The Express.
London, England, 1865-07-06 00:00:00

But having thus moved forwards, why should
the same authority now step back t We learn
from a military contemporary, who is usually well
informed on these subjects, that the Fusilier regi-
ments of the line are to be " relieved of the shako,
"and are to have issued to them a new headdress,
"of which the material is to be lambskin, the colour
" black, the size smaller than the Buster headdress,
" ' '• ' _ _

"and the shape not unlike the bearskin caps of
"the Guards." Now, considering that the eight
Fusilier corps—the bth, 7th, 21st, 23rd, 87th,
101st, 102nd, and 103rd—take their tour of duty
in the colonies like other regiments of the line,
and that of the eight, five, if not six, are now
serving in India, this new development of mili-
tary tailoring is simply astounding. Imagine for
• moment a soldier that has to do duty at Banga-
lore or Belgatim, standing sentry during the hot
winds in • headdress which is "lambskin" as to
material, "black" as to colour, and " in shape not
"unlike the bearskin caps of the Guards." Of two
things one; either for the future these gallant
Fusilier corps must carry about with them a change
of headdresses, and every soldier when he
changes quarters be accompanied with a band-
box containing the cap which is not suited for
the meson in which he moves ;or else be must
lay down his life for his bearskin, and nobly face
apoplexy, brain fever anddeath ender • tropical
min, rather than forsake his black lambskin which
is "in shape not unlike the bearskin caps of the
" Guards."

Lot us look at the wisdom of this truly wonder-
ful change in a light nearer home. There have
been some hot days lately, days in which even the
most sobarminded paterfamilias was glad to ex-
change his respectable black for a lighter white
hat, and in which no sane man living half-a-dozen
miles out of town wore anything heavier than the
lightest of " billyoocks," or the most flexible of
straws. Imagine in our English dog-days having to
walk ten or fifteen miles a day along a hot
dusty road, the head covered even with an every-
day black hat. But if this had to be dose
in India, under the sun of Bengal or Madras—in
such a march as we read of lately, when of •
hundred and twenty artillerymen thirty fell vic-
tims to the climate of the jungles and the muddle-1
•
headedness of the Bombay military authorities-
what would be the sufferings of those who had to
bear the infliction ? And if, in place of an ordi-
nary black hat, the civilian were condemned to
wear a " headdress of which the material is
" lambskin, the colour black, and the shape not
" unlike the bearskin caps of the Guards," would
be not in preference ask to be sentenced to a
couple of years' penal servitude ? From breaking
stones at Portland, breakfasting upon oatmeal
gruel, and dining upon six ounces of
meat, there is an escape some day, sooner
or later, Such • rigime does not kill even the
most fastidious, however it may worry him. But
to do duty under a tropical sun in a headdress
such as we have described, must be the prelude to
fever, the hospital, and the grave.
In questioning the acts of our military autho-
I rities it is often difficult to define where the
power of the War-office ends and that of the
Horse Guards begins; but in matters of dress we
believe the Commander-in-Chief foe the time being
is supreme. Has his Royal Highness counted the
coat at which—supposing for a moment that the
black lambskin cap looks well upon the wearer—
soldiers can be made to look what nurescrniaids
would call " nice " as to what they weer wpm their
heath f To which of the many olinmiso whips our
intenty soldier has to do duty, would this twills
sultabb f In Segland the Aster is km welk Mid
the remmer--wben we get awy.—siisah too hot for
oath a hat. No man laving the bowels et •
passion can ever peas a foot Guardsman wearing