64 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



Guards, with the following officers : R. L. Ditmars, Captain ; 

 W. Reid Blair, 1st Lieutenant; W. T. Mitchell, 2d Lieutenant; 

 Charles B. Gleason, 1st Sergeant ; Charles E. Snyder, Quarter- 

 master Sergeant ; John Rose, 2d Sergeant ; Stephen Beebe, Color 

 Sergeant. 



The Company was immediately uniformed, equipped, and 

 armed with Springfield carbines, at the expense of the Zoological 

 Society ; and even at this date it is the only company of the Home 

 Defense League of New York City which is armed with rifles. 

 The drilling of the Company was promptly taken in hand by 

 Capt. John levers, of the 68th precinct of the New York Police 

 Department, and by him, and with the assistance of members 

 of his staff, the Company was drilled to a high state of efficiency. 



The Company made its first appearance in public on Mem- 

 bers' Day, at which time it was presented by the Executive Com- 

 mittee of the Society with a national flag. 



Through the enterprise and energy of Captain Ditmars, ably 

 assisted by Mr. L Richker, of Yonkers, the Zoological Society 

 acquired vested rights in the rifle range of the Yonkers Rifle 

 Club, situated within convenient distance of the Zoological Park. 

 Throughout the summer the members of Company A were taken, 

 on two days of each week, to the rifle range for rifle practice at 

 ranges of 100 and 200 yards. Excellent results were secured, and 

 the men of the Company were made thoroughly familiar with 

 their weapons. The marksmanship finally attained by the mem- 

 bers of the Company was highly gratifying. 



At the approach of winter, the Zoological Park Company 

 was supplied by the city with heavy winter overcoats, and there- 

 by still further became officially recognized as a part of the police 

 reserve force created for the more thorough protection of New 

 York during the war. 



Naturally, the presence of this force of armed men in the 

 Zoological Park, subject to the call of the Captain of the 68th 

 Precinct, is a satisfaction both to the Police Department and to 

 the Zoological Society. 



Since the formation of the Company, several of its members 

 have taken their places in the regular army of the United States, 

 leaving vacancies which must be filled at an early date. A com- 

 plete roster of the Company, as originally enrolled, is as follows; 



