The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1883-11-03


The st. James Gazette gives an inter-
esting description Of the army at the
disposal of the King of Amman. 1t Is
reckoned officially at 100000 men. OF
these, 10000 garrison the Capital and
half that number is assigned TO Hanoi
and the surrounding fortresses. Nam
Dinh, Mini Binb, Bach Mini and other
places in Tonquin. The rest are ordi-
narily disguised in civilian attire, and
are not to be distinguished from harm
less agriculturists When q man is
dressed in the customary vestments OF
n Madras Coast coolies handkerchief
and bit Of string is difficult ut the
first blush to determine his profession.
In AMMAN. however, the matter is rem
dered comparatively simple. The law
is, from every three men on recruit.
Except, however, in cases of extraordi-
nary public necessity this rule is not
acted up to; one man from every seven
or eight is much nearer the average. The
selection of the recruits is left en-
tirely to the local authorities, and
the village mandarins make q
good thing out of the annual levies.
In default of squad-drill the AMMAN
csc recruits are put through variety
of unpleasant experiences designed to
test their courage. Physical courage
and endurance are supposed to be the
primary REQUESTS of soldier, and after
that the knowledge of how to load and
let off q gun. 1t is pleasantly assumed
by the military officers that the men
chosen for the army are the worst OF
the population. The mandarins are
supposed to keep their districts quiet by
drafting all their mauvais sujets into
the annual levy. THERE'S, accordingly,
the less computation in putting them
through the prescribed tests. The first
of these is to assault the raw recruit
violently with sabre. The sabre is q
wooden one, certainly, but the drill
sergeant hits hard, and knows from
personal experience where it hurts
most. Operations commence on the
back and end with blows on the head.
The recruit who stands battering about
the head for q matter of five minutes
without uttering . groan or fiinching,
even involuntarily, is hailed as fin
ished soldier and excused further
"drill.r To shrink, or even to moan,
when beaten on the head with the
wooden sabre is considered pardonable,
and the victim is noted down as an
s.ordinary'' soldier, instead Of an
ssable-bodied" one.
But the recruit who cries out when
he is hit on the body, or confesses by a
wriggle that the exercise is painful, is
reported for punishment, and then put
through new course of instruction.
The punishment usually consists in a
certain number of blows from barn-
boo ON the upper part of the thighs, SO
that, except for the dignity Of the thing,
there is close resemblance between
punishment and military discipline.
The military mandarins defend the
system on the ground that 1t is very an.
Gent and that it is unique in the military
exercises of the world-the latter asser.
ton being incontrovertible. Energetic
officers Of the army frequently invent
fantastic tests of similar character In
addition to the regulation exercises
A story at Hue is related of a-beau sa
5reur Of the Tayson rebellion who had
ditch dug and filed the bottom witt
swords and pixies stuck into the grount
point upward. He then called upor
his men to engage in drill. They wer'
to fling themselves into the ditch. Th'
most stoical of the s'able-bodied'
,shrunk from this novel addition to thu
manual of exercises. Only one maj
was found to do it. He went in with {
rush, and the swords and pixies col
alpsed before him. They had beeI
kept in position by the most slender