The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-10-27
CHINA'S MILITARY FORCES.
NJ. Petersburg Gazette.


 imperial army proper is known under the name Of the Army ofthe Eight Banners. l; Is divided into eight corps. each being distinguished by peculiar banner. This army almost forms military caste for II Is cora posed exclusively of the decendants of the Manichus. MongohaEs and Chinese rebels, wao. m i6oI, invaded China and de,htoned ,he old imperial family. Lur- ing peace the men of this caste are al lowed 10 conduct any common business, being forbidden only to leave their city without permit from the commanding officer. The officers excel their men only in gymnastics. According to the Chinese notions. no man Is tit to be an officer un- less he Is an athlete. This army num- bers ,l1 ooo men of these over one-half a.e stationed Tn rekin, and ,he rest in a few large provincial cities. This miii- tary caste can by no means be regarded as regular army.
 The second or provincial army is called the .Afmy of the Great Banner. Each oi the eighteen provinces of the empire ls obliged by law to keep certain number oi soldiers, and their aggregate. accord .ag 10 the official statistics. Is 60 900 men. There are eighty generals and over 7.o55 oil CTS. The provincial army IS composed chiefly of mercenaries. while thc laajoIlty Of the officers are of the mili- ,ary estate. These two armies. amount Ins h 10000 men, are all the Celestial empire has to rely on in case Of war.
 The Imperial Guard about lS.ooo strong, Is the flower of the army Of the Guard Infantry. , ,oo men are provided with muzzleloaders. presented by the car oi Russia; the rest are armed with fin; guns, lances and shields. Half of the cavalry, about c.ooo men. are armed wi.h Cnassepo, rifles. The artillery has tairty-iwo bronze guns, bought of Russia. and | few mortars. There are 50 eda- eated artlllerymen.
 The army of the governor of Cnidy, lbou 900 strong. Is also reorgani1ed The men are instructed by French and kngsisi otii CTS. The army has breech- loading rifles and krupp steel cannon. -cofd,ng to German writers. up 10 IS-9. krupr had sent to China I,o heavy guns and ., field guns. The army of the goIerhor of kahn-Zu and Shan-Zee. 10 ooo str az. Is said to be supplied with all .he in de n arms. and to be drilled ac- Sordl"s 10 the principles of Mol,ke and Manieliiri This army tough, success ial.y asi;ns; lisoob Beg, and. indeed proved itself the best dlsc, ,plined army in China.
 |; b obvious. then. tha, in China there a,e only about i,o.oeo men properly amei and drilled. while the rest of the soldiers can be regarded only as undis- eiphned and unarmed reserves As 10 I Il .t.. pnen,ly have an abundan, supply of their own There a;e eight excellent arseuals. diree,ed chiefly by Englishmen. The seial ot J,an-Lin. for instance turns out da'y 5000 pounds of powder. X, the arscnais of Nankin and Shanghai the American guns of Remington and Speacer are manufactured At the L-.e ieu-fu arsenal submarine mines Are prepared, At the n-tcheu-au arsenal car,ri iges and arr,s are manu- kic ured
 The forts are found a. the mouths of the stea, rivers ; -kianst Min and Yang ise-kaag. To protect the grea, cities. Ctn- lon, d-:chen and Shanghai In the in- terror ot the country all the large cities are also defended by forts. The capital of Pesin K. of oour,e. the mos, strongly protected. and Is defended by For, Deku. amply provided wi;h krupp cannons, and Is surrounded by stone wall from forty to seventy feet thick. and about forty feet high Nlne gates lead to the city. and these are defended by cannons mounted in the numerous to vcrs.
 China has three separate flags. The anton fleet comprises twelve gunboats, oi which nine were made in England and ate in charge of English officers. The fu-kiang fleet IS compo sed of siN gunboats and a teS transport vessels. these were made al tu-,chen, under the supervision of Frenchmen. The fleet is in excellen, order and is in charge of Cinnamon Shanghai fleet Is composed of nine gun. boats, two frigates and several transpor, vessels. All of these were made b, Chinamen themselves. and are rather in. significant. Recently China has go, from England eight iron-clads, armed witt guns of the largest calibre
 The strongest and most effective pari of the Chinese fleet is made up of thirteel small gunooats, named after the letter. oi the Greek Alphabe:, of 1850 tons dis placement. They are built of steel. an, are propelled by twin screws, driven b, compound engines of together ,,6oo in dicated horse power. They each carr, two twenty-six ton, ten inch breech-load ing guns, mounted upon center piyo,s, on forward and one after. Each of thes heavy guns commands a nearly al around fire. The charge of the gun i lSo pounds of powder, the weight of pro jectile 100 pounds, and the penetrativ power equal to piercing eighteen inche of solid, unlocked iron-plate. The carry besides in each four ten-pounde breech-loading guns, two -pounde breech-loading guns, tive Nordenfeldt and four Catlings, and, furthermore, tw steam cutters fitted with star ,orpedoes The vessels are also armed with a formid able steel knife edge spur or ram. With out claiming too much for these vessels says the Londsn 7im<s, it should be re marked of them that the penetrativ power and range of their guns, measure,