The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1879-08-23

lin the wsrlike qualities of all modern
civilized nations, and whether, nowtha1
Iiudividuality is allowed to ASSERT 1tsen
in the extended order of fighting, the
military machine of civilization has moi
been weakened. Already q German
author has recorded the fact that an
army nowadays loses it's best men first,
because the brsvest work farthest ahead
in the skirmish lime. The tendency has
been 30 uniform in one direction that 1T
lcct,z very much as If we should yet
come to iinventing arms of precision 80
deadly that the rate of mortality In a
pitched battle would be good deal less
than in q city in q sickiy season. While
on land a new and loose order of fighting
has been introduced offering q difficult
target, and the soldier has beeniimpresssd
with sense of danger, Thought to ahun
lit and allow come option in tising 80, the
improvement of weapons in naval fight
ing has done away with naval engage
ments. Since the Kearsage sank the
Alabama, and the Kaiser at 1issa ram
med the Re d'Italia, and sank the PalesA
tro, there has not been even o skirmiah
between the fleets OF any of the great
naval powers, though Russia and Turkey
and France and Germany have been at
war, and we may rest assured that after
the engagement of Iquique, In which all
the Peruvian and Cbilian vessels con-
cerned seem to have gone town, COM
manders everywhere will be confirmed in
their caution.
1T might be Thought that with aecu-
rate arms in tine hands of trained soldiers
a considerable percentage of hits might
be made, but incomplete as are the stat 4
istics On this point they show that lever
bullets now have their billets than ever
before. At Spicheren tine Germans nit
one French for every 279 cartridges exc
pended, and at Woerth LAG of every 147
bullets fired were thrown away. The
Russian figures for the late war are not
regarded as oyer-accurate, being suspi- /
,iously small, yet they represent sixty
,ix rounds fired for one man hit. But
we have a more striking set of figures
rom Zuiuland The Zuins are describ-
I'd as fighting with great ferocity and
scorning sconceaiment, coming
IN in dense masses and charging up to
he muzzles of the English rifles. The
english troops are splendidly armed,
having guns, rockets and Gatlings, as
veil as their rifles, and in the engage
nents where they have proved victori-
'us they have largely increased their
nemies' losses by cutting them down
With cavalry or spearing them after
hey have been repulsed. Vet at Cling
lilova {, 900 men poured ,ceaseless vol
eys into the Zuius for an hour and d
alf at from thirty to 500 yards range,
nd killed 4 900 of them; that is, it
gould take one soldier seven hours and
half steady work with a Martini
Henry to pot one Zulu! And at Rorke's
lrift, where the Zuius came 80 ,close
nat they were blown ttopieces, bayonet-
edorciubbed, $50 men firing Tor Twelve
ours only moved down" 500 of
heir savage foes. Arms of precision
ven against an enemy who come on in
did array and ito Close quarter are not,
seems, nearly 40 deadly as the old
over muskat and round bullet with
Ihich men fired slowly, it is true, but
OF for that the less surely, and relisd
lore on their aim than on their arms
" the work.