Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-09-22

carrying his saber slopply. and Coughhn
required the same attention TO every de-
tail from his subordinates also
ION the drill ground Coughiin ied ms
company, he never followed 1t: he cut the
way and showed his men the path: he
determined to win and when the time
came he delivered the goods.
The upshot of all this care of every
minute particular was that his company
showed perfect discipline. L can see IL
now as it stood at attention before the
Judges to receive the trophy rag from
Secretary OF War Stimson. The soidler-
like appearance of those boys left nothlhs
to be desired. There was not a tremor
in the ranks; every eye was straight 10
the front: not A smile appeared on any
face and the only man to move was the
captain himself as he took the nag from
Secretary Stimsons hand.
ALWAYS. with the competitive drill day
APPROACHING" said former Capt. ROBERT T..
Coughlin, great efforts are made to get
the company in it's finished shape ao-
solute steadiness. snap in the drill. atteh-
ton to the little details and good appear
ance are insisted upon Correction OF
every little mistake is made ana the
company is as carefully gone over as a
delicate machine to see that each ana
every part is in perfect working order.
Months have been spent in preparation,
numberless hours of drill, weary hours VI
work strict discipline, all have Deen gone
through with, that the company may win
the drill. In thirty minutes all Is over.
The test has been met, the Judges are
wandering their decision. Eight months
work epitomized in one brief haif nouI
Vet this brief time seems hours long
Surely it is brief moment to be the 90
iectiye of the efforts Of eight long anxious
months But that is part of the game.
x x
..Fundamentally,' Col. Ross stated. III
is the esprit de corps existing in the caoe'
regiment which is the chief factor In lts
high military standing. AS whole the
regiment is the most perfectly drilled
corns of cadets in any institution of Sec
ondarv instruction in the country. here
is an instance of the remarkable resui's
which these boys, under their oiiicers
have been able to achieve. On the ias'
connective drill day I remember that a.
the last company passed Capt. B]ornstao
the chairman of the committee OF JUDGES
If executed a perfect squad movement III
going off the field. Capt bJornstau Iui IL
ed to me with an exclamation OF "ohuei
do it,? 1 replied: L don l. 'heS w -
themselves. u. .,,,-
Can't. Harry Gordon. an unusuaiy sue
cessful officer, who was IN chai -.
Company A of Central last year, giVes
further particulars ar 1tai Hf Makes ane e good.
He considers that an officer nrs'
duty after taking command at lne
opening of the school year Is 10 saI,'
the confidence and respect or ms me- M,
Cant Gordon is firmly convinced INA ;,
commander
hope to win. sao,,oo,, he
ITO gain the men conius .hat
said impress them with the belle1 tha'
YOU are the man who can iIiahe -
get the trophy. You can't impress tneil
with this belief by telling them what q
his man YOU are, but if you do your
work. make them do theirs. and keeI
striving and thinking for the company a.
+be time YOU are bound to take Win
them. ,,,,;,,r hehind
"Once you have the men pulling Denina
Won get in touch with your oiuceTs anu
trv to fill them full Of your own entnusi-
asm Then start upon the serious pusi'
ness of drilling the recruits me one co.,'
sideration on the drill field that IS pa,a.
mount to all others is that or at'eh.Iol
IN detail. The sergeants and the corpo.
ra,s should harp on the Importance oi
small things continually, especlany VI
the set-up, for without this no company
however well it may execute the iarse
movements, can land at tHe top.
..In my own personal experience l dis
covered that by founding an officers club
7 gained very useful instrument to aid
in the building up of the company. we
used to discuss the company affairs in a
social way by meeting around at one an
others houses. where we'd have little
feed and while we ate would talk over
the good points and the weak points OF
every enlisted man in the command
Those meetings helped us all on the drill
ground and also helped us in getting
along together by building up feeilns
of mutual personal interest and identity
of aims
In the way of a tangible trophy. the
team which does win the competitive
drill day contest only gains possession OF
q small flag, to which it may append q
streamer bearing it's own name and the
date of it's victory But to the mgr
school cadets this little flag is as precious
as are the regimental colors to the vet
eran. The flag is placed on exhibition In
the school which turned out the winning
company, where it remains an object te