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| to get the training needed to make the organization more efficient and consequently of more value to the city, the state and the nation. The Fourth has been away from Baltimore a good many times on special trips, with marked credit to itself and the city and state. It participated in the celebration in Philadelphia in 1886, in honor of the centennial of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. This was soon after its organization, and was its first appearance in public. The regiment went to the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta in 1897, and won considerable praise for its marching and for the appearance of its men. The most noteworthy trip the Fourth made away from home was in 1899, when it went to New York to take part in the public reception in honor of Admiral George Dewey upon his return from Manila Bay. The regiment marched in the great military parade on that occasion, and formed a part of the troops in one of the most notable reviews that has ever taken place in the United States. One of the most pleasant social trips the Fourth ever made out of Baltimore was in the summer of 1897, when it went to Brooklyn as the guest of the Forty-seventh Infantry, New York National Guard. The regiment quartered in the Forty-seventh's armory, and the officers and men were entertained lavishly. It was in return for courtesies the Fourth had extended to the Forty-seventh when the New York guardsmen stopped in Baltimore on their way to the inauguration of William McKinley as president of the United States in March, 1896. The Forty-seventh was quartered in the Fourth's armory, and the officers and men of the visiting organization were given a taste of Baltimore hospitality which they never forgot. The Fourth is famous for its entertainments. It was host to the Old Guard, that famous military organization of New York, which came to Baltimore in September, 1914, to take part in the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the writing of the "Star-Spangled Banner" and the defense of Baltimore in the war of 1812-1814. The Old Guard was housed in the Fourth's Armory, and the visitors were wined and dined in a truly Southern way. After returning to New York the Old Guard sent the Fourth a handsome trophy made of bronze, to be competed for annually at the state rifle range. The gift was in recognition of the courtesy shown the organization while it was in Baltimore. The Fourth has marched in all the inaugural parades in Washington since its formation in 1886, and succeeded each time in carrying off its share of the honors bestowed upon the militia organizations at the National Capital. Its first appearance in an inaugural parade as a complete regiment was in March, 1896, I'afie Fifty-,in<- |