Evening star., 1914-04-26

III mexico require the calling out OF MEM
| bers of the naval militia to man the
vessels Of the Atlantic reserve fleet, now
| lying In the fresh water basin at Phil
| adelphia, Commander Joseph A Denpf
wants to be able to assemble his men
IN rapid-f1re time. Stringent orders were
issued last Thursday night to all of the
divisional officers of the battalion, in
struction them to prepare a rapid assem-
| bly, roster,' and submit 1t to the COM
manding officer before next Thursday
| night.
| With such a roster prepared, it would
be only matter of short time for
the members of the local battalion to
assemble at their armory for service
either ashore or afoat. In the workings
| of such a roster, when call for duty
of any kind is received. each officer notl-
f1es two petty officers. who In turn each
notify two men. and so on down the line
Of enlisted men, until the word is rapidly
passed, and the men are given fnstruc-
| tions' to assemble Immediately at the
armory.
| In explaining his order, Commander
Dempf said that as yet he had received
no information from the Navy Deart-
ment that any part Of the local naval
militia would be needed for service In
Mexican waters. but he pointed out that
he wanted to be prepared to get his men
together quickly in the event that word
is sent. that the naval miIitiamen will
be required for foreign service.
The navy is now recruited up to its
full strength as allowed by law. and yet
all OF the fishttnE ships in the United
the super-dreadnoughts New York and
Texas took a large number Of men of
the regular service, and the training
| stations have been drawn upon for all
they can supply at this time: So, 1t is
| the opinion now OF naval militia officers
| that should 1t become imperative to use
the reserve fleet Of the local naval militia
men, as well as others. will have an ex-
cellent chance of seeing active service
Energetic efforts are being made by
Commander 'Dempf and the officers un-
der him to recruit the battalion up to
its full strength of 400 men. SO that II
called upon the laws quota can be taken.
The war scare was felt at the battalion
last Thursday night at the regular drill
| when there was noticeable increase in
| the enlistments. About twenty five
young men of the city were enlisted dur
| ing the evening.
One Of the first organizations to offer
its services in the present troubles was
| the District naval militia.
Commander -Dempf. soon after the
taken Vera Cruz with his forces reached
| Washington. and the navy was busy
looking around for additional ships to
rush to Mexico. dispatched a letter to
/
Of the thirteen oficers and 1856 men in
the battalion at that time for services
! in Mexico. However. should q call be
received now. he hopes to offer many
more
= The same day Massachusetts and Chi
cago also offered the services Of their
naval militia in the event that additional
| men were needed.
During the regular drill. period last
Thursday night there were busy scenes
at the armory- as the men were put
through the PAGES which would be of
material help to them should they see
foreign service. particularly If they. are are
called upon to form part Of q landing
party. The heavy three-inch field pieces
were taken out Of the armory and were
drawn up and down the streets in the
vicinity Of the building. The citizen
sailors were impressed with the neces-
sity of getting into action quickly, and
after few minutes practice they were
able to hustle the gun around and place
1t ready for serving the shells into the
4 position held by the enemy.
The Sunday cruises are being kept up
by Commander Denpf. SO that his men
may be kept In high state of efficiency
The men In the engine. room are taught
the care Of the naval machinery, and the
necessity Of keeping 1t in good working
condition in time of an engagement par
ticulariy was Impressed upon them
Above the decks the gun crews are
trained to get quickly to their battle
statiQrs beside the guns when general
quarters" is sounded on the bugle. The
quartefmasters are impressed with the
Importance of their duties on Uncle
Sans big fighting. ships, and they are
taught to keep alert for all signals that
may be flashed to them.
Last Sunday on the practice cruise
4 down the river, Commander Dempf had
as his guests. aboard the Sylvia. Commis-
sioners Newman and Siddons Of the Dis
trict OF Columbia The party was taken
as far as Indian Head. where the anchor
was dropped and the big. red meas pen
nant'' was broken to the breeze while din
ner was served. The snip returned to
| Washington at 8 o'clock.
On their visit ON the ship the Commis-
sioners were given all Of the honors due
their ofnoe, and every part Of the ship
was explained to them by Commander
! Dsmpf and his ofacert They Evidenced .