Evening Star Newspaper, May 23, 1926, Page 33

Preliminary estimates compiled by ‘the Militla Bureau of the War Depart- ment indicate that the local Guard will place in the fleld this year during the several annual training periods 48 officers and 678 enlisted men, dccord- ing to reports recelved by Maj. Gen. Anton Stephan. The figures, of course, are subject to some change, as the local organizations, it is-hoped, will be up to full maintenance strength by camp time, although some of them are below the minimum set by the War Ouanartment for the maintenance of details as made public show t Regiment of Engineers, John W. Oehmann, ¢ take into camp at Va., from August 15 a enlisted men. state staff corps and departments will have there at the same time from the District two officers and one enlisted mar.. The 260th Coast Artillery, Maj. Wal- ter W. Burns, commanding. it is esti- mated at_this time, will take to Fort Monroe, Va., from August § to officers and 95 enlisted men. The 29th Military Police Company, Capt. Raymond M. Peak. command- ing, will go to Virginia Beach from August 15 to 29, with 2 officers and 47 men; while Comparny A, 121st Battal- ion, 372 ry, will go to Saunders from-July 59 men figures do the National Guard mander, Maj. Gen. Stepha Staff, sed of officers and Virginia which will be a ginia Beach 9. Tt is estimated will be 40 office the maintena 5 being put on probation or disbanded < v promptly recruit to the vequired numbers, it was said at Guard headquarters. of the local ¢ made public at h one of the command: chment. 121st per cent. ations wh ihe attendance record. he four outfits on which the Reg- ular Army instructors are to make special reports and the organizations kept under strict surveillance for 90 days are the Headquarters and Se ice Company, 121st Engineers; ;the 29th Military Police Company: Com- pany ¢ ical Detachment. The record last week shows the ifeadquarters Detachment, Special . 20th_Division, the baby outfit iuard, being only about three tanding at the top of the, with' a 80 per cent attend- ance. The others, in their order and their percentages, follow: 1 121st Engineers, 71.43; Battery ast . 60: Batte 3, ompany E. Headquarters 1 Sngi- wrd for the p: headauartel the Medical De- -ers, with only s is one of the organi- a) and high on 9th Military -, 46; Campany B. 12 Company Company Compy ng-named enlisted men ¢ heen or- arged for the isiness interference, Huhn, Compz Josy 3 Pyt. Removal fron Pyt Jesse of Colum- pany B. Sergt. Walter M. Slavik. Company E. 1215t Bngineers, upon reconimend: tion of the company commander. been ordered ed to the ra private issued by Smithson, regim he same orde wing promotions of members of Company 13, also on recommendation the ¢ v commander: Corpl. ergeant and » be corporal. The 1 National Guard is ready to vacate ils present armory as it tinds a place to go. preparations have been made, inclu ing the reception of bids for the t of moving the great amount of par: pher of four miles of the pre e still strive building in 15 of the Guard ¢ ing to find some kind of which the Guard may housed. even if there is no place for arilling, for the valuable equipment must be placed somewhere for pro- s have been viewed. ances it was found in most away be- that the rental wanted wa vond what the G d is Y Congress, and there is little likelihood now that it will be assigned the first floor of the Pension Bureau, although there is a resolution now pending in Congress to allow this. Units of the local National Guard will fall heir to a considerable amount: of money for use in their company funds for recreation purposes as a re- sult of the action of the War Depart- ment in planning the distributiort to units of the I ard, as well as ather Guard organizations throughout the country, of funds acquired during the World War and of which the Jocal units : The local i fled what desce of World War units, have heen reconstituted here and which will be eligible to the prorating of the funds. The National Guard fund con- sist of the funds and securities and accumulated interest on securities turned into other funds by National Guard units at the close of the World War, less claims paid on account of Xational Guard units and funds re- turned to such units, a total at this time of $651,509.51. Securities and accrued interest thereon in this fund will be converted into cash and cred- jted to the organizations which turned them in. Minus balances of National Guard units will be prorated to Na- tional Guard units having plus bal- ances and all balances due units of the National Guard thus converted into zero and plus balances. Funds of an indefinite nature, such as ‘ex- change fund.” “hospital fund.” *box- ing fund,” “theater fund” and the Tike, will be prorated to the respective unifs of the battalion, regiment, brigade or division, as the fund indi- cates. The final balances thus ob- tained will be the sums to be paid the several units upon reconstitution. The chief of the Militia Bureau will notify tha chief of finance of each National Guard unit now reconsti- tuted of what World War units, unit, part or parts of units it is the suc- cessor. The chief of finance will then draw checks in the amounts due the World War units in favor of