Lex Anteinternet: MId Week At Work: Guard Duty. New York Naval Militia February 1917.

A repeat, given as this was taken a century ago, of  a photo  that we put up some time ago:

Lex Anteinternet: Mid Week At Work: Guard Duty. February 1917.:

New York Naval Militia, February 5, 1917.

And some additions.

Alfred Brooks Fry, the commander of the New York Naval Militia, on the same day.

I'm not exactly sure of what the story was here, other that New York mobilized some Naval Militia to guard bridges.  In looking at it, there was talk of calling out the National Guard in some localities due to the increase in tension with Germany that had occurred during the prior week.  Naval Militia bears the same relationship to the state that the Guard does, although its obviously something we encounter a lot less frequently. Chances are that New York called up some Naval Militia in this context.

Which would have made sense. The New York National Guard was only lately back from the Mexican border and these bluejackets appear to be as adept at guarding bridges as soldiers would be.  New York may have wished to give its Naval Militia a little active duty experience, or it might have wished to give its Guard a rest.  Either way, sailors of the state were out guarding bridges on this day, a century ago.