Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-03-14
Nationnlitlcs in the British Army.
NnW Ynk Tlmcn.

NOW luk Times,
a report which has just been issued
from the British War Office Of the ma
tionaliiy of the officers and men in the
English army hardly bears out the pre-
valont idc" ~ to tho proportion vi Irish
men to be found in the ranks of that
service. The regular army consists of
1898 officers and men, the number
of officers being 1900, or, roughly, one
to every twenty-three in the lower ranks.
Referring to the nationality Of the Of
iicers, il is found that 5.73S are English
(including Welsh), 1886 are Irish, and
only 7S5 are Scotch. This gives Ire
land proportionately as large number
of gentlemen in the army as England,
Scotland tagging considerably behird.
II is, however, because II soldiers He
holds out so poor n chance of anything
moro substantial than perhaps honor
and glory, that Scotland, with, say, u
population of 100000, is content to
supply little more than halfthe number
of officers furnshished by 100000, of
less careful and more impulsivc Irish.
The difference is quite ~ marked when
we come to consider the nationality
of the enlisted men. OF the total
Of l7S,66O men, not quite 10000 are
Irish, that is to say about % per cent.
The proportion, according 10 the ratio
of the population OF Ireland to that of
the whole empire. would be only about
II per cent. Scotland, again, contrib.
ute 1900 men to the total, or about7
per cent. while her proportion would be
about 10. England and Wales contrib
uto the remaining 40 per cent, which
is not FIR from their proper allowance.
Tho proportions vary much in different
arms and different regiments. The
strength of the Irish contingent lies i'll
the infantry,whil the cavalry, the house
hold regiments, and the hotsear,illery are
mainly English, Looking Mt particular
regiments, we find that i'll many III
stances their special connection with II
certain part Of tho United Kingdom is
almost nominal. For instance the So
called Royal Irish Regiment of Dragon
Guards Inns ii9 non-irishmen in It's
ranks, aud the Scots Gravs
363 non Scotchmen But bet
ter return il made by the Gordon
Highland Regiment, which has rs
NCOlNnmCn NGdlISI H. VI Olucr ma
tionnlitios; 10y the Irish battalion known
is the Twenty-seyenth Enniskillens,
which has 70S lrishmen i'll the ranks,
and by the renowned Connaught RAN
gers, keeps itself free from contact with
English and Scotch, there being but
ninety.six Of the first nationality and
three of the second in its ranks. The
fact deserves notice that, out of i,12S
men in the Greuadier and Coldstream
Guards, only 80 are Scotch and Irish,
while in the Rifle Brigade, out Of 1866
men, 1867 are English. The report, MS
n whole, goes TO show that the feeling
Of nationality is nowhere so strong rs
to prevent the three races from serving
together, thus combining in most bat
talions the solid resolution Of the En-
glishnean, the regulated enthusiasm OF
the Scotchman, and the impulsive dash
Of the lrishman.
-
AFTER all these 26S years come next
May, pocahontas will have monu-
mcnt erected to her memory. Her re-
mains are iii tomb ut Gravesend
marked simply; "16l6, May 81, Re.
beoea Wrolfe, wife of Thomas Wrolfe
gent, Virginia lady borne, was
/, h,riai III, thn ,si,nppnl =