the com- manding officers of the reconstituted vnits, turn the checks over to the chief of the Militia Bureau for trans- mission, and close the accounts of the World War units. As new units are reconstituted the same procedure will be followed. Maj. Gen. Creed C. Hammond, chief of the Milit eau of the War De- partment, has_issued s relative to the instruction which will be given to the recruits of the National Guard of the several States during the ap- proaching field training period. All recruits of less than two months® r e to be segrezated for’ pur- ruction in detachments of ed 50 recruits, and in order that the best instructors for this work may be provided for the Guard re- cruits it is contemplated to detail a ~ ngineers, and the Med- | l Regular Army officer, selected by the ) respective corps commanders. This regular instructor will be designated to supervise all recruit instruction during the camp period. Schedules for this class of instruc- tion will call for a test which each recruit will be required to complete satisfactorily before he is returned to duty with his organization. The test will include a practical demonstra- tion of the recruit's knowledge of each of the subjects embraced in the schedule. Some madification has been made in the prohibition agalnst any target practice during the annual encamp- ment period. Small arms target prac- tice at National Guard fleld camps this Summer will be limited to the firing of course “D,” instruction and record practice. National Guard organiza: tions having home ranges, which com- plete their instruction practice prior 1o arrival {n camp, will only be per- mitted to_fire the record practice course. Gen. Hammond, however, urges that Guard organizations com- plete their smallarms practice on their home ranges before they go to camp. Where organizations complete their jnstruction and record practice prior to arrival at camp no further firing will be permitted during the field training period. Many inquiries have been received at the Miiitia Bureau concerning the altering of uniforms issued to the National Guard. As an answer to all of them, the bureau has taken steps to outline a policy which has been adopted by the bureau on this subject. It is stated that there Is no objec- tion on the part of the bureau to the alteration of enlisted mer’s issue blouses to conform to the roll collar specifications, provided the cost in- volved is paid from funds other than Federal. The belief was expressed in the Militia Bureau that it is not be- lieved this modification would prove satisfactory because of the fact that about one-third of a yard of cloth is required to make the change, and the additional cloth and the garment must be of the identical type and shade to make the uppearance of the uniform not noticeable. With three types of cloth and some 57 shades entering into the stock of war-made issue gar- ments, it Is a foregone conclusion that it will be practically impossible to ob- tain suitable types and shades of cloth to match in order to make the modifi- cation. Naval Reserve. The Naval Reserve of the District of Columbia has the distinction of sending from its enlisted ranks one of the two successful candidates from reserve organizations all > over the country to the United-States Naval Academy. He is John Willlam Afles, 3d, a seaman apprentice in the local organization, who lives at 1444 Rhode Island avenue northwest. He will en- ter the Academy this Summer. He was formerly from Pittsburgh, Pa., and has been in the local outfit nearly vear, and, according to Lieut. Comdr. Finney Bascom Smith, com- manding the local outfit, has profited much from his Naval Reserve.experi- |ence and has worked incessantly to make himself a good saflor the while he was studying for the difficult en- trance examinations. Under the recent naval reserve re- organization act men from the naval reserve were allowed to enter the academy each vear, and candi- dates must have served at t one ir in the reserve, prior to July 1’ rear of entering. Little re- to the offer this Department has sent special _ circular urging commandants of naval districts to | place the opportunity for appoint- ment before the men in their respec tive districts, to the end that the full may be obtained for entrance academy next year. The United States destrover Allen, training ship of - the local reserve: will leave her dock at the Washing ton Navy Yard at 8 o'clock this morn- ing on her maiden voyage since being ssigned here, with officers and men of the reserve aboard on a brief train- ing cruise down the Potomac and back, ending at the yard at 5 o'clock this afternoon. Lieut. Comdr. Wolf !1s in command. A large contingent of local reserv- ists, officers and men will be aboard and plans have been made to obtain the maximum amount of training out of this trip, which probably is the | only one of short duration which will be made prior to the three cruises of two weeks each, which she will take | this Summer to give the local reserv- | ists their annual training at sea, which they are required under the law to take to maintain their efficiency for service aboard fighting vessels in’ time of war. No definite plans have been made as to a «destination, but it is probable that she