| Show COMPANY E ATTENTION F full ull complement for encampment I 1 adjutant general wedgewood says for the honor of city forty men should attend company E of the national guird guard which is the company here in richfield seems to give the state and local officers a lot of worry as to the sti biliti of the comp any and it reflects strongly against the company that more interest inte iest in not taken in national guard affairs the commanding offices cei lieutenant christensen has sent to head headquarters rs a report that there will probably be not more thin than 20 of the company who will attend the encampment at fort russell in this report the officer inquired as to the conditions which enlisted men will N ill be excused from attending here is the answer of adjutant gen gan exal wedgewood 1 I have your dour letter of july and NN was as veri much dib disappointed appointed and more than very much surprised you state that you vou think about twenty men will ill be all you can take to camp it cannot lie be possible that the town of richfield will permit anything of that kind for it would be anything but creditable to the city I 1 cut the number ber down to 40 men to each company to take to camp so the compa companies would be evenly balan balanced ved keep within the financial abilities of the state and the apportionment made by the government to take only twenty men as a company to camp would bould be e almost throwing the money it would cost awaa awa it would should not be a company it would simply be a detachment tach ment and headquarters would feel somewhat humiliated to send out that thal t number of men for a company I 1 gave gaie richfield this company and hae continued it with the understanding thit that the city fly would keep up its end with the other cities and maintain its company up to the required standard I 1 had two opportunities to put in companies where I 1 know that there would be no difficulty in that regard but I 1 had no idea of an any such drop from the stan st anjard lard as this could possibly our occur in as large a city a as richfield now something must be done to put this company in a proper condition for camp we must have between thirty and forty men we should have forte fort including the cooks and there should be forty men and officers exclusive of cooks and active steps in must be taken for richfield to make a creditable showing for itself and for the state we are going out there under the eyes of the whole united states there will be national guards from several other western states and we lne must compare favorably with them to do so richfield must hold up its end you ask about excusing men except for some special reason the only excuse for not attending camp is iq a certificate of a physician that the man is physically incapacitated to attend and he be is liable to fine or imprisonment or both if he does not attend of course it is not t intended to make guard matters a hardship haid ship but there is no hardship about attending thi this camp your company will be brought up on a special train the train will aill be transferred to the oregon short line yards the men will step from the rio grande train to the oregon short line train sleeping cars will be provided and evera man will have the I 1 same charce to sleep on the train that lie would on ordinary there will nill be a kitchen car on each train and regular mc ils cooked and sered I 1 on the train ahe march will only be i about ten miles and the best of camp care will ill be given as pub possible sible there will be much to see of the country arid and of military and it is a trip worth any mans while I 1 say a gain again that we cannot take a company of 20 men out of richfield i cannot afford to permit it and the company must be got in shape at once 1 I wrote aou ou some time ago asking you nou to let me know what wages a company cook and a helper for him wanted so that I 1 could authorise ou to enga engage ae them they sited need not be cri enlisted listed to this letter I 1 have had no reply I 1 must hear from ou in that regard at once if it happens that th t some per person peron on other than ou should be elected captain kindle hand this letter to him at once 1 I want iou to take this letter in the spirit it is meint I 1 am simply trying to do my duty to the state and desire dee only that the good n ame mme ame and credit of the state and richfield be lined so anxious is general wedgewood to hae a full depre representation en tation from this city tint thit he has written to mayor christensen asking him to use his influence in hiving having the town properly pro peria represented at the encampment and the maor major has replied that he will do 0 so o there are nearl fifty men enlisted in the company and the officers h ve e determined that strenuous efforts will be made to compel every in in of the company to attend the encampment een chere men hac leitton left tonn ton orders iiii hue e been sent to them to depoi t here on july for transportation to the place aiace of encamp ri ent captain Is his is not not ot received his its commission find and will no t is fmc command until he does recene receive it but he be is assisting in getting the members into the spirit of the work of the national guard it is hoped the bos will all respond as the trip to fort russell and the experiences gained by association with the U S regulars will be worth much to the bo os s get in and dl dull ill lads I 1 |
