The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-11-02
From the World is,
THE STRENGTH OF THE TURKS.

Seventy Millions of MusseImen that may
Ga her Around the Sultan.
Yesterday reporter of the World had an
interview with an American who now holds
prominent position in the Turkish army.
He said: stThey have in the field to-day
400, 900 men. The regular cavalry consists
Of 10000 horses, and the artillery number
Ii, 900 men. The rest are infantry. All are
fully and thoroughly equipped. and with the
most modern pieces. The Sneider gun was
formerly the regulation arm. but it is now
being changed for the Martini Henry, and
the Sneiders are given to the militia and new
~ enrolled troops. The infantry have the
Martini Henry; also the Winchester rifle
and the latest patent in revolvers and swords
or sword-bayonets /; the cavalry have the
same, brcech-loaGing carbines and revolvers,
The field batteries are supplied with Krupp' S
twelve-pounder breech-loading, also with the
Broadwell guns of the same calibre. Their
mountain batteries are very fine; they have
the Whtworth three Founders fastened upon
the backs of mules, and they are no contra ct
mules either. There are also eighty Gatlin
guns in the army from the foundry Of Baget
Brothelsat Vienna
''Where are their other equipments man
ufactured?"
Most if not all their other heavy guns
are of English make. A few of their swords
are of domestic make, but most of them
German. The rifles are almost entirely
American. When it was proposed to change
the regulation gun from Sncider to Martin l.
Henry the contract was eagerly sought az
ter by both English and American manu-
facturers, but it was secured here by old
Governor. O. L. Winchester, President of
the Winchester Repeating Rifle Company of
New Haven. It was for 600, 900 pieces; part
have been furnished and the rest arc under
way.
s'Over 80, 600 have been distributed, 10000
being in the hands of the artillery and cav
airy. A man with thirteen charges at his
disposal, without having to stop to reload. is
pretty dangerous creature. Those repeat
ing rifles are as much superior to the ordina-
nv breech-loader rs an ordinary breecll-load-
ing gun is to the old Misunderstanding pieces. :"
"What sort of an engineer corps have
they?' a-
IA large and good one. Most of the en-
gineers are Germans, especially the senior
officers. Some of the Oldest came over with
Won Moltke, who, you know, surveyed all
the military lines. defences and roads in tn"
vicinity of Conssantinople. The Turks at
first thought that Won Moltke was fool, but
after Il ey had seen the value OF some Of his
work, they made him chief of the topograph-
lical department, and now they prefer Ger
| man engineer to any other, and all of his
companions have been advanced one grade
"a few of them are Hungarians. The Ar
tillery and Engineer Department is separate
| from the army and navy, something as it
used TO be in England, and its head, the
Grand Master Of Artillery, is one of the
Cabinet Minister'S
''What is the condition of their navy?"
81 consider it second only to that of Eng
land. It consists of twenty-seven iron-cla'l
ships of English build, and as completely
equipped as any in the English service. There
are also about eighty wooden ships of the
line, all ffrst-class as to build and equipment.
They are manned by at least forty thousand
sealnen aud Marines"
SIS this large force we'll disciplined?n
eyes, as well as any army in Europe, I'M
less perhaps. you except the Germans"