will steam slowly at her eco- nomical cruising speed, probably stop- ping for a short time during the lunch- eon perlod, and then return to Wash- ington. Before going on her annual cruises the vessel will proceed to Norfolk to be drydocked and otherwise prepared for the etrenuous cruising schedule mapped out for her this Summer, when she will take both the Baltimore, Md., and the District of Columbia. re- serves. During the cruising period she will be attached to the destroyer scouting fleet of the Atlantic fleet, and it is expected that the local men will be given thir week end liberty at Kew York City. Lieut. Harry J. Nicjols. executive officer of the local baftalion, reports that this organization is showing con- siderable growth and that interest is increasing. From a handful of men who regularly attended drills, when Comdr. Smith took charge and placed in operation a regular school course of instruction, the battalion com- mander was able to report 22 officers and 107 enlisted men present at the drill last Monday night. The officers are much elated over the showing, and are fomulating plans for recruit- ing the battallon up to the limit al- ed by the funds alloted by the y Department. Capt. C. R. Train, U S. N., has been mentioned in connection with the de- tail as the head of the 1927 naval re- serve inspection board, which will be composed of three line officers, one {supply officer and one medical officer. The 'board this year, which was_head- ed by Capt. W. Pitt Scott, head of the naval reserve division of the Navy Department, was only temporary and conducted inspections only in the third and fourth naval districts and the Washington, D. C., reserve. It is contemplated by the chief of year's board will make the complete circuit of all naval districts, and con- sideration will shortly be made by the department of the personnel which will' compose this detail. It is prescribed in the naval reserve regulations that the board or subboard theregof will inspect each battalion, uadron and division of the fleet re- ,.$ve annually. It will not only ar- { range the divisions in order of relative efficiency in two separate lists for fleet divisions and aviation divisions, but| it will also arrange all battalions and squadrons in lists of relative efficiency. Trophies will be awarded by the de- partment for the leading divisions of each class and for the leading battal- ion, squadron and naval district. It will come within the province of the board not only to recommend -the ac- tion to be taken to improve the effi- ciency of the reserve as a_whole and of such particular organizations as may be below the standard of effi- ciency -set by, the bureau, but it-wil THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, also recommend such officers as desire speclal commendation. The Bureau of Navigation has pro- mulgated a standard allowance list for naval reserve armories, which, it is ‘believed, will greatly facilitate the training of reserve units throughout the country. The local reservists do not have much of an armory, and this 1s one of its greatest needs. The arm- ory is located in the Washington Navy Yard in an old bullding formerly used during the war by the Red Cross for recreation work. The training vessel is at one of the navy yard docks some blocks away, and much time is con- sumed in mustering the men at the armory and taking them to the vessel for instruction. . . It formerly occupled the armory at the foot of Water and O streets south- west, bullt for the Naval Militla, when that organization was a part of the local Natfonal Guard, but when the guard became pressed for armory space the naval contingent, now a United States force, was forced to seek quarters elsewhere. The Water street armory is ideal for such train- ing purposes, and is most desirable be- cause it is directly on the water front and has a large dock, where iis train- ing ship could be moored. Capt. W. Pitt Scott, head of the re- serve division of the Navy Depart- ment, inspected the Baltimore, Md:, re- serve unit last week, and also their training ship, the U. 8. S. Eagle, No. 56, which was formerly the training ship of the local reserve, and was sent to the Monumental City when the De- stroyer Allen was sent here as its re- lief. Gratification has been expressed in the Bureau of Navigation over the inspection of reserve activities, which have just been concluded in the third and fourth naval districts. The in- spections showed, it was said, that the training of reservists in these two districts have been laild out along well-thought-out lines, all of the units functioning efficiently, and the merale of both officers and men was found to be of exceedingly high degree. The Bureau of Navigation is mak- ing a strong effort at completing the statements of naval reserve officers for pay purposes for the beginning of the Summer cruises. These state- ments will show the service of all offi- cers prior to the time of thelr appoint- ments in the naval reserve. Rear Admiral Noble E. Irwin. com- mander of the destroyer squadrons of the scouting fleet, was at the Navy Department last week conferring with the officlals in connection with final arrangements of details for the Sum- mer cruises of the reservists. which this year will be made on destroyers in active commission, except the local reserves, whose regularly asigned training vessel will go with this fleet. The Navy Department has author- ized a delay in the decommissioning of the Eagie No. 54 and retention of her present dutles in connection with the Naval Reserve of Brooklyn, N. Y. untll further orders. It funds ar available she will be held, in commis- slon until October 1, 1926.