Evening star., 1927-09-18
MARINE CORPS NOTES

Brig Gen. Dion Williams, assistant IN
the commandant: Maj. Calvin e. Mat
thews and Capt. L. a. Craig. aide, at
tended the national rifle meet n, Camp
Perry during the past week.
Brig. Gen. Logan Feland, who but
recently returned from Nicaragua. was
at headquarters during the past week
with report upon conditions in Nica-
ragua, where he had relnquishpl
command of the American Marine
forces. From reliable sources it is as-
certained that quite "A bit Df COM
munistic propaganda emanatIng from
Mexico has without doubt been tho
cause of the disturbed conditions in
Nicaragua among the laoorirS Gle
ment. which element has not hes:-
tated to wantOnly destroy valuable
foreign properties, neCessitating the
indefinite future stay IF the Marin.
forces in order to avoid foreign COM
plicatiOns. 1t is the general opinion
that conditions in Nicaragua will To-
quire the continued presence of Amer
lean Marines for number OF years To
come.
Second Iieuts. J. Snedeker. hereto.
fore on duty at the Marine Barrack.
naval operating base. Key West. Fla
has been ordered to duty in Mica
raCua with the oth Regiment of Ma.
rines.
Marine Gunner T. Jenkins. attached
to the'QuanticO base. has likewise been
ordered to Nicaragua.
On September IA the following
named commissioned officers of the
corps were promoted: To the rank of
colonel, Lieut.. Coils. T. f.. Backstrom
and w. II. Pritchett; to the rank of
lieutenant colonel, Maj. Emile +.
Moses; to the rank of major, Capt VI.
III. kingman; to the rank of captain.
First Lieuts. H. NJ. II. Fleming and
j. X. Martenstein: TO the rank of first
lieutenant. Second Lieuts. f. F. Carl
son and G. l.. Marshall
ON the 18th instant Second Lieut..
X. l.. RI. GLADDEN., in obedience to
orders of the major general cOmman-
dant, appeared before the examing
board at the headquarters of the corps.
While in Washington Lieut.. GLADDEN.
is stopping at 1744 Q street.
From Gen. Smedey ID. Buffers 3rd
Brigade of Marines in China come re-
ports that his forces were invited TO
participate in the annual rifle meet of
the Shanghai Rifle Association, with
| the result that Gunnery Sergt.
Charles r. Nordstrom and Sergt.
stephen J. Zsiga won first and second
place, respectively, and in addition a
handsome gold medal.
A matter of vast interest to the en-
/ tire corps is the question of the adop-
| ton of the roll-colar Winter service
| tgreent. which becomes effective for
enlisted men on January !, 1929, and
which is now in effect for all COM
| missioned officers of the corps. in so
| far as pertains to the Winter service
! (green).
The roll-collar Summer service
| CihakD, becomes effective for commits
stoned officers on January l. 1923, and
/ for enlisted men on October /. 1928.
| In the meantime it is believed that
| the general inclination of all con-
| cerned will be to equip themselves
with the new uniforms. as they are
| much to be preferred to the oldstyle
| choking collar.
The recent legislation enacted by
| Congress creating the commissioned
warrant grades of chief marine gun
| ner. chief quartermaster clerk and
chief pay clerk, respectively, necessi-
| tated the revision of uniform regula-
| tionS in so far as pertained to the new
grades established, and they have
been likewise termed dress. undress
and service uniforms, respectively.
| The Sam Browne belt, with shoulder
| strap, and the undress sword knot are
prescribed as articles of uniform. The
| insignia of rank consists of gold
bar, broken in the center with blue
enamel band. Chief quartermaste
clerks and chief pay clerks will wear
| the insignia of their respective staff
| departments, and chief Marine gun
ners the insignia inscribed for Ma
| rine gunners on the collars of all
| coats and on the shoulder straps uf
the overcoats and, If provided with
| shoulder straps, the raincoat. placed
| on the center line midway between
| the insignia of rank and the button
at collar end. The uniforms adopted
| for the corps are enthusiastically
hailed by the entire corps as q hiS
step forward in providing personal
comfort for both officer and enlisted
man, and to Gen. John y. Lejeune
goes the credit for making the radical
| change. due to his personal inveStiCa-
| ton of the discomforts endured by
| the thousands who were under his
| command while in France. The preva-
| lent nickname of the "Gyrenes,' to
wit: the word ''Leatherneck," dubbed
| them by their shipmates. the "Gobs.
was derived from the fact that the old
full dress Marine Corps blouse had on
the inside of the high standing collar
piece of leather which when bucklsd
made the wearer feel as if in wise.
| But the sailors uniform has likewise
! had it's discomforts in especially the
| ill-fitting wide-legged trousers which
| the Marines of long ago dubbed
"Gobs" and ascribed their wide cut as
| due to the fact that it was the desire
of the wearers to be able to run more
brskly when being chased by Marines.
Information derived from Marine
| Corps League sources discloses the
/ 70 hot tai nf d0f1Cn-
ments are taking an active part in
distributing matter among the MEM
| bers of the new Congress advocating
most strongly an adequate flXed basis
of enlisted strength for the corps. ami
| it appears that. inaSmuch as they are
| in a civilian status, it is impractcah!e
to hinder any of their activities.
Thirty-five thousand enlisted men for
the corps is conceded by them to he a
modest figure, in view of the neceS-
sity of maintaining large expedition
airy forces on foreign duty indefinitely,
especially in China and Nicara qua,
whereas it is utterly impracticable to
call upon the Army for such duty. be-
cause international law permits Ma
rines to be landed and maintained in
definitely on foreign shore, whereas
should the regular fighting main force
of any nation be landed instead of Ma
TlHe lOTCeS SUCH dcliOH Is tdHldIliouht
to actual declaration of war. Many
members of the Marine Corps League
are well aware of the dire needs of
the corps through long years of
service therein. and having the best
interests of the corps at heart, dare
to tackle problems confronting it in
ways that would not be termed regu.
latiOn by those now in active harness.
Notwithstanding that such organized
methods may at times, when system
atically directed, accomplish the great
er good for all concerned.
A matter certain to bob up at the
coming session of Congress is the com
bined political efforts of some OF the