The Price of Target Practice
A local captain faces bureaucratic hurdles and pointless costs when requesting simple supplies for his militia unit.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Some time ago, Capt. Booth, of Company B, wrote to Adjt. Gen. O'Brien for a new supply of targets, as his former supply had been used up in range practice. These targets are mere heavy manila paper, with bull’s-eyes painted upon them, and cost perhaps 1 or 2 cents apiece. Not receiving any reply, Capt. Booth wired that he wanted them as soon as possible for a match shoot that was coming off, to which a reply was sent, 'collect,' protesting against each extravagance. The cost of the telegram alone was 75 cents, besides the time lost in going to the express office and bothering about them. Last week, after two weeks' delay, Capt. Booth received two targets and a letter from Adjt. Gen. O'Brien, saying that he couldn't see how so many targets could be used up.
“Not receiving any reply, Capt. Booth wired that he wanted them as soon as possible... to which a reply was sent, 'collect,' protesting against each extravagance.”
Local commanders have always struggled with the gap between the needs of the unit on the ground and the stingy, out-of-touch administration at headquarters. Today’s frustrations over city procurement or departmental budget cuts for frontline staff echo this 1893 administrative absurdity.
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