“ Otherwise, orders will be issued for her decom- missioning before that date. The de. commissioning was originally ordered in connection with the plan fo remove some of these vessels from these du. ties, so that the funds could be used in providing destroyers, which are more costly to maintain. S a e, 2,000,000 GERMANS SIGN LOCAL OPTION PETITION Reichstag Will Be Presented With Appeal When Bill for Liquor Reform Comes Up. By the Associated Press. BERLIN, May 22.—Petitions, bear- ing 2,000,000 signatures asking for the adoption of a local option law yester- day were delivered to President Paul Logbe by the National Committee for Local Option. The delegation which { delivered the petitions was headed by Dr. F. H. O. Melle of Frankfort. Two hundred bales, each containing 10.000 signatures, were unloaded in President Loebe's private chambers, where they will repose until the Reich- stag enters upon discussion of the government’s bill for liquor reform. They then will be placed on the table of the Reichstag, where they will serve as mute lobbyists. The signatures represent the results of a two-month crusade by German drys. - - Sent to Fort Myer. Capt. James M. Shelton, Cavalry, at the University of Illinols, has been assigned to the 3d Cavalry at Fort Myer, Va. - . Co.’s Weathershield Paint, all colors $2.25 a Gallon Main Office Fritsigd Bviov: the Bureau of Navigation that next | D. ¢, MAY 23, ENSOR’S COMET IS LOST; LAST . SEEN SOMEWHERE NEAR SUN Discovered in December, Was Due to Be Seen After Passing Perihelion, But Suffered Fate of Others of Kind. LOST, STRAYED OR STOLEN— Comet L 1925, also known as Ensor's comet, discovered in South Africa De- cember 14, 1926, last seen January 22, 1926. Reward will be given for infor- mation leading to its recovery. Apply at nearest observatory. This advertisement has not yet ap- peared .in any newspaper Lost and Found column, but with the wide va- riety of lost objects that are adver- tised, it is perhaps surprising that o) onie i has (ot advertised it. for a actually disappeared. On the 14th of December G. E. Ensor, an amateur astronomer of South Africa, discovered this comet, and so it was given his name. Then it was moving toward the sun, and, according to the calculations of astronomers, it was due to pass nearest the sun about February 12, reappearing on the other side, in the northern sky, in March and April. As it had a tail half as long as the width of the full moon when discov- ered, it was expected to be a conspicu- ous object when it reappeared, not only to the telescope, but to the un- aided eye as well. No Trace Was Found. However, comets, like people, do not always do what they are expected to do. At the Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago, at Willlams Bay, Wis., where comet photographs are ‘made agga matter of routine, it was looked ®or. On March 15 Dr. George Van Blesbroeck, who himself discovered a_sew comet a few months ago, made fwo photographs of 30 min- utes’ exposure each, through the ob- servatory’s big reflecting telescope These plates, when developed, showed the reglon where the comet should have been, according to the predic- tions of Dr. A. C. Crommelin of the Greenwich Observatory, considered as the best available, but though they showed stars as faint as the sixteenth magnitude, there was no trace of the comet. Where is it now? That is a ques-- tion which many astronomers are ask- ing themselves, as well as others, and it may never be satisfactorily an- swered. However, it may be that the calculations of the orbit were not quite correct. With three separate ob- servations of a comet, or other celes- tial object, its path may be figured, but if the three original observations are close together it is more difficult to predict where the object will be in several months than if three widely separated positions are avallable. Like a long lever where a small m tion at one end produces much great- er motion at the other, a slight error becomes greater the farther the comet is from the last position used in the computations. In the United States the chief work of computing orbits is done by astron- omers at the University of California, in Berkeley, under the direction of Prof. Armin O. Leuschner, and the observationg used may be obtained from any observatory. As soon as a comet is discovered, if the discoverer is in the United States, the Harvard College Observatory, at Cambridge, Mass., is notified, and if in a foreign , the information is sent to Bureau Central Astronomique’ or “Central Astronomical Bureau,” at Copenhagen, Denmark. From each of these, the news of the discovery, and the part of the sky where it was seen, is sent by telegraph to observa- tories all over the world. Cryptic Messages Describe Find. Reminiscent of war times and spy plots are these telegrams, for