Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-07-08
MILITIA UNITS SHOW
NEED OF PHHPA REDNESS
CONTINUED from page ~

CC0nC10ued nom page ~
B Of Worcester, under Capt. Herbert
was able to unload under its OWE
man-and-horse power!
All, the other batteries had to be as
sisted IN unloading and hauled into
camp by, A--and,sB batteries OF the
Fifth Field Artillery of the United
States regular army, stationed at Fort
Bliss and by one Of the regular motor
truck companies. 7
Lack Horses to Pull the Guns.
AS yet none of these batteries ex
cept Battery B, which brought l3O
horses along with it, has any horses
for their. guns and other wheeled
equipment!
Nor did they have a sufficient mum,
Der of trained men. The reason Is
that in general over 80 per cent OF
the men and about 60 per cent OF
the horses did not measure up to the
requirements OF the United States
army when. they were modified in
their home state. ? ~
And these figures mean that these
batteries have lost far more than 81
per cent Of their original efficiency
for they have lost men whom it will
take months to replace and horses
that are to be replaced by remoult; s
that are practically unframed for
gun drill and manipulation.
AS a sergeant who has been in the
regular army for 18 years said, "They
will have to go through hell for the
first month with six raw horses at
tached to each gun. It's bad enough
to train two raw horses with four
horses that know the business. Heav'
en- help. the men that get spilled off
horses and gun carriages on Those
rocks and cacti.'
With picks, shoyels and rakes, cac-
ii in Camp Pershing and Camp Cotton
are being cleared away, for the Mex
leans who worked at the camps just
before the arrival of the militia put
in only water pipes and MIGRANTS.
around which guardsmen cluster in
an attempt to quench unquenchaDle
thirstt; to wash away dust and per-
spirAtion without end. 1880 $40
Wsar WooIenssin Terrific Heat. ,@t
All the militia who have detrained
here and all who have passed through
for pointsf farther west on the Dor
der are wearing wooden breeches and
shirts, some even winter underwear,
and every day the thermometer rises
close to the 100 mark
For no one has supplied them with
.plainakhakff w n ~ t'.5%*F 81
The militiamen who are standing
the heat best of all are Battery D Of
New Mexico. Tn comparison with
somesef the batteries 1t isifairfy pre-
paredy but itastill has a long way to
90 before it comes up to regular army
standard. Thi{ battery Of 40 men
and lf9 ahorsess have been in training
since May. M hover they have the
advantage of bwing the southwest,
But even they Have the heavy, cum
berseme old p4dk, which, in making
camp and breaking camp, requires
two OF. three times as long as the new
army pack -, n
With the proof Of the ineficiency
of the national guard, as it is at pres
ent constituteds under the so-called
federaiized system SO obviously anc
patheticaliy EXPOSED to public view,
1t is the opinion OF unbiased observ-
ers that. the national guard must be
reorgahiSed under the control Of the
wsr department before it ever can
become an effective reserve force. e
lea&her,c hairtoAicers Are Blamed.
The blame Il I; the lack of system
and the unprel Redness that charac-
terize the nati1 Hal guard contingents
that have reached the border is frank
ly put on the Shoulders of local and
state politicians and leather-chair Off
,>cers by guardsmen whose eyes and
>lips have been opened by the revela-
lions of armory and border mobiliza-