Evening star., 1925-08-24
D. c. GUARDSMAN
! DENIED HIS LEAVE
p. M. General RapS Subordi-
nate Official for Withholding
Training Privilege.
BY WILLIAM j. WHEATLEN.
StaH CorresDoudent OF The star.

BN WILLIAM y. w hEAILEi
staff Correspondent of The Star.
VIRGINIA BEACH. Va, August "a.
Refusal of a subordinate official OF
the Post Office Department at WASH
ington to allow one of his employees
leave for the purpose or attending this
training camp of the 121st Regiment
Of Engineers brought to the officer
direct reprimand from Postmaster
General Harry 6. New. The Postmas-
ter General in letter to Capt. Thom'
as F. Lane, Company F. said the sub
ordinate had exceeded his authority
and had been reprimanded.
Private Herndon Pringle OF r COM
pany reported in camp today as re-
suit of the correspondence and the of
ficers of the camp consider this anoth-
er victory in their fight to compel Off
cials Of the various departments 10
recognize the authority OF the Ma
tional Guard 10 require its members
to attend a training camp.
PringIe Makes Statement.
Prinsle informed his comma ndins
officer that he could not get leave TO
attend camp. whereupon he was
threatened with a court-marttal by
Capt Lane. who informed him that
he was carried on the company rolls
as absent without leave. At the same
time, Capt. Lane reported the matter
in a personal letter to the Postmaster
General. In the meantime. Capt. Lane
received a letter from Pringle saying
that the former would receive a letter
of explanation from the mans imme-
diate superior, but this never came,
as the reprimand probably was re
ceived from the Postmaster Genera
before the subordinate had time to
explain to Capt. Lane.
The matter concerning Mr.. Pringle's
leave of absence was never brought
10 nv attention until receipt OF your
letter today" wrote the Postmaster
General. Upon inquiry | am inform
ed that subordinate of the depart
Hlent exceeded his authority by refus-
ing Mr.. Pringle leave without con
sulting any of the officers whose duty
and prerogative 1t is to pass on such
matters.
The leave has been granted Mr..
Pringle, and the subordinate officer
who exceeded his authority in this
case has been reprimanded for 1t.
Officers Ready to Demand Rights.
Officers of the regiment are pre-
pared 10 make determined fights
upon return in the event that any OF
their men lose their positions. partic
ularIy those in the. Government serv-
ice. for taking military leave for this
camp duty. Several large corpo-
rations have written supporting the
guard and ordering leave for their
men and the officers are of the opin-
ion that the Government officials
should make every preparation for re-
leasing men for training camp without
prejudice to their records or positions.
War" Begins Tomorrow.
Preparations are being made today
by the regimental officers for the
war" which begins tomorrow. While
the troops are in the field building
bridges, digging intrenchme and
demolishing roads S a part of their
training. field orders are being pre-
pared which will send the entire or
ganiZation right out to the coast line
tomorrow to prevent the Ia nding of
hostile force reported heading in from
the sea preparatory 10 making a land
ing and a march inland.
The brunt of preventing the landing
has been placed on the shoulders Of
the l21st Engineers. The orders from
Col. John W. Oehmann. regimental
commander, will be given tonight to
the battalion commanders, Majs. Joe
r. Mickey and Julian diff, who in
turn will issue the necessary orders
to the company commanders early to-
morrow morning. Reserve officers in
camp also are required to submit So
luton problems.
The first contact with a camp boot
logger was made last night when a
suspect, known to the troopers as
Paul Revere because he comes into
camp astride of a white horse. with
large capacity saddle bag equipment,
was apDrehended. His capture indi-
Gated the alertnesS which the troops
are displaying in their attempts to
prevent the occurrence of any Incl
dent that might reflect in any way on
the good record of the troops from
the District of Columbia The pres
enCe of the suspect was reported to
regimental headquarters, and Maj.
George J. Allen of the medical depart
ment escorted him to headquarters.
where he was detained until the ar
rival of the Princess Anne County
police authorities Search netted them
nothing more than several empty
TASKS The local authorities said they
knew the man, but dismissed him for
lack of evidence. but they set a trap
for him should he make further eff
forts to deal with the troops.
The troops here are much concerned
over the efforts of Prohibition Com
missioner Haynes and his field opera
tives to stamp them a bootleg
agency and are determined to show
the falSity of the accusation.
Officers to Witness Gun Practice
Maj. Gen. Anton Stephan of Wash
ington, commanding the 29th National
Guard Division, the staff of which is
here working out war games; Col
Oehma mn. commanding the Engineers
and Maj. Louis {. Brinton, T.. 5. A.
senior instructor of the National
Guard. left today for Fort Monroe
Va, where they will witness the firing
of the 16-inCh guns by the 260th
Coast Artillery National Guard, of the
District, under training there.
The engineers yesterday afternoon
held their second parade of the en-
Campment and the scores of visitors
who came to the reserva ton stirred
the citizen soldiers TO put on an ex-
cellent review. There were a con-
siderable number of Washington
visitors in camp and many of them
were guests of the various commands
at their noon meals.