Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-07

- EMBERS Of the LIST Battery,
III Field Artillery, have made
final prepar alton for the In
l. spection Of the materiel of the
command. which will be made
tomorrow by Col. Grin B. Mitcham of the
ordnance department. United States
Army. Col Mitcham, accompanied by an
armorer Of the ordnance department from
Governors Island, will arrive at the bat
terry armory at $50 O'Clock. and the inspec-
ton of the field pieces and caissons will
take up the greater part Of the day. Fiji
teen members of the battery, including
Lieut.. E. NJ. Nevils, Sergts. Wilson, Bon
net and Long and most Of the chiefs of
sections and gunners. have been detailed
by special orders from militia headquar-
tiers to attend the inspection.
Col. Mitcham has been detailed By the
War Department TO inspect the materiel
of the field batteries throughout the De-
partment Of the East and will start his
tour from Washington. The new three
inch guns of the District battery will be
dismounted from their carriages, the re-
coil cylinders will be opened and the pam
Oramic sight. quadrRrts. fuse settlers, bat
terry commanders telescope and other In
struments used In laying the piece for
direct or indirect fire will be carefully ex-
in good condition.
Preliminary to the inspection Of the
matsrtel by Col. Mitcham an inspection
was held Friday afternoon by Maj. Ed
ward +. Riggs, chief Of ordnance, N. G.
D.. C, Friday evening members of the
battery, In white stable suits. took all
the carriages out into Ohio avenue un-
der the electric lights opposite the ar
mOry and gave them a thorough wash
ing The work was supervised by Lieut.
Nevils. and Sergts. Vogt, Friel. Nc
Dermott and Sirlouis were present to
superintend the work in their own sec
lions. Sergt. Mullen and Trussell. un-
der direction Of Stable Sergt. Long
took charge of the extra carriages and
Of getting the armory in condition for
the inspection.
Members Of the battery are much in.
terested In their new armory. which, il
is expected, will he sufficiently com
p1eted by December 1 so that at least
the guns and carriages can be placed In
it, The new armory will contain q
shooting gallery, which will be used for
subcalibcr practice with the field pieces
and also for revolver practice by the
members of the battery and the Signal
Corps The subcaliber practice with
the new piece is especially Instructive
as the cartridges are loaded In shell
the same size and weight as the regu-
lar shell. or shrapnel. and the piece liz
fred i'm exactly the same manner as II
the shell were used. Competitions will
he held during the winter between the
dieerent sections, and the officers OF the
battery will offer a prize for the Sec
tion which makes the best scores in the
indoor practice
There are several vacancies among the
non-commissioned officers OF the battery,
and many applications for the positions
have been made by the enlisted men.
who are studying their artillery drill
rarulations with enthusiasm.
SerRt. Louis G. Vogt, who Is chief OF
the first section and has had several
wears service In the battery, as wei az
in other organizations OF the guard. has
made aDplication for commission as
second lieutenant. 1t Is thought that ne
will be ordered before the brigade board
OF examination in the near future
The school for officers and non-commls-
stoned officers In the battery Will begin
each week until the next annual encamp-
ment The work. until after the holidays
win consist Of q study OF the prepara-
zion and conduct Of FIRE with the three
inch piece.
The frst cases Of court-martial In the
hattery will come up before Lieut.. Col.
Harvey of the I'd infantry, who is the
summary court OfYicer OF the battery.
within the next week or two. Those
members Of the battery who have alb
sented themselves from drill without per-
,ni.sior and without satisfactory explana-
tion will be summoned before the court.
Orders have been sent out from Dis
trict militia headquarters to large num-
Der of officers and enlisted men Of the
hriuade 10 report Mt O'Clock Tuesday