Evening star., 1936-02-02

mardant of the washington
L Y Navy Yard, and In charge ct
al Naval Reserve activities in this
area, is to be the guest of the COM
mander and the other officers Of the
First Battalion, United States Naval
Reserves in the District of Columbia,
at a reception and dance on the
evening of February IA.
Admiral DefreeS has received orders
detaching him from his command
here and ordering him to assume
command OF the submarine squadron
with the fleet on the West Coast. The
change does not take effect, however,
until June.
The affair is to be held in the sail
lott in the Washington Navy Yard as
the inadequate armory of the local
Reserves is not large enough or suit
able for entertaining any large num-
ber of people. All Naval Reserve Off
GERS in the District of Columbia, high
ranking naval officers from the Navy
Department. and other prominent
citizens of Washington also have been
invited to be guests of the Reserve
battalion officers on that night.
The reception is being given. in
honor of Admiral Defrees by the Re-
serve officers in the fleet battalion as
parting gesture of appreciation for
the admiral'S interest and help to the
local Naval Reserve during his tour of
duty as commandant of the Wash
1ngton yard.
Admiral Defrees, it was pointed out,
has taken great amount of personal
interest in the First Battalion since
he has been in Washington and has
been instrumental in securing num-
Der of major Improvements for the
battalion. Admiral Defrees has been
particularly active in helping the
battalion with plans for the new
armory. He recently was the inspect
ing officer at formal inspection given
In his honor by the local Reserve.
Music for the affairs will be fur
nished by an orchestra from the Navy
Band.
Orders have been received from
the Navy Department by the bat
talon commander, Lieut.. j. E. Sulli-
van, directing that all officers and
men who are actively drilling with
the battalion must receive innocu-
lations for smallpox and typhoid
fever. The battalion medical officer,
Lieut.. James L. Cardwell, will begin
the series of innoculations during the
first week in February. Officers and
men of the battalion were given their
last courses in August, 1885. prior to
leaving for the annual training cruise
aboard the battleship Wyoming.
Only those officers and men who
did not receive innoculations last year
will be required to take the treatment
at this time
Advance reports indicate that the
Third Fleet Division. under command
Of Lieut.. q. g. F. S. Fisk. is leading
in the divisional competition for the
Admiral's Cup award. This cup, which
was donated to the battalion by
group of Naval Reserve officers at
tached to the United States Shipping
Board, is awarded annually to the
fleet division attaining the highest
drill attendance during the year.
The First Fleet Division. Lieut.. q.
g. j. F. Carpenter, commanding, won
the award for the year, 1885. The
reports also indicate that the Third
Division is leading with a higher
score than that attained by the First
Division last year. On last Tuesday
night, despite the severity of the
weather, the Third Fleet Division
turned out more than 96 per cent of
the fleet men on its muster roll The
Third Division, it was said, made an
equally commendable showing on the
training cruise last September when
all but one Of the fleet men on the
rolls were mustered aboard the
wyoming. This man, it was explained,
was confined to hospital during the
entire period of the cruise.
Lieuts. q. g. W. C. Jennings is
executive officer of the Sd Fleet
Division, with Ensigns w. r. Fifer
and j. S. Miller serving as engineering
and deck platoon officers, respectively.
Lieut.. q g. M. j. Gigy also is at
tached to this division in the en-
gineering department.
In preparation for the competitive
examinations for entrance to the
United States Naval Academy through
the Naval Reserve, all candidates now
drilling with the three divisions of the
Washington battalion will go through
semi-flnal qualifying tests during the
drill next Tuesday night. The men
will be examined chiefly for drill at
tendance requirements and reports of
physical examinations. The candi-
dates for the examinations form the
largest class in the history of the local
battalion.
Last Tuesday night, with Lieut..
Comdr. Mark H. Crouter, U. S. Navy,
officer in charge of Naval Reserve
affairs in this District, as inspecting
officer, the battalion went through
formal inspection which duplicated,
as far as possible. the type of inspec-
tion conducted by the regular Navy
Inspection Board.
The inspection was conducted by di-
visions and the men were put through
all Of the drills and tests as required
by the Inspection Board The annual
inspection of the Washington organi-
zation will be held this year during
the early part of April.
While the enlisted personnel is pre-
pairing for the inspection, it was said,
the officers of the battalion are hold
ing a series Of lectures on various
phases of naval activities under the
direction of Lieut.. Comdr. Crouter. It
now is proposed to have the various
officers of the battalion prepare short
lectures on subjects in which they
are particularly qualified by virture