Evening star., 1925-10-25
District National Guard

rifle range at Camp Simms, Congress
Heights, d. c., for the purpose of
qualifying the members in rifle rat.
1ngs, and from reports of officers and
men who participated in the practice
some excellent scores were made with
the rifle and large number of the
men will be qualified as sharpshoot-
ers, expert rif1emen, etc, for which
they will receive their medals and
badges at a public ceremony to be
given shortly after January l next
Results of the matches, together
with detailed reports of the scores, are
being prepared in the ordnance office
of the guard by Master Sergt. F. F..
Bernsdorff. The younger members
of the Guard have been spurred up
much by the excellent showing made
by the Guard rifle team at the recent
national matches at Camp Perry, Ohio.
and the fact that one of its members
was able to make the international
rifle team this year. Many of the
younger men have their eyes now on
the rifle team of next year. and the
fact that the present match rules pro-
vide that a certain portion of the team
each year must be made up of new
men holds out to them the opportun-
ity.
Much of the credit for turning out
this year one of the best rife teams
NitN A''t'i VI deii u NN1i III puuNCu Itliio oil
the shoulders of Lieut.. Just c. Jensen,
captain of the team. He picked the
men carefully after watching their
work on the range in the regular prac-
tice, and once selected he kept them
necessarily at the firing work. When
the troops We're in camp at Virginia
Beach, after the arduous drill day was
over, he had his men, when the others
were just resting, out on the range
until they could not see the targets
pumping away. all the while perfect
ing their trained eyes. the better to
go against the best shots of the coun-
try at Camp Perry. The results of
these matches, recently published,
showed the value of this heavy work,
and the Guard as whole has just
reason to be proud of their team, ac-
cording to both officers and men of the
Guard.
The Headquarters and Service Com
pany of the 121st Engineers was on
the range last week and qualified Il
out of IS men. The detailed figures
are not yet complete. This company
is commanded by Capt. Sidney
Morgan. One man qualified with the
pistol, he was Master Sergt. +. f,
EernSdorff, who also was member
of the national team this year. A
number of the men also will go out
" lHe range lpulN ana Ire tiltlI
scores. among whom will be some of
the pistol shots.
The band of the l21st Engineers,
National Guard of the District of Co
lumbia. holds doggedly to the top of
the list of attendance. and no company
or separate unit for the past several
weeks has been able to get anywhere
near its mark. Last week its per-
centage in attendance was S2.S5 more
than 10 point higher than its nearest
competitor the Medical Detachment of
the 121st Engineers.
But the members of the band are
working for results at their coming
public concert to be held at the Wash
ington Auditorium on November 6.
Meyer y. Goldman, leader of the band,
is working night and day to put on
one of the finest band concerts ever
heard in Washington, and this by q
distinctly city band, for the local
Guard Band belongs to the city. It's
members are all local citizens, most
of whom work at occupations other
than musicians during the week.
Not ynly are these men coming
down every drill night for the purpose
of practicing for this concert, but they
are at the armory every night in the
week and nearly all day Sunday. The
result will be one of the best concerts
ever heard here, promise those IN
charge of the program and arrange
ments. 1t is expected that after this
initial concert this city band will be
heard in many public places.
The purpose of the concert is to
raise funds with which to buy dis
tinctive uniforms for dress occasions
in which the band participates from
time to time. They will be fashioned
somewhat after the distinctive dress
uniforms of the Army band, worn by
it on many public occasions. The
local Guard is furnished only the
field uniforms of khaki, and when
the band appears in public and on
field duty, 1t has to wear these uni
forms. Many of the members of the
band have purchased their own field
uniforms in order to have the or
ganization make a better appearance
in public than it would on the regular
Army issue.
Those in charge of the affair report
that the people are giving them fine
support and that thousands of tickets
are being disposed of rapidly and
they expect that the auditorium will
be crowded when the event is held.
Certai7Iy the bandsmen, under Gold
mans leadership, are working hard
on their part to give the music lovers
something to remember from a local
organization. After the bands first
public concert at the Summer resort
at Virginia Beach while it was in
camp this Summer, its services were
much in demand and many of the
vacationerS at the resort spoke most
highly Of. it's work as a music or
ganization.
The standing of the other organiza-
tions last week on the attendance rec
ord and the percentage of their men
present for drill, following the band,
which is at the top of the list, are:
Medical detachment, 121st Engineers.
72.12; Headquarters and Service Com
pany. $500: Company B, 121st En-
gineers, 1913; Company A, First
Separate Battalion, Infantry, 5s.1O:
Company F, 121st Engineers, 45.94;
29th Military Police Company, 44.00;
Company d. 121st Engineers, 42.42
Company A. 121st Engineers, 1000;
Battery B, 260th Coast Artillery, 34.S4
Company e. 121st Engineers. $685.
Battery A, 260th Coast Artillery, $3.50,
and Company c, 121st Engineers.
Only the first five companies had
sufficient ATTENDANCE to permit their
officers to collect drill pay for that drill
night.
The rifle team of the National
Guard of the District of Columbia is
going out to defeat the rifle team of
the midshipmen of the United States
Naval Academy at Annapolis this
year. The local Guard each year has
fought on the range with the Academy
team. and some Of the finest rifle
competitions of the country have been
put on in past years between these
two teams. Despite the fact that
the members of the local team are
civilians and cannot obtain the prac-