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Show H. THE MILITIA Bt ENCAMPMENTS HH Tho soason of militia maneuvers BF nnd encampments Is now with ua. B Thoro will bo koon scrutiny, this year BS ot war. Jt tho results being nttnlned. Bt UP to nt'out ten yoara ago, tho work BEB x nt lnost of thoso encampments was BBS BBBk ' a VOry Btcrcotypcd character. BbbbbebbbbBB3bbmhs Drilling In nil kinds of format'otis seemed to bo tho principal occupation. Thin camo a dovclopmcnt of tho wit game Idea. Great bodies of men weie scattered over tho country as they would bo In actual fighting. This gave excellent. practice lo tho officers In handling bodies of troops. Dut tho work was very exhausting to men from Indoor omploymonts, particularly par-ticularly If food Buppl'cs wero Irregular. Irregu-lar. Probab y It mado tho scrvlco unpopular In a grent many cases. Jts practical value to tho prlvato holdlor was open to somo doubt. MIilUv authorities now seem mor ofiuorab'o to camps rathtr moro llko tho eld tlmo encampment, whero thoy settlo down In one place and learn what they can of mltltnry practice. This Is at least less expensive, It saves .omo damage bills, It , gives tlmo for moro systematic Instruction If tho tvorK Is well planned. It would seem as If tlio fighting In Europo were demonstrating1 tho Idea that nothing is so valuable to a soldier sol-dier ns loarnlng to shoot straight. Modern war has largely degenerated to trench lighting. A sold cr might put In years drilling, nml yet bo of llttlo vnluo in a trench. Good marksmanship, knowlcdgo o( sanitary methods In trenches and camps, familiarity with nrms and am-mun.tlon, am-mun.tlon, points llko these would seem worthy of first attention from our amateur warriors. Accurate shooting shoot-ing calls for no olnborato machinery of maneuvers and encampments It can bo taught anywhere and any iliQe. If a big forco of good marksmen wore In resorvo, tho cssontlals of military organization could bo quickly taught In caso of omergency. |