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| 185 At this time the First Regiment had been in readiness, expecting orders, and Colonel Wilmer, who arrived in camp on the 8th, said there had been much disappointment that orders had not come. The arduous duties of the soldiers consisted in guarding so many widely separated places. Each night detachments had to be sent to Eckhart, which required two companies; one company at the pumping shaft, near Frostburg, two companies at Union and Alleghany mines, and Hoffman mine and Pompey Swash two companies. Each evening, before sunset, the detachments would form with overcoats, blankets and coffee pots, and each man with a supply of bread or crackers. At the posts, camp-fires were built, sentinels posted, and the companies divided into reliefs. The men, when not on duty, would wrap themselves in blankets and sleep around the camp-fires; it must be remembered that at this high elevation the nights are cold, even in June. The solemn stillness of a night in the mountains is, without doubt, more disturbing to the city-bred man than the din of the most-crowded streets, electric cars included. Nevertheless, the men soon learned to sleep as well among the fires as in their own homes. The intervals between guarding posts among the mines were varied by the regular duties of a camp of instruction, and Colonel Boy kin had the dress parades and regimental drill. When the prospect of serious collisions with the miners began to disappear, there were applications to the colonel from many men asking for furloughs. Many of them had responded to the call of duty so precipitably that they had been unable to notify their employers that they would be absent. These and others were receiving notices from employers that they must return, and there were some threats of dismissal. Such conduct deeply incensed the officers and men of the regiment, as it was to be expected that all good citizens would co-operate with the State at such a crisis, and, at all events, do nothing to impair the efficiency of |