Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-18

of the most successful years IN us
history All of the staff and DIVISION OF
ticers have made their plans for lmproV-
ing the efficiency of the battalion, ana
each Of the divisional officers has mapped
ont a series of drills and exercises through
the carving out of which it is proposed
TO make the local Naval Battalion one OF
the best trained naval militia orsaniZa-
lions in the country.
The one idea before all is efficiency
The engineering officers Will teach 'heii
men the workings of marine machinery
the ordnance officers will teach the en-
listed personnel under them in the mech
anism of small arms and of larger deck
guns which are on the U. S. ). sylvia
the naval vessel assigned to the locai
naval militia for practice purposes In
fact, there will be training of all kinds for
the men in the various divisions.
Results of the conference We're notsu
last Thursday night. The strict discipline
of the crews on the battleships of the
United States Navy was prevalent al
the armory of the Naval Battalion ana
on the Sylvia, which was tied up at the
dock The enlisted men reported to ana
were excused by their divisional officers
instead of having general muster as mas
been the practice heretofore.
This is done, it is declared, in order that
better records of the men may be kept
The divisional officers necessarily are ~
closer touch with the men than the stan
officers and are better situated to iook
directly after their welfare. FOLLOWING
the regular drill the men were assemplec
in their divisional quarters, where eacE
of the division officers Informed their mer
of the actions in the conference or oHl'
GERS The men were told that from no"
on they would be expected to conform &c
strict naval discipline, and must give ar
officer, when in uniform the honors Que
him, and also must obey legitimate or
ders with dispatch. 1t was made piair
to the men just what would be expected
of them, in order that any men ordereo
before the mast could not plead ignorance
tanned at the armory last Thursday.
An orderly assigned to Capt Dempf
kept all out of the cabin. except those
authorized to be there. while the mes
sengers looked after the striking OF
the bells and the quartermaSters gave
their time to teaching signaling. etc.
All of the officers declared their be-
lief that the conferences, such as were
held last Thursday and the Thursday
preceding, will have a beneficial erect
ences any officers who have ideas put
the betterment Of the battalion put
them up for discussion, with the result
that other ideas are brought out.
ATtillSfy pidCliSe SoLSoiiSa ihueh ~
the drill period last Thursday night.
The heavy field piece was dragged out
on the floor and with the long rope
"drags" it was hauled UP and down the
hall by the men as though 1t was the
practice for them to do 1t every day,
instead of only once in while. Lieut..
w W. Burns. commanding the I'd
Division. and Ensign Harold Crawford.
1st Division, directed the men in the
artillery work, which consisted in hav-
ing them pull the gun at run from
one end of the hall to the other, where
it was swung around rapidly, set in
place, ammunition boxes taken to a
safe distance in the rear and the gun
with their small arms We're deployed
about the hall to protect those operat-
ing the artillery piece from either
flank or rear attack
The slippery floor in the drill hall,
and the small space for gun which
required SO many men to operate, made
the work of the officers and men all
the more Commendable
:: :: < =
AS soon as things get settled under the
new order of things at the battalion it is
proposed by Commander Dempf to have
his officers and men take the Sylvia down
the river on several day trips IN order
that they may familiariZe themselves with
tie stream, and then it is understood
that he intends to inauSurate policy Of
sending the vessel down stream for short
cruises on drill nights.
The day trips will be made Sunday. 1t
has been pointed out to Commander
Dempf by officers of the battalion that to
give the men naval training the ship