Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-08-24


lowed 10 conduct any common business,
being forbidden only 10 leave their city
without a permit from the commanding
officer. The officers excel their men only
In gymnastics. According TO the Chinese
notions, no man Il flt to be an officer unless
he Is an athlete. This army numbers no.
600 men. OF these over one bali ere sta-
toned In Pekin and the rest In . few large
provincial cities. This military caste can
by no means he regarded ~ q regular
army. The second, or provincial army,
called the Army OF the Great Banner.
Each Of the 1s provinces OF tho empire
Is obliged by law to keep certain number
OF soldiers. and their aggregate. according
to the official statistics, Is 650,000 men.
There are so generals and over 1000 ON.
GERS. The provincial army Is composed
chiefly OF mercenaries, while The minority
OF the officers are OF the military estate.
These two armies, amounting to IG0, 900
men. arc all the force the Celestial Empire
has to rely on IN case OF war.
THE IMPERIAL GUARD.
Tho Imperial Guard, about $4,000 strong,
Is the flower OF the army. OF the Guard
infantry 100 men are provided Wild muz-
zlc.loaders presented by the Car CT Rus
sia; The rest ere armed with hint-guns,
lances, and shields. Half OF the cavalry,
about 1000 men, are armed with Ohassepot
rifles. The artillery has - bronze guns,
bought in Russia, aud few mortars'
There are l,T5O educated artillerymen. The
army Of tia Governor OF Chilly. about
30. coo strong, Is also re6rginized. Inc
men are instructed by English ara
French officers. The army has brecch-
IL AT N.
non. According TO German writers. up to
1879 Krupp had sent TO China $50 heavy
guns and gTJ field guns. The army OF the
Governor OF khan-Zu and Shan-Zee, 10000
strong, il said to be supplied with all the
modern arms, aud to he drilled according TO
the principles OF Molike aud Manteuifel.
This army fought successfully against Va
koob Beg, and, indeed. proved itself the
best dlsciplined army IN China. 1t Is oh.
vious. then, that i'm China there SIRE only
about 10000 men properly armed and
drilled, while the rest Of the soldiers can
be regarded Only as undisc.plinet and un-
armed reserves.
MUNITIONS OF WAR.
As 10 eunpowdef and arms the China
men apparently have an abundant supply
OF their own. There are eight excellent
ar-euals. directed chiefly by EngliShmen.
The arsenal Of Jian-Zin. for instance, turn.
ont daily 5000 pounds Of powder. At the
arsensl- Of Nanlin and Shanghai the ADle-
rican guns Of Remington and Spencer are
manufactured. At the Foo-Chow arsenal
submarine mines are prepared. At the
Lang ChoO arsenal cartridges and arms are
manufactured. The forts are found at The
mouths Of the great rivers Tsi-kang. Min,
and lang-tse- kiang. TO protect the great
cities Canton, Foo how, and Shanghai
! In the interior Of the country an the lsrc
cities arc also delend,d by forts Tue capt
| tai city Of Pokin is, OF course, the mos
strongly protected. II is defended by For
Dalu. amply provided with krupp can
! non. and is surrounded by stone walls from
forty 10 seventy feet thick and about fort,
! feet high. Nine gates lead to the city. an,
these are defended by cannon mounted il
the numerous towers.
TIE FLEET.
China la, three separate fleets. Tn
Canton fleet comprises twelve gunboatS, o
which nine were made in England, AZ
are in chrrge OF English officers. Tn
Fu-kIang fleet is composed Of six gun
boats and a few transport vessels. Thrs
we've made at FOO-ChOw under the super
vision Of Frcncbmen. This feet is in eX
celont order, and ii is in charge OF Chin,
men. The Shanghai fleet is composed O
nine gunboats, two frlgates, and sever;
trans, ort vessels. All OF these were mad
by the Cinnamon themselves, and ar
rather Insignificant. Recently China ha
GOT from England eight iron-clad,
armed with guns OF the largest calibr,
The strongest and most effective part G
the Chinese fleet is made up OF thrice
small gunboats. named after the letter
OF the Greek alphabet, OF 1850 tons dl
placement. They sire built OF steel. an
are propelled by twin screws driven b
compound engines OF, together, 1900 ind
Gated horsepower. They each carry tw
twenty .siX-ton ten-inch breech-loadin
guns mounted upon centre piyots, one 70
ward and one aft. Each OF these heay
guns commands nearly sIl-round Fir
The charge OF the gun Is $50 pounds
powder, the weight OF the proiectile A
pounds, and the penetratiVe power equal
piercing eighteen inches OF solid unbackt
iron plate. They carry besides in ea'
four forty-pOunder broech-loading gun
two nine-pounder breech-loadine gun
TWO Nordenfeldts, and four Gatlins
and. furthermore, two stcam-cutters TIT
with spar-tOrpedoes. The vessels are oil
armed with formidable steel knife-ed
spur or RAIN.