Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-10-15
TO take EXAMINATION
FOR SERVICE IN FRANCE
Sixteen Men I'm Training Camp Mt
Fort Alyer May BE Detailed to
Balloon School.
ONE RICHMoNDEIs AMONG THEM
Many In Each Company Willing to
Take Assignment When Call for
Volunteers ComeS-Trench War
fare Being Taught.


fare Being Taught.
WASHINGTON. October 1l-Jcsso j.
Owen. of Washington, and Axel c..
Cage. of Richmond. are two Of the
sixteen men In the training camp for
reserve officers at Fort Myer who have
been designated TO take an cXamina-
ton under the chief signal officer to-
morrow and Tuesday for commissions
and detail to a balloon school in
France.
These men are being sent over to
become balloon observers with the
French army. This will be the first
detail for service from the second
officers school, and the call for vol
unteers came unexpectedly. There
were many in each company willing
to take the assignment.
Back TO the trenches go the infantry
| units this week. This training In the
most modern method OF revolutionizcd
warfare had to be suspended n couple
or weeks ago. as many of the men got
disabled while digging trenches Many
of them, being unused to picks and
shovels did not seem TO realize 1t is
pretty dangerous to get In the way OF
the PICKS in the narrow trenches; as
a consequence a number were sent to
the post hospital as result OF their
experiences.
Now that they are going back into
the underground network OF dcfcnscs,
the infantry companies find a more
strenuous program facing them. At
first they spent one day and one night
at time in the trenches under simu-
lated war conditions. This time they
are going to spend two days and two
nights under ground. subject to gas
attacks and night raids. no matter
what kind Of weather may come.
Bright and early tomorrow morn
ing. the first. third and seventh COM
panies will he marched into the
trenches. When they come out We'd
ncsday morning. the second. fourth
and eighth companies will take their
places.
In the meantime tho NTH and sixth
| companies will be having their turns
on the Edsall rife rarge.
GREAT DEAL OF RIVALRY
DEVELOPS BETWEEN UNITS
The fourth company of infantry re-
turned yesterday from the range
boasting that some fine records were
made. There has developed great
deal OF rivalry between the infantry
units as to which can register the
best official score. SO far the first
company has considerably the best Of
the argument. The scores for the
fourth company have not yet been made
out for report to headquarters
Although the third company was
hampered by very Indictment weather,
| some excellent shooting was done. and
six OF the men almost qualified as eH-
pert rihemen. Emmett w. Sample, OF
Richmond. was the high man and fell
just one point short OF the coveted
honor. Ralp T. White. OF New Bruins
wick. y. j., was n close second He
formerly was n second lieutenant in
the British army before entering the
Fort Myer camp. Samuel r. Goodwin
of New York City. a former regular
army sergeant. was third. Others of
the honor men were A. s. Edmonds
Baltimore; John b. Riley, Newark; \.
Willis Robertson. Buena Vista, Va;
A. L. McKim. Cooperstown. y. Y. and
Charles r. Hardin. Newark.
Some members OF Congress are plan
ming to make n visit Of inspection to
the training camp the first of the
week. They are going over to ace
one OF their colleagues. Representative
Reuben Haskell. of Brooklyn. NJ Y
They have heard that he is becoming
an expert in hippology and they want
to see how he does IT. Perhaps these
representatives. know what hippology
Is. but for the bcneht OF those who
trust TO more common phraseology, It
may be stated that this is a technical
term Tor Workmanship, and that at tho
training camp ii means learning to
curry horse. take care of his feet
learn the softest spots on his anatomy
so that riding him will not be a con-
slant agony and keeping the harness
clean.
But that is only part of what Rep
| resentative Haskell ms a member OF the
Third Battery of Field Artillery and
tho other men in the three batteries
are doing. The mornings are devoted
largely to making panoramic sketches
or the ground about Fort Myer post
In held problems and in physical drills
me afternoons are spent in mounted
drills, learning how to swing the Gals
sons and gun carriages into proper
position and set up the three-inch
guns for effective work against an
imaginary enemy and engaging in
simulated fire.
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