The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-04-04
Continued from First Page.


shots, and more than thousand were
carried as utterly unqualified. or that
entire State force. only one man had
passed through the regular army
qualification course with the rifle, and
only twelve had qualified at long range
practices
Drawer" said the hapless General
Of Brigade, who had them under his
hands. Brave? II We gave 'em the
order they would charge an army
with their bare hands. strand they
might as WELL"
He futtered a sheet of paper in his
hard. hairy fist. The sheet showed
1888 organized militia enrolled as
trained men armed with the rifle"
OF these, 1927 men had qualified suf-
ficiently to be At for firing in battle.
There were n thousand men in that
command whose records showed that
they had not fired their rifles a single
time in a year; and the General had
reason to believe that many Of these
never had used weapons except as in
struments Of parade.'
A mile away, in the artillery en-
campment. a field artillery battery Of
regulars from Fort Sill swept their
guns at top speed through passages
90 tight that 1t seemed impossible for
the flying wheels to clear them.
Sharply they wheeled and came to
position. just as a militia battery ar
rived.
The militia guns were hauled by
horses that their State had hastily
hired or bought. The brutes had
hauled trucks in city; and In trying
70 wheel one Of them straddled the
gun. In a moment the gun team was
around and over the guns in con-
fusion Of chains and leather
do you stable your mounts on top
Of your guns in the milish?" shouted
a regular gleefully. But he and his
fellows helped good naturedly enough.
I'VE never had horses till now"
growled one Of the militiamen. who
was STOPPING to tug at a trace chain.
1t made his face fiery red. state
wouldn't give us any. and We didn't
have stables anyway in our armory.
So we couldn't break in any mounts
"Nor you couldn't break yourselves
in, chum, guess" spoke another
regular. "How the devil did you get
gunnery practice? Haul your little
gun out by hand to the firing ground?"
The militaman fumbled at the
. trace again. Didn't fire it," he said.
without looking up.
"All right. milish." shouted the
regular. shake. You're game, all
right. you boys! Willing, by gum.
to face the hell that you're going
to get, and not a gunner in your bat
terry. Fine leather headed citizens
you must have back home"
"They didn't think much Of artillery
at home" grinned the milit!aman.
Thought that infantry was all they
needed. They sort Of thought we just
had a little toy to play with"
you amt going to be lonely, mil
ish" grunted the regular, sauntering
off. "Tie a necktie around your horses
and then go over yonder. You'll find
three other batteries from three other
States that never had no horses, never
had no mounted drills and never quail
fed as gunners."s
A grizzled Colonel of cavalry rode
by. Under his shaggy eyebrows he
shot a glance at the helpless battery
and swore. He dated back to Indian
times, and they said OF him in the
army that he knew nothing except
cavalry tactics and horses. But ne
knew them: and he was breaking his
old heart over the militia cavalry
that had come under his command.
Some he had that were good enough
to win his full praise; but none OF
these was fun as to quota OF men.
The Colonel Of the best Of the regi-
ments was riding at his side. 1t was
an organized force of rich men, each
OF whom had brought his own mount,
trained as carefully as any cavalry
horse, and perfectly equipped.
Fine, sir; fine" said the old Indian
fighter. "But oh, Wait TIL you see
what arrived last week They can
ride, Yes. SIR, they can ride.
Heaven knows how they learned
it, for they didn't ever have a mount
except what they hired in livery sta
bles. A rich State too and one that
did its infantry damned well, damned
well. sir. 1t was supposed to be a
regiment Of cavalry that We were to
get.
do you know what arrived? Two
squadrons! And, sir, they came afoot.
They served a State that evidently
prefers horseless cavalry"
He chewed his cigar and threw It
away. Look over there" he con-
tinued. See those chaps? They We're
among the first to come to us. Yes,
sir. The entire cavalry force Of that
State came out-the entire force, you
understand Dyou want to know how
many were there? Three troops
three-troops-conf me, sir. Not
whole squadron.
But as these three troops were in
three different parts of the State they
hadn't even been drilled to move to-
gether in their little three troops as
one body We're Just getting 'em
SO that they can ride in squadron
without smashing into some other
troop and crumping the whole outfit
to hades.S
Even while the old cavalry leader
was swearing delegation Of civilian.
sent to visit the camp officially was
gathered at headquarters. The visi
tors were haggard and worried. blu
with the ever ready optimism OF TIT
extraordinary American race the mos
worried one Of tn IN all said:
"a splendid army. Looks 1T to figh