, 1877-01-20

was special raising for each subsequent
rc-cnlstment stated amount to be re-
served and paid only on the soldiers
final discharge. This would be a con.
tinually increasing induccmcnt for good
behavior. Besides this many improve.
lnrnts were made in Tations, clothing,
ucCountrcmcnts, etc, for the soldiers
benefit, which coupled with greater
strictncss in enlistment of recruits rs re-
CARDS both mental and neral qualitca.
tions, have made the material Of the ar
my to rate higher tO-da, than ever be-
fore. The improvements were 50 many,
the efforts 50 great. and in a measure un.
expected. that we were greatly surprised
to witness them all, when We made our
visit to our old time soldier friends at
Fort Vancouver 1t had been nearl y
nine years since we wore the blue /; and
from the difficulties at Vancouver be-
tween soldiers and civilians that some
time ago occupied the attention of the
press, we expected to find many good
men, who perhaps were compelled to
bear the name created by a disorderly
few.
We never saw finer set of men phys
icnlly. nor those who conducted them
selves in every particular like gentlemen
than the sold ers OF the 2lst Infant
ry stationed there. Not only did we
find them TO possess the moral and So
ciaI qualities of true gentlemen, but we
found thmt no stranger would be enlisted
whose character WAS unknown 10 the re-
cruitng officer, except he first brought
from bis last employers, or the place Of
his residence. certificates as to his
good moral character, and that he is not
subject to the habitual use of intoxicat-
ing liquors. One man from the Sound
region. desiring to enlist, we found stop.
ping there for his friends to send him
his certificate of character before the off
GERS would enlist him. The reason given
for this strictness was, that the recruit
ing officers were held responsible tor the
moral character of the men enlisted by
them
We made many inquiries regarding
the characters of the soldiers now at Fort
Vancouver from citizens whom we be-
licved to he well acquainted with the
garrison, who fully sustained the high
opinion we had formed of them. They
also spoke in what we believed to be de-
scrvedly high terms Of Col. Mason, the
commander of the fort, and of the officers
oi the garrison, and in particular Of
Chaplain Collins, whose able efforts in
intusing a desire to furnish literary and
other mental amusements by the officers
for the garrison have been successfully
carried out, and duly appreciated by
soldiers as well as civilians.
The evening of our arrival Col. Mason
gave an able address on "The Men who
Fight" describing the different kinds of
weapons used, and the different methods
Of warfare, aud military discipline conse-
quent thereon.
The soldiers are armed with the
breech.loadiug Springfield rifle musket,
and have now on trial the trowel bayo-
net, a combination of the bayonet and
trowel. The blade of the bayonet being
about one foot long The part near the
shank being about four inches wide. 1t
is not as good for the ordinary uses Of n
bayonet as the common style, but is a
very efficient tool, by which. in soft
ground, men could easily protect them
selves by few minutes work with a
we'll made line of rifle pits.
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