Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-06-08

out at 9.45. Each SATURDAY morning VIC
are given a written examination OF Two
hours length, occasionally we take
practice marches, carrying rifles ana
| light packs, and on the marches winch
are done at rout step, songs. NOUN
organs and whistling are the order OF
the DAY. The bayonet work which we
are taking up is copied as nearly as
possible after the English system
which has proved SO effective in the
present war, it is an aggressive unhes-
itating method. one that contains no
fouls, no show of politeness, one of
our exercises with the bayonet thrust
is with the dummy In my company we
have three o. these dummies: they are
made of a cloth bag stuffed with sand
| and straw and shaped somewhat like
a human figure and on these dummies
whose faces are painted. are painted
the following: .Mir-und Colt Won
Him. and Crown Prince respective
! ly.
| 1t really gives one far greater de-
! light in thrusting the shining blade
Of a bayonet through one of these
three celebrities than through some of
| the other dummies. Yesterday | took
my first treatment for typhoid inocu
| lation and consequently feel a bit out
of sorts today, besides having a sore
| arm. It was a simple operation, a
quick jab of the needle, a squirt a
| jerk, a dab of iodine, and all is over,
nevertheless. several of the fellows
standing in lire tainted, due probably
| to sociological reasons" Mr.. Pratt also
sent postcard in which was picture
of his company.
A third letter is from Howard Hill,
son of DR.. J. T. Hill of this city. a
major, retired, of the National Guard.
! 1t is in part as follows: The most
of the drill here is for the purpose of
! developing instructors to go out and
t teach others. regular normal school
methods are used and each man gets
his turn in drilling and teaching 9TH
ers whom he schools as if they were
raw recruits He has to study at night
on several different texts of military
/ science. During conference the COM
pany commander analNzes each para
graph of the lesson and asks different
men what the real meaning of it is
and to give it in his own words and
so forth. During drill the officers are
appointed each day and men change
about so that each becomes absolute
| ly familiar with every position in the
! company and all its duties. Most of
the men in my company are men of
much experience and there are many
service stripes. Three are West Point
ers, three were in the Philippine scouts
and lots Of former regulars. There
are a number of Norwich men here
/ who have got their commissions but
in order to retain them must make
good here. This applies to all of the
! O. r. c.. therefore you see a young
| fellow below % with not much mill
/ tary experience has got to go some
to get by. Everything is run on ca
/ Diet basis as at West Point, with the
same regulations. We have Saturday
| nights and Sundays until retreat off
duty and this is the only time except
! for rest periods between drills and so
! forth. The first five weeks is all the
same kind of work, mainly based on
the infantry drill regulations, but after
! that will come the advanced work for
infantry, Cavalry, artillery and engi-
neers.
We will also get the new trench
! fighting methods, under real artillery
i fire to steady the nerves. This is done
/ by training the guns upon parts Of the
! trenches which are near those where
men are placed as is being done in
Canada at present, in the big training
camps. The other night they had NOV
ing pictures of the European battle
! fields and war maps showing the very
| places where our army will go in all
probability The whole idea here is to
| nf bp MI
be able to teach the drafted army
enough to go across and also become
the officers in this army themselves,
about 25 per cent. of the camp will be
! chosen for the first increment. They
are preparing for just the condition
in France and Belgium as is shown by
the adoption Of the particular kind Of
training to be used in those places.
The most prominent change in regula-
tons that we have seen so far is the
adoption of the English bayonet man.
uel. This is peculiarly adapted to
trench fighting and abolishes all the
! former bayonet fencing. 1t resembles
a Cartwheel motion and is executed on
the forward rush mostly, and consists
Of short tabs, cuts and butt strikes
performed in two cycles, turning the
! gun over endWayS. Inere Is no BACK
| stepping or parrying but one must NOW
his way ahead and get his man first.
All former fouls are abolished and one
may do anything to get A1is man, kick.
bite or trip. There are several tricks
OF k cklng and cutting at close quar-
tiers that would have been considered
foul in the old bayonet fencing. One
Of the main points practiced Is to pull
the blade out Of the opponent quickly
so as to be ready for another, for the
| fighting in the trenches is so massed
that many men are caught this way.
| We are to have dummies with hard
wood ribs and so forth to simulate
bone ribs and so forth so as to get real
| body like resistance to the back pull.
The guard positions of the gun are
quite different and the left hand is
held near the muzzle so as to get the
quick back pull and execute the cart
wheel movement
1ksaAIGE nlaI