Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-06

which refreshments were served. 1t is
planned to hold such meetings every
Friday night throughout the winter.
Speeches were made By Capt. Alvin d.
Hathaway and Lieut.. Bomar, who COM
plimented the company for its good at
tendance at drills and the military app
pearance Of the men. The promotion of
Sergt. l.. LIE Grand Johnston to be first
sergeant was announced. he taking the
place of First sergt. Pinkney c Rollins.
recently discharged because OF removal
from the District. Company l. has chal-
lenged the other companies of the I'd
Battalion to compete with it in an indi-
vidual competitive drill in the manual
Of arms early in December.
Col. Grin B. Mitcham, ordnance depart
ment L. s. A., inspected the equipment
and material of the 1st Battery Field Ar
tillery in the Missouri avenue armory last
Wednesday morning. Col. Mitcham is ar.
mament officer of the Department Of the
East and spends practically all of his
time inspecting ordnance equipment in
the various posts of that department and
of batteries of militia organizations.
Capt. Fox OF the battery and several of
his men were on hand. The guns We're
dismounted. the recoil cylinders examined
and the entire mechanism gone over.
Everything was found to be in excellen,
condition. The inspection had no con-
nection with that Of the LIST Battalion, list
Infantry.
There is considerable discussion as to
the ACCESSIBILITY Of making the national
rifle matches q biennial affair instead OF
holding them yearly. That they have been
factor in arousing interest in shooting
throughout all branches OF the military
service and the National Guard is said to
be generally conceded. Since they were
instituted by act Of Congress appropriate
ing money for the national trophy, med.
ais and prizes, Congress has increased the
appropriation for the National Guard
from one to two million dollars annually.
with the understanding that 100000 of
this appropriation was to be expended In
rife practice. Out Of this money the ex-
penses of the teams at the national match
are paid.
In many cases these expenses constitute
very formida BILE drain on the states
allotment Especially is this the case with
the smaller states and territories These
usually have long trips involving heavy
transportation charges and considerable
pay for the members Of the team while
on duty coming and going. An officer In
the Arizona National Guard receives the
same as an officer Of similar rank in the
New York National Guard while on duty,
SO that the team expenses for the smaller
states are as high as those for the larger
states, although the amount OF money re-
ceived from the national government is
very much less.
The result has been that where a small
state sends q team to the tournament
each year II finds itself with little left
for rife practice at home. These states
and territories are anxious to apply a
certain amount of the federal appropria-
ton to the construction and equipment of
state ranges, and for rife practice among
the members of the Guard at home. 1t
is also felt that II the matches were held
every two years there would be greater
novelty and more interest taken In them.
The army has adopted a two-year system
instead of annual matches partly because
of the fact that the. army maneuvers
and individual camps of instruction are
held In alternate years. Preparations for
the national matches and attendance
thereon consume considerable { me on the
part of the members Of the teams, and
practically eliminates them from partici-
patton in the maneuver. For the last two