The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-06-20
NATIONAL GUARDSMAN IS
 COMING INTO HIS OWN
Though Abused in Past He Being Recognized Basis ef Nations Defense-How National Guard of h
 bama is Now Constituted
By HARNIE


 type of boy is not going to pledge him. 1 self to serve Uncle Sam or anybody else. l If he does, just one hike" will usually drive him to seek a discharge. In ase 1 he was of the tough" type of civilian. he will, of course, be a rowdy soldier. It
 is to be regretted that the ranks are
 not entirely free of this element but he l is being rapidly weeded out. Most com
 panies won't have him, and if he does | manage to get in, he finds the regmental i booby hatch" easy to get into and so l hard to get out of that he also seeks re- lease. Unfortunately a very few organi-
 aations still cling to the old-fashoned idea that a reputation for toughness is a very desirable thing. Thus a certain New York regiment has been famous for years as the toughest in the service. But as this same toughness has never destroy ed efficiency the authorities have allowed 1t to put on all the airs and graces of rowdyism undisturbed. Also some com panies, troops batteries all over the country always have sprinkling of rather rough characters. But to condemn the entire organization for the badness of the few is a deep and abiding injustice So. when all Is said the fact remains that the average citzen-soldier is in every re- spect worthy of the uniform he wears And he Is getting better every year He IS learning to shoot better, to take bet ter care of himself. to march further and above all. he Is learning the greatest of all lessons, for soldier or civilian obedience to lawful authority. Who can say that this lesson is not worth all the trouble and expense of learning 1t?
 The National Guard of the several states numbers roughly about 12OO00 men, IL should contain at least four times as many, and 1t will as soon as the average citizen wakes up to his duties and respon- abilities @As it stands, it win serve as a magnificent rallying point for the hun creds of thousands of volunteers who will rush to the colors should the call ever come By the simple process of raising the companies to several times the pres ent strength. the country can have in a lew days force of nearly half a mil lion men, and this without destroying the organization of a single regiment Most of these recruits will be raw and untraned. but with trained men at their elbows to hammer a few truths Into them, they will show up much more ouiclxlv than would be the case were the entire regiment new. In the meantime the fresh volunteer regiments would have time to get into order.
 Could Be Brought to 5000 Tn this respect. the Alabama organ | izatlon, which now consists of one brigade of Infantry, one battalion of
 
 corps and three companies of the hos pltal corps or sanitary troops could almost over night, be brought To a strength of about Go00 men, This with out sacrificing the identity or iutee- rlty of single regiment or battalion. mere are three infantry regiments in the brigade, which is under the com mand of Brig. Gen. Louis " Clark. The First regiment with headuuarters at Troy, is commanded by the present acting adjutant general. Col. c. J. Hub | bard. The Second, with headuuarters | at Montgomery, is under the command | or Col. Charles R. Bricl1en of Luverne The Fourth, which was organized sey- | efal years ago, also has headquarters at Montgomery and is under the com | mand of Col E. H. Graves
 | The artillery battalion consists of I three batteries, and A of Birmingham
 and the recently reorganized Battery | B or Montgomery. The headquarters | are in Birmingham with Mai L. | Dorrance in cammond. The battalion staff consists of Capt Hartley A. Moon. adJutant, and First Lieut.. l. Ali Iucl5ie. ] quartermaster and commissary. The | officers of the local batteries are is
 follows; Battery A. Capt. Frank Film. First Lieut.. Walter L. Furman and
 second Lieut. Robert L. Pittman. Those 1 or Battery c are Capt. Ed L. Ander- son, First Lieut. William & Pritchard and First Lieut. Julian P Smith. 1 or the local infantry companies two -B and C-belong to the Second regi-
 ment and one-Company K-to the 1 Fourth. The officers of Company B
 are Capt. William T. Wingo, First | Lieut. Richard B. Kelly, Jr., and Sec | ond Lieut. Louis J. Beaumont. Those | Of Company are Capt. J. Towles Ev- | ans, First Lieut.. Boiling K McMorris. | and Second Lieut.. Hal F. Halstead | Capt. Joel D. Carlisle is in command of | Company K of the Fourth, with Lieut. | John Trimble
 l The sanitary troops, which include | the medical corps and the hospital
 corps, has company in Birmingham | under the command of Capt George | A. Mcconnell. The detachment num- I bers IT men with Sergeant First Class, | M. G. Dabney, and Sergts. Emil Henck- | el and Bryant Richardson
 Among the field and staff officers in | Brmin gham are Mai Robert " Mabry. auartermaster's corps Maj cliff S. Price, brigade headquarters; Maj Carl H. Seals, Second infantry; Mai. John w. Watts, medical corps; Capt, John l C. Anthony, medical corps and Capt | Ravee Norris. Fourth infantry head quarters
 IF active charge of the entire Ala bama National Guard, with headauar- | ters In Montgomery, are Acting Adjt | c. J. Hubbard and Assistant Gen Mai | Thomas c Locke.