crowd that packed the huge
grandstands, and bleachers of the base
ball park at 7th street and Florida ave-
nue.. The girls from the two rival
schools turned out to cheer the boys In
blue in large numbers; and brothers and
sisters and parents were there In plenty.
| In the boxes around the front of the
grandstand seats were many persons OF
prominence, including members or Con-
gress, leading District officials and school
authorities.
The pupils and other friends of the
cadets from the two schools were on op-
posite sides of the parade ground On
the north side sat the friends OF the
NJ Street High School, underneath huge
banners of the school colors-red and
black. And nearly every one In that
stand carried pennants OF the same
colors, with the letters M >. II. ..
-
the entire time that the two companies
from that school, A and B. were On the
field the pennantS. were constantly Wav-
ed aloft with an accompanying cneer ana
shout that must have inspired the con-
tenders for the championship flag to
sterner sense of their duty before the
judges.
on the south side of the field were the
supporters of the Armstrong school, a
thousand strong and as well equipped
with hammers Of yellow and blue as were
their opponents with red and black
ssreamets ;sate1s "a anu NJ. T I. s." were draped
around the front of the stand. Ana the
supporters of the manual training school
were not to be outdone by their rivals
in the amount of inspiration furnished
the cadets by lusty cheering and waving
of flags.
Company Of the Armstrong was the
first to appear on the parade field; and as
the right guide marched from behind tne
grandstand in the extreme northeast
corner of the field a shout that shook
the rafters in the grandstand went up
from the Armstrong side of the neld
The company had soon presented arms
before the board of judges. It's captain
had received his orders and the move,
ments were being executed with marked
precision that led many in the STANDS TO
remark that the leading company had
set high standard. Capt. AlonZo Bur
well was In command and the other com
pany officers were First Lieut. Wllam
Evans, Second Lieut.. Walker Clair. First
Sergt Mckinley Bowie, Sergts. Robert
Diggs, William Cole and Normal Ewing.
Capt Burwell is brother OF the captain
of the first company to ever win the
competitive drill, back In 1888. BY the
quickness of the commanding officer the
company executed the movements W..n
much dispatch.