The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-11-01
A FIGHTING NATION. !,
CAUSES OF TEE FINE PHYSIQUE OF
THE GERMANS.
The Men OF tho Empire-Past ana
Present.

sperts characterizing the English people,
Britons of the present generation cannot boast
Of fgreater size, width, weight and endurance
than were attained by their forefathers. This
statement, which have no doubt is we'll
founded, suggested to me an inquiry With re-
spect to the actual state of physical standards
In Prussia, as compared with their conditions
half century, ago, shortly after the conclu-
sion OF the War Of Emancipation, which lett
Germany impoverished and enfeebled, though
victorious. :, The few trustworthy data have
been able CLEAN upon this subject may not
be without interest for your readers. Nothing
strikes a foreigner. especially If he be mill
tary man, 80 forclbly upon entering Prussia,
either from France or Belgium, as the size OF
the soldiers, compared with the dapper but
under-sized leglonaries he has encountered IN
the last named countries. The Prussian liner
is not1hly taller fellow than the French or
Belgian pioupiou, but he ls stouter, heavier,
and stronger than either. On an average nVe
Prussian liners weigh as much as six Frencn
lignards. This fact was satisfactorily estaD-
lished during the last war, when the presence nes
u eome three hundred thousand French SOL
dlers In Germany enabled military ethnolo-
aists to ascertain with considerable accuracy
the main differences In the physical materials
CT which the hostile armies were composed.
The sleven-stone man may be said to predoml-
nate throughout the Prussian army, putting
thailuards corps out Of the question; and IN
one or two of the provincial corps-as, for In
stance, the second, (Pomeranian,) the Bran
denburg, and Weatphalian corps-unless am
much mistaken, there are often as many
twelve-stone as ten-stone men. The infantry
Of the Guard and Guard Landwehr present
body of men numbering between forty
thousand and fifty thousand whose average
height is five feet nine and half Inches, and
weight eleven stone eight pounds. From Six
thousand to seven thousand Of these range
from ak feet to ak feet five Inches 10 height.
All the Culrassiers-there are nlteen os S: six.
teen regiments of them, II remember Alright
Arc huge fellows, those Of the guard being
giants In size, breadth and strength, riding
nearly tWenty-one stone with their accoutre.
ments, DC, The foot artillery Ia composed OF
picked men, ranging between five feet eight
Inches and six feet high. Even IN Inc Polsn
and East Prussian Infantry regiments. recruit
ed In districts the well-being OF which stands
at 8 much lower average than that OF the other
Polish provinces, II have been assured on In
dIsputable authority that large proportlon OF
the annual contingent from Prussian Poland,
Llthuania, and the barren lands on the Rus
sian frontier, consists OF youths who have
never tasted meat or wine until they Joined
the ranks of the army,) 9 man standing under
I'VE feet i've Inches In his regiuental boots Is
rare and exceptional sight.
And In this country above all others the
army and the male population are convertible
terms. The army is more than the pick of the
nation-it is the nation Itself. All the male
adutsSof Prussia, save cripples, dwarfs or
those Amicted by constitutional debilities,
have been, are or Will be soldiers. Youths
are, as 1t were, taken bodily out of The way OF
their lives, when their passions are at maxi.
mum and their judgment at minimum, and
seuuestered from the world for nearly three
years, during which their muscles are deval-
opod, and their Intelligence supplied WIN tne
means Of development. They are taught 70
are fed wholesomely and suf1clently. but
in such sort ss to render them comparatively
indifferent to good cheer; they are maze 10
work harder than they would nave hsa 70
labor at any calling whatsoever ID prlVate
life; their morals are looked after WIN e4s.ems
their term of service, If they manifest no de-
sire 10 s.capitulate" or re-enlist, they are dis
missed to- their respective civil avoca-
tions. as a rule, in high health, bodily and
mental, well se:up, hard and tough, souna m
wind and limb, with habits OF order, soorlety
men thsn they would have been had they
spent the three years In question at the
nioneh. the forge, or the desk. The large ma
fority OF these emancipes return at once 10 tne
groove from which their summons 10 tne
Prussian standards plucked them IN tnelr
twentyst year. and as soon as sney ydnrNe nave
t6eir absence, marry aud beget large vigorous
children. This is the country par excellence
for early marriages and large 1amilleSmoI
course mean among the lower classes. Inc
throngs of sturdy, hardy children pervadlng
the streets of Prusslan towns anu viiiages
Wonld cause disciple Of Malthus to shudder
with horror and disgust at every step ne
took In localities 80 philoprogenltively defiant
OF his,princlples. These riotous and MASTER
ful Youngsters are, In great measure, tne
practical results of the general military service
system. Generation upon generation OF them,
for the last sixty years. have ,b,s Dsen orIa1v max
stage, each q trife bigger or stronger than
It's predecessor-a very trlfe, possibly, Dut
stilf something. And 80 1t 10 that the army
measures have waxed and Increased since
1918, until they have reached dimensions that,
could the Prusslan hosts OF tue beirelungekrieg
he summoned from their rest and paraded for
inanectjon by the side OF the present army,
wo1ld ssfonish these veterans very consider.
shIv The uniforms of the 1872 levles would
hang IKE iiraperles on the limbs OF Blucher's
..bs6esn and lutzow's Wild Huntsmen; and
the sinewy young troops that Invaded france
OF years Ss heroes who Strug
eied against Napoleon's leeions at L'gqy and
Gemappes. Judging from the data ! nave
Ssen AHA to get at, should say that the aver
s9e PrlssIsu adult of 1872 is three inches oig.
.rer round the chest and two Inches Calier lnan
was his grandfather or great-grandiatner III
1892. Nor must this be attributed TO an IN
crement In general bien etre; for That nas oeen
also the case, and to q greater extent 10 GreaI
Britain, and yet 1t appeers-utde your leader.
tn sba admitted that Great Britons are not
larger or stronger men than their 'rogeaitors.
No:it "a not because the Prussians OF nova.
dags eat more meat, drink more wine and
beer and work fewer hours daily than old
those other Pruasians With whom our troops
fought side BY side In Belgian plains and Tor
eats. that their stature and girth have IN
creased, while ours have remained 'Nas they
Were!Sit Ia because halt century or more OF
compuisory military service has coerced Prus-
alan men, from father to son, Into Improving
the condition OF their bodies, with the limited
object truly, of attaining the highest possible
degree OF lighting power, but also with the
msgnifcent effect Of ameliorating, IN an ex-
trsordinsry measure, the physical torce OF
whole nation. Moreover, the Prussians as a
neople have enjoyed the i1estimaole adVan-
tage of poverty. They have been more SOBER,
more chsste, more thrifty, more Injured 10
nrfvafione. harder worked than any otner
great European people-not because they are
Of their nature paragons OF the virtues, 1sr
from II. but because hard necessity mas oeen
their master as we'll as the shreWd. saSaclons
Wao1tb hrinOa with it COm-