a spe- clal cipher is used. For example, as- tronomers here were notified of the discovery of Ensor's comet by the fol- lowing telegram from Dr. Harlow Shapley, director of the Harvard Col- lege Observatory: ENSOR COMET UXIPBADEBA GOENENUXIP UXFIFIIPUX. UX- VYBAAMBA BADEVYVYVY ENB. FIENUX MOTION BABADEUXUX BADEGOVYVY (. o8 SHAPLEY. This strange-looking message, which looks as if it might reveal at least declaration of war by some European power on the United States, or some other important diplomatic news, merely means: “Ensor has discovered a comet of the eighth magnitude. On the 14th of December, at 6 p.m., CUreenwich time (5 hours faster than WM. H. GOTTLIEB, President You deserve relief from your heating prob- lem. We have it for you. And a very small payment down now gives you this comfort to enjoy. If you prefer you may extend the balance over a year beginning next Fall! From the moment you decide to have Oil- O-Matic heat your heating worries are over. 1926—PART 1. Bastern standard), it was at right ascension 3 hours and 38 minutes, and declination 61 degrees 12 minutes south; it was moving north at the rate of 24 minutes, and west at the rate of 12 minutes a da; Right ascension and declénation are the celestial equiv- alent of longitude and latitude, the po- sition given being an the constellation of Reticulum, the net, a star group not_visible from northern countries. ‘With this information the astron- omers at the Naval Observatory, at Washington,.ss well as at other simi- lar_institutions in the United States and forelgn countries, were able to find the comet. Thus ft was followed untfl January 22, when it was seen | for what was probably the last time by H. E. Wood, at the observatory at Johannesburg, South Africa. On Feb- ruary 12 it came to perihelion; that Is, it passed closest to the sun, and where it has.gone since we do not know. A more accurate orbit might have resulted in its being found agai but if it had attained the brilliancy that had been expected of it, it would have been visible to the unaided eye, and would not have been missed, no matter how inaccurate the orbit. Whatever happened to Ensor's comet, however, it is rot the first tire that a comet has vanished. In 1826 a German astronomer, Von Biela, dis- covered a comet, and when its orbit was calculated it was found to be the same as one that had appeared pre- viously fn 1772 and 1805. As it took only six years to go around its orbit, it had evidently returned to the region of the earth about 1812 and 1819, but ed by astronomers But with its orbit once computed, astronomers knew where to look for on its next return. i and it was 2 that it would pass within 20,000 miles of the earth’s orbit on December 3 of that year. However, the comet reached that part of the earth’s orbit a month before the earth got there, and so the alarm which many people felt of & possible collision with the comet was proved unfounded: Next Appeared Far Apart. In 1839 it returned . but ¢ up behind the sun, and so was seen until the next return, in when something remarkable wa ta have occurred to it. Discover December 29 at Yale University, sides the main comet, panion was seen, and developed a tail of its own. The big one also developed w tail, and the mate, not to be outdone, developed a second tail! Then the head of the big comet_divided, with a tail for each and with an arc of light between them. By February the companion comet k This was in | r com- | ¢ bigger | it was obvious that some extremely violent disruptive forces were at work within the comet. In 1852 they again appeared. Both comets were seen, but by this time they were about a million miles apart, and it was impossible to say which was the parent and which the child. They were last seen in September, 1852. In 1859 they were again on the other side of the sun, so astronomers anxiously awaited the 1866 return, when the con- ditions were more favorable. But the comets did not appear, and, indeed, they have not been seen since 1852. aturally this excited astronomical discussion, and the celestial detectives set to work on the trail of the lost comet. On several occ: ONE WAY vice. Canal. route: N York Wat e ) Los Angeles. I grown still brighter and the original comet had developed three tails hefore it left the regions of the earth. What had happened to it no one knew, but K. M. Micks, Mgr. | or_un: A 15-day voyage on largest and faste: in Coast-to-Coast ser- Sightseeing at Havana and Panama | PANAMA PA di ONE OF THE Gum'@l.ms vember or December at the time of previous visits, showers of meteors had been observed. These, like all me teor showers, were due to the earth passing through a vast swarm of me teors moving in & common orbit. At some places the meteors were very merous, while at others they we sparse, 8o the number of meteors seen each time the earth crossed the patl of the swarm was not the same. These meteors gave a_clue to the fate of the comet when it was found that their orbits corresponded closely with that of the comet, and that Ix tween the years 1798 apd 1838, when there had been particularly fine me teor displays, Biela's comet had mad« exactly six complete revolutions. American Continent! 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