Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1916-05-19
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, WASHINGTON GOSSIP Q
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erica seems determined to prepare
itself in a military way whether Con-
gress adopts any elaborate defense
program or not This observation is
called forth by the extraordinary re-
Spouse to the call for volunteers for
the various citizens training camps
to- be held this summer.
Already more than 5000 Americans
/ have enlisted for the training at
Plattsburg, N. Y "Plattsbura" will
be open five months, in five camps
each accommodating over thousand
rockies" This camp, of course, is
conducted by regular army officers,
and the discipline and training is
exactly what the recruit gets in the
regular service, only even more of
it. In one respect only does the
citizen recruit escape, and that is
in doing guard duty. The camp is
policed and guarded by regular
troops
| ~ SlIulldI VI OuCCcSS COhiS
from the organization of the citizens
training camp at Fort Oglethorpe, in
Georgia. The enlistment officers
there are being flooded with applica-
lions, and the camp promises to be
filled to capacity during it's estab-
lishment. The ''Plattsburg idea" is
40 r. tn1
tions of the country this year-at
/ Indianapolis, Chicago, San Francisco
and other places. Probably by fall
some twenty-five or thirty thousand
citizens will understand the rudi-
ments of soldering and be ready to
serve in the defense of the United
States should there be call.
In other ways, too, Washington is
receiving evidences of the interest of
the common people in military train
ing The war department is liter
ally swamped with applications for
civilians rifle clubs. Under the rev
arrangement with the National Rifle
Club Association, the government fur
nishes arms, ammunition and instruc-
ton to citizens rifle clubs anywhere.
Any ten boys or men can organic
one of these clubs, get a chatter and
receive the army rifles to practice
with. The government also furnishes
liberal supply of ammunition In
oh
instructors can give personal in
struction, but the various f..ring man
uals issued by the government are
so complete in their instruction that
any man can carry out the army
principles of correct shooting.
The result of this spontaneous
movement is that America in rela-
lively short time is going to have a
large body of men who will under
stand army discipline and what is
more important, who will know how
to shoot straight. Lord Kitchener
has said that the great lesson of the
present war is that straight shoot
ing is the prime requisite in a sol
der.
An interesting experiment in civil
ian training has been carried on this
winter at Fort Myer, Va, just across
the Potomac river from Washington
Under orders from the Secretary of
War the officers at this post have
taken in hand twenty-four Washing
ton newspaper correspondents with
the view of turning them into trained
cavalrymen. The drills are hold ev-
cry Sunday morning for about three
nouns, and no other training is re-
CURED The drills began last Octo-
Der and they are still going on. Thus,
some thirty drills have already been
held, representing thirty days of easy
training. Yet in that time this pla-
toon has been training in discipline
and target shooting, and is becom-
ing quite proficient in horsemanship.
The officers are so we'll pleased with
the progress of the work that they
promise that certain of these anna
teur cavalrymen will be able by next
fall to pass examinations and become
competent officers of volunteers in
the event of war.
Are We RUNNING Out of Nitrogen?
Scientists before the Senate com
mittee investigating the possibil ties
of nitrogen manufacture in this coun-
try have expressed the opinion that
in ten years the whole world will be |
getting it's nitrogen for fertilizer, ex- !,
plosives and the arts from the air by |
the hydro-electric fixation process, the
art of taking nitrogen from the air |
by means of water power
Senator Kenyon, of Iowa, asked a
scientist, an eminent Belgian engi- |
neer, who was testifying, if there
was not some danger in taking all
this nitrogen out of the air.
81 can answer your question, Sen
ator, by illustrating" replied the