The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-03-26


 Foot Guard. Upon him rests the staggering responsibility Of leading the Biennial Wheeze of his conn Tnand up the asthma taxing slope of the capitol grounds in escort to the Chief Executive of C0nnecti- cut about to take his cath of office. He must see tosit that his gtlardsHlAen arrive at the top with bellows unbusted, with no pal pit9tiOnfOf the psItnc1i, and show ing no signs of the heaves. His is She nerve raclxing duty of pro- teCtfng the settlers of Hartford, Windham, Litchfleld and Holland Counties from the sCaIping knives and tOmahawks of niaraudiffg bands of Indians from the SChaghticOke Reservation. COmi- pared with his cares he combined jobs of Alexander the Great Genghis Khan the Cream of Tar tar, Hannibal, ). Caesar, Napoleon, Ulysses s. Grant, and the late Ferdinand FOch was a leadspipe Clnch. An Example
 As an officer AND a soldier he must set an example to his fol- lowers. He must keep in trim, in the physical pink all the time. How can he do 1t? Not by arguing cases in court. Not by crying the needs of the State Board of Edu- cation to a tight-fisted Board of Finance and Control or a penny- pinching General Assembly.
 The Only Way
 Since his expense account as a truant tracer cannot include the keep of Percheron hoss Colonel Major Sturges can only get into shape by climbing into his jack boots and pursuing A. w. O.L. schoolbOys and gals over hill and dale, through. fens and swainps. up hill and down hill, across the smiling meadows and the bosky dells of the countryside. Put bluntly in order to carry on his obligations as a military com rl1ander he must be in contsant training as truant officer. am sure that Senator Cooney never thought of all this.
 & The Day Saved e
 However the studiously thought full Republican House of Repre- sentatives made up for Honey Boys" oversight by giving the bill which had passed the Senate the well-known works. Leave 1t to the patriots in the lower branch of the General Assembly to come to the rescue of an endangered commonwealth by preserving al valiant warrior in his position. And by doing, incidentally, and: by way of no harm Keeping made up a very comfortable berth on the state payroll for . faithful member < of and . tireless worker for the interests of the Grand Old Party. S Not q Marker Y
 Senator Cooney,s unwilling attack on Colonel-Major Sturges and through him on the purely defensive forces of the state is not a marker, however, to the despicable outrage successfully pulled off by both branches of the General Assembly on another body of Connecticut's protectors, a volunteer organization (which makes the outrage more out rageous) THE PUTNAM PHI : LANx. The attempted sapping of Sturges was an insidious although unpremeditated attack upon the fighting morale of the Governors Foot Guard. The stab in the brisket administered the Phalallx was a death blow to the very military prestige of the state itself.
 Unique '
 I have neither the heart nor the space to go into the history of the Phalanx. Suffice to say that 1t is as iinrivalled as the training, equipment, and qualifications for membership were unique. Ispeakt in the past tense and of what was not what 1t is today. Putnam Phalanxmen indulged in no such trivialities as drill in the manual of arms, learning the use of the rifle and the bagnet, undergoing the drudgery of forced marches. and living on short ratiOns. Their battle-ground, SO I am told, was the banquet board; their training. field the wassail hall, their weapons the knife, the fork, the trencher, the beaker, and the flagOn. No, candidate was considered until he could stow away a fatted calf on the spit, . bullock i'm casserole, and 8 sheep souscloche. That done the aspirant to arms must top off with 8 punche0n of Med- ford rum, butt of heavy wet, ~ rundlet of sack, an aniphora of FaIernian, . stoup of sting0, q pipkin of posset, q gallipot of gin, . forum of punch, and 2 nOgginl of negus. a Ready to Go r
 Thus fortified against colds. chiilblains, and fever the appli-,