Evening star., 1915-02-14
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~ the longest voyage she has
II made with the Naval Bat
IL TALON of the National Guard
of the District of Columbia
! aboard. the u. S. S. Sylvia,
| training ship of the organization, left
her dock at the foot of Water and O
streets southwest, shortly after day.
| break yesterday morning. and is now
| heading down the Chesapeake bay for
| Norfolk. Va, where she will be placed
! in dry dock at the navy yard there to
| undergo her annual overhauling- She
will be gone about & month.
! Commander Joseph y. Dempe. COM
manding the Sylvia, just before her
: lines were cast of. declared that he
, expected 10 reach Norfolk Sunday
evening if everything went well. He
| declared that the plans were to steam
all day yesterday and to anchor at
Corn Field harbor. at the mouth of
the river, for Saturday night, although
\ he said that If the weather on the bay
were clear he might decide to steam all
night Saturday and reach Norfolk early
| in the day.
Other officers who made the trip were
Lieut.. Frank W. SiSourney, executive
officer: Ensign Harold Crawford. En-
sign Wflbert E. Locklin and Ensign F:
l.. Nudge. engineer. Twenty enlisted
| men of the battalion complete the
ships complement.
Those enlisted men who had the best
attendance at drills and had showed
the greatest efficiency were picked
from the entire personnel as the ones
to make the voyage There was keen
rivalry among the men for a chance
to make the trip.
Al DO Ertl
tivity about the Sylvia's dock while
she was being provIsioned for the
three-day voyage. She was put in spick
and span condition. and had been given
done by the men of the local naval
militia. who wanted the ship to look
trim when she put in at the Norfolk
navy yard.
will be one of the finest vessels of her
class on the Potomac river. The Navy
Department has given its approval for
extensive repairs. Her engines will be
work scraped and repainted. her dy
namos and electric wiring will be re-
newed. and certain parts of her deck
are to be remodeled to suit the needs
of a naval militia.
When her dynamo is overhauled, il
is probable that the Sylvia will be
equipped with small wireless set, so
that the wireless crew of the organiza-
tion will have a chance to get much
practice work. At the present time
there is no practice apparatus in the
possession of the organization, but
Commander Dempf, for some time, has
realized the need of such an instru-
ment, but owing to the condition of
visable to ask the Navy Department to
furnish such an apparatus at this time.
= x x
Commander Dempf has issued orders
To 1fNrtC nfR tn nlA Il tvNt
the small boat equipment in the pos
session of the organization with a view
to getting the greatest amount of drill
during the open season with this equip
ment. He proposes to haye the small
boats put overheard about the middle
of March and to have the drills with
them start Immediately. In the past il
has taken half the summer months to
get the boats in condition and little
actual use of them was obtained.
The two steam launches which were
| taken to the Washington navy yard to
be hauled out of the water to protect
the machinery probably will be re-
| turned to the battalion dock soon after
| the end of February SO that the men
| may paint and repair them also and
| have them in condition to be used in
the boat drills.
= = :: ::
| The officers of the local naval militia
are planning a banquet to be given on
May 8, next, to commemorate the sew
enteenth anniversary of the organiza-
tion on May 2. 1898. Owing to the fact
that May 2 of this year falls on Sunday
1t has been tentatively planned to hold
the affair on May 3. 1t will be the first
event of its kind ever given in the
history of the battalion, and will be
given by the officers and men in honor
of Commander Joseph A. Dempf, the
present commanding officer. as a token
of the esteem in which he is held by
the officers and men and in recognition
of his successful efforts toward i'm
proving the efficiency of the organiza-
ton. Commander Dempf holds the rec
ord for long service in the battalion.
having entered it as an enlisted man iii
1893, and having risen through all the
grades of petty officers as well as the
he commanded the I'd Division of the
organization, and left ii only when
he was commissioned a lieutenant COM
mander and undertook the duties of ex-
| ecutive officer, from which grade he
| was promoted to be the commanding g
officer of the organization about two
years ago.
1t is planned to give the banquet in
the drill hall of the organization.
X X
| For the purposes Of better admin
| istration, Commander Dempf has or
| ganized the local battalion into a ship s
! department will perform duties such
| as would befall 1t on shipboard. 1t no
| longer will be in the form of landing
| force organized as battalion.
The boats and equipment will be por-
| toned out, and the division will be ex-
pected to look after them as Is done
| on the battleships- Each will be given
a part of the armory to keep clean, as
well as a section of the Sylvia when
| she returns.
|
| Seaman Flynn. LIST Division. was pro-
| NOTED to be gunner's mate, third class
| last Thursday night. He was present
ed with his warrant in the presence OF
| the whole battalion.
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