Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-01-19
FORMER MEMBER
BOOSTS THE GUARD
A. T. SToESSEL SAYS YOUNG MEN
SHOULD ENTER RANKS OF
LOCAL MILITIA.
SHOULD BE PREPARED
Unpreparedness Of Country In Event
Of Conflict Urges Need for
Full Companies OF
Guardsmen,

In letter showing the need for .
fully equipped national guard, the de
pendence of the country upon thu
young men to defend it in event o
conflict and the necessity for these
guardsmen to be drilled and prepared
for service If called upon, A. T. Stoes
sci, a former member of the loca
company and an officer during the
Spanish-American war, urges the
young men to join Company G.. The
letter is full of interest for those eli
gible to become members and they
are made aware Of the attractive fea
lures the company is offering in its
campaign for recruits that begins to
day. The letter follows:
We note in The Courier that Com
! pany G is to enlist up to it's full wal
strength. namely, LOG men. This is
the proper thing for the national
guard to do, as Jog men are necessary
for each company in actual service
and II they should be called out for
service by the government and they
only had sixty men or so, they would
be obliged to recruit with green men
to the necessary mark, namely, 106
men. As it takes some time to make
a soldier capable of taking the field,
you can readily see that instead Of
being an eficient organization, half of
them would be green; thereby affect
ing very materially the work of the
trained part.
We are surprised, however, that it
Is necessary to advertise the fact, I'M
less It Is that advertising pays. for II
you were offering gold dollars for
ninety cents. and no one knew it to
be q fact you could not sell them.
Speaking of facts, in a military sense,
Company G of Ottumwa surely has
the goods. and it looks to us that
when the propositions are understood,
there will be ten applications for each
Job Of making up the remainder of 106
men necessary to form full and ef-
ficient organization.
There is a military spirit In every
young man which is as large as the
bug Of baseball fan and practically
every able-bodied man wants to be
soldier or at least learn how to be.
The writer knows from experience in
drilling school children as we'll as men
for the army that boy takes to it as
naturally as duck does to water.
You can no more keep the bright,
country loving boy or man out OF a
chance to drill and be soldier If he
has the opportunity than you can stop
him later on in life from keeping the
trail hot to certain home where
there resides bright eyed miss who
is good cook.
A Soldier First.
But he must or should be soldier
first, for he must in his role Of man
also assume that of protector and he
can protect better after he has learn
how. And as the military offers the
best athletic training, both physically
and mentally, the world knows he is
in better position later In life to not
only be prepared to take care Of him
self but also those depending on him.
Everything depends on the young men
of the country, has for countless ages
and will continue to do so until the
end of time. which every reader of his
tory knows.
When you read of country's COM
merce, its production and wealth, you
will also see the population numbered
in so many thousands or millions, and
there Is a certain percentage of young
men in that number which this or that
country depends on as its insurance
for it's protection, as they are the first
line of defense. The prudent man in
life insures his property against fire,
accident etc. So also has every coun-
try to depend for it's protection by
having a well trained, efficient force
of young men who are always anxious
to get to the front II necessary.
When the writer first joined Com
pany G back in the SOS he was on the
waiting list with others for about a
year or two, owing to, the fact that the
company was kept up to Its full !
strength at that time. The writer has
had no connection with the present |
company since it was mustered into
the United States service during the |
Spanish war At that time, however, |
the company did own it's armory, was |
not furnished equipment, armory rent,
etc.. by the state or government. They |
had to hustle to make up deficit Of !
about 81 900 to $500 which was done |
by turning over our camp pay, giving !
private subscriptions.
etc. The present company is not bur-
dened now with matters Of that kind
as each man is paid for drilling. is
paid while he is at camp, is furnished
q first class equipment Of soldier,
thereby making more efficient COM
pany today than during our time. We
could mention the names of many |
men prominent in business in Ottum-
wa today who are proud Of the fact
hat they served their time with "Old
Company G."
Company We'll Equipped.
The present company has not only
the largest and best equipped armory
IN the state. but 1t also has the Justly
famous Fifty-fourth regiment band, !
located and attached to
The same regiment Of which the mill
.ary company is a part. md as the
armory is large enough for bat
;alion. or in other words, one-third OF
4 regiment, or four companies. the {
writer does not see why we should
ov1s@ II