New Britain herald., 1917-04-10
TEACHING SOLDIERS
 ID CARE FOR GUNS
Rifle Practice on Range Also Part
 Of Training

Under orders from Second Lieuten- ant B. k. Harris the members of Com pany k, in addition to routine drills EtOday, have been learning the intri- 1 cate parts of their rifles and the way | to care for and use them. Some of l the new recruits had but little idea as l to how Q gun was taken apart and cleaned. or even how it Is worked and it is to have the men fully acquainted 1 with these things that the order was given. Officers impress upon their 1 men the fact that their rife is their best friend and they must be on l. friendly terms with it. Following de- tail work on the mechanism of their guns the men of Company E will be given rif1ce practice, on the indoor 1 range at the armory.
 Lieut.. Griffin Has Accident. Lieut.. Ashley J. Griffin has been busily engaged today in visiting his various outposts and reporting at reg mental headquarters in Hartford. As
 far as is known it is Lieutenant Grif- fin who has been the first of the local soldiers to have any experiences more
 exciting than guard duty. Yesterday
 as Lieutenant Griffin was driving the
 company touring car out of Meriden.
 after having visited the Silver City on
 business, his machine sideswiped the
 twin six'' owned by E. J. Doolittle of Meriden. The army car came out
 ork top and the front hub cap and mud guard on, the Packard were broken. The big touring car was standing in front of the Palace block in Meriden when the New Britain officer struck it iyo off vHfs fr lyA hA O was apparently unaware of having caused any damage and was proceed ing along when apprehended by Pa trolman Bonin, who was doing traffic duty.
 Supplies For Recruits Lacking.
 It is with interest that the National Guardsmen and their officers have learned the reason for the orders, is- sued week ago, to stop recruiting their commands. Tn a statement is- sued from Washington, Secretary Baker explained that the war depart ment has been unable to permit Ma tional Guard recruiting to proceed be- yond peace strength of commands be- cause of shortage of equipment which 1t could supply at once. The war de partment's reserve stock was absorbed by the recent border mobilization.
 The guard detail at the armory to- day was as follows: Corporal Simons. Acting Corporal Anderson, Acting Mechanic Ventres. Private Roy, Pri- vate O'Brien, Private Wilson, Private Ryan, Cook o. Ventres. Private Car roll. Musician Gregory, Room Order 1y Yapps.
 Is Second Youngest Officer.
 To Second Lieutenant Harris of E company belongs the distinction of being the second youngest com missioned officer in the United States service at the time of his appoint ment Lieutenant Harris. who comes from a family of military men, is 21 years of age and when he applied for a commission he had not yet attained his majority. The youngest commis- stoned officer is in California regi-
 ment Lieutenant Harris has a younger brother who enters West
 Point Military academy this spring.
 Men of Company E are out on
 guard duty in charge of Sergeants
 Smith and veley and daily reports of
 their activities are made to Lieutenant
 Griffin, who in turn makes his daily
 company report at Hartford. The
 same routine is being followed by the
 members of Company I, under Cap tain A. H. Griswo1d, now on guard duty Aside from some hard colds the health of the men in both companies is regarded as good.
 After taps had been sounded at the armory last night and the men had turned in. with the exception of the guards, the telephone rang and an urgent request was made for the commander. Rushing to the phone Lieutenant Griffin said Probably we've got an order to pull out and its up to us to give up our sleep and move" He was wrong. It was a ! mother who wanted to know. if the 1 lieutenant couldn't tell her just where l her son was at that time.
 Colonel Goodman Visits Company. Colonel Richard J. Goodman and several other regimental officers l visited Company E yesterday after 1 noon and on his instructions the men 1 were again drawn up to listen to the 1 reading of the rules of war. There 1 is a great difference in the penalties attached to many offenses in time of l war as compared to peace times and