The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1911-06-13
National Guard Armory
Still Has Chance
There.
NEW MILITARY MAP
To Follow Up Plans of
General Macomb on
Waterfront.
(From Saturdays s Advertiser.)


With the evident leaning of the local
federal military authorities toward the
waterfront army barracks site, rather
than to the old armory site, back of
the Capitol, the chances are largely in
favor of the Hawaiian National Guard
armory being erected on the drillshed
lot after all. Colonel Jones, adjutant-
general of the national guard, feels GER
tain that the drillshed sitel will be left
to the Territory, and that by the time
the bonds are foated, from which funds
the money for the erection of the ar
mory is to come, the question of where
the United States army barracks in the
city will be located will be settled.
''The evident desire of General
Macomb, the district commander, for
the waterfront site will no doubt have
much to do with the decision of the
war department, 4" said Colonel Jones
yesterday. cit looks to me as if the
recommendation of General Macomb
will be given much consideration at
Washington, and that, after ALL we will
be able to build our armory on the drill
shed lot. That will be pleasant news
to the guardsmen, inasmuch as there is
considerable sentiment attached to the
site where the soldiers of the monarchy
and the citizen soldiers of the Terri
tory have received their military in
struction for so many years.
81 am preparing to have the water
front site, referred to by General
Macomb, surveyed. His statement be-
fore the Commercial Club on Thursday
presented an ambitious plan, which, if
followed out consistently, will give Ho-
Rolulu one of the finest of parks and a
ground where brigades of troops may
be drilled and military bands can play
and entertain the public of Honolulu.
He referred to several areas of what
are now swamp lands. All that section
/ / will have surveyed. General Macomb
believes, with me, that it would be well
to publish this map, so that the public
may have before it a picture plan of
what the general proposes.
"The city of Chicago has the naval
militia branch established on the shores
of the lake and at the Windy City, be-
cause when the commercial organiza-
tions heard that the government in
| tended to establish the militia some
where along the lakes they got to-
! gether, secured an option on valuable
lakefront property, and then told the
government that the land required for
naval militia purposes was at its dis
posal. The government mentioned the
fact that it was not large enough. A
day or two later the government was
Informed that they had the entire area
of land desired. Chicago got the naval
militia.
81 1t strikes me that the commercial
bodies have an opportunity at hand to
carry out the ambitious plan of General
Macomb, for, when all Is said and done,
the whole development of the military
and naval establishment here will aid
in the town S commercial development,
and all branches Of trade will be the
gamers. It's an enterprise that ought
to be followed up. 1t is much better
to my mind, for the people here to take
the initiative and say to Uncle Sam
that we are ready to go ahead and help
rather than finally to have Uncle Sam
go ahead and do things as he has
planned.
Colonel Jones is enthusiastic over the
Hawaiian scout organization, referred
to by the general in the same address
Colonel Jones expects that local inter,
ests will take up the matter of having
Hawaiians employed as scouts to be at
tached to the regular army Such a
proposition, he believes, viii assist in
building up the national guard, and
General Macomb hopes that the Ter
ritory can see its way clear to enlist
an entire national guard regiment fol
service in Honolulu.