Evening star., 1926-06-27

Preparations are being made by the
officers and men Of the National Guard
Of the District Of Columbia for moving
! the paraphernalia from its present
| armory at 472 i street, which 1t is re.
quired to vacate, to Building Wv OF
the Government Hotel system on the
Union Station Plaza, which has been
assigned to the Guard for armory pur.
poses by the Public Buildings Com
| mission.
While the building is entirely un.
suitable for armory purposes, because
, Of the cut up condition Of the rooms,
yet the Guard officials will try 20 make
the most Of the situation until such a
! time as Congress sees fit to provide Ii
| with quarters in keeping with its
standing in military history of the
country as the model guard.
There is no space in the building
| for a drill hall, and the troops during
fair weather will either have to use
the streets, or get permission to use
the nearby playground. after making
provision for illumination with flood
| lights. The Guard officials also have
| in mind the possibility Of securing per.
| mission for the troops to use the Y. M.
c. A. auditorium in the Union Station
| possibly during the Winter and on
to drill the troops outside.
The Guard expects to have all Of Its
property out Of the armory before
June 80, but 1t will take some time to
get unpacked and settled down in the
new armory. Officers and men Of the
separate units have been engaged for
some days in packing and marking
their equipment to permit Of easy re.
moval, and when in the old building
will come the necessity OF unpacking
and storing the property so as to be
quickly available for issue.
Some provision must also be made
for the storage Of motor equipment of
the Guard. and officials are looking
for q nearby garage.
There are some redeeming features
in the old hotel building which the
| troops have never enjoyed in any
rented building which they have occu.
pied during their long history. There
will be plenty Of shower baths with
hot water at all times. as the building
is supplied with heat and hot water
from the central heating plant Of the
plaza hotel system, and this will be
available at all times.
Lieut.. Col. Peyton G. hewitt, adju-
tant generals department. in charge
Of the moving, said that he expects to
move at least on battalion a day or it's
equivalent, beginning Monday morn
ing. The contracts for the moving
already have been let.
Another feature OF the new armory
will be a number OF company recrea-
tion or lounging rooms. where the
men may spend their time when they
are off from drills.
The brigade and division headquar.
ters Offices will be on the first floor.
/ The recreation rooms will be on the
first floor also.
Mai. W. W. Burns, commanding
the 260th Coast Artillery. announced
that his organization will begin its
regular week end trips to Fort Wash.
ington, Md. for drilling with the big
coast guard guns there on Sundays,
shortly after July /.
In connection with this training
Maj. Burns pointed out that If the fort
is turned over to the District as part
Of it's park system that efforts would
be made to keep one of the coast guns
in place SO that the Guard might use
it for drill purposes. and also that at
least one Of the barrack buildings be
kept in place for National Guard use.
The field training schedule for the
SpSCldl
Troops, 29th Division. Lieut.. Daniel
Boone Lloyd, commanding, has been
approved by Corps Area headquarters
at Baltimore, Md. This command is to
go to Virginia Beach. Va, from Au
gust IS to 20. at which time there
| will also be in camp the 10Th Division
headquarters, headed by Maj. Gen
Anton Stephan, and the Goth Military
Police Company. commanded by Capt.
Raymond NJ. Peak.
Examinations for appointment of
noncommissioned officers in Company
D, 121st Engineers, will be held short
ly, in order that existing vacancies
may be filled. according to Capt. Sam
uel r. Turner. commanding. He points
out that knowledge Of duties as such,
drill attendance and recruiting, are
important factors to be considered in
making such promotions.
Capt. Turner also announces that he
is about to institute a recruiting cam
paign. Each member Of his command