Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-10-14
Won MOLTKEs HANDIwORK.
The German soldier Under Drill
And Discipline-Thc Process by
which Men Are transformed
into ~ Rigid Military
Machine.

Martial music is heard here from early
morning until late in the closing day.
The sound OF drums and fife was my
reveille after my first nights sleep ut the
best hotel in the place. when | sprang
from bed to find out what was up, saw
battalion of infantry marching past my
window on its way to the drill ground.
And how well the men marched, to be
sure The New York Seventh or the
Brooklyn Twenty-third could not keep
step more accurately or take such long
and swinging strides. Every foot was
lifted quickly and just high enough, all
heads were. held up straight, the guns
we're evenly shouldered, and the battal-
ion, as it marched down the street, re-
minded me of coat of chain armor. all
the links being closely knit and very
strong, and yet the whole light and sup
| pie. When properly clothed ran after
| the "sojers" as eagerly as any schoolboy
would have done. The Place dArmes, a
vast open field, was full Of men in uni
form, and all were hard at work. The
| first thing that struck me was the close
attention being given to individual in
struction, to gymnastic exercises, and to
| bayonet drill. A non-commissioned
officer took the "greenhorns," one by one,
recruit at work for q long time, and care
fully criticised and corrected each move
ment if made incorrectly. All Of this
was done under the EYE of a commits
stoned officer, but he did not say word
while / was on the ground to any of the
men. He was very courteous to me,
however, and gave me much useful in
formation. a great deal OF trouble is had
in teaching the newcomers the step; it is
the same old-fashioned one invented by
Frederick the Great, and the movement
looks somewhat automatic or mechanical.
Some military critics assert that it is
fatiguing, but do not know about that,
and certainly German officers deny it
most theoretically. The stride is BIZ
inches and the cadence 112 per minute;
that OF an English soldier is 80 inches
stride and l 16 cadence; that in the United
States is 90 inches stride and 80 cadence
in common and ITO in quick time This
shows that the German infantry would
| gain 48 inches every minute on the Brit
ish and almost mile every hour on the
Americans. Even the French, who are
VIGOROUSLY short-legged, are ahead of us
in both stride and cadence. But the
troops over here are
MUCH MORE HEAVILY WEIGHTED
fo,,, t,, ;s thot snld;or o,,r,t ,a,,ort,h a
Senoratod fronoHNb;s ,ousInt b;s cart.
r;d~as bic bowarSoci, md ca ntoon and bic
knansack hnt the knansaci. ought to he
reduced to the smallest possible compass.
After man has carried it day after day
through long and weary marches, he will
find it sufficiently burdensome, no matter
how lightly it may have been packed at
the commencement OF the forward move
ment. The Germans, however, do not
lay much stress on the Importance OF
carrying shelter tents in the field, and l
am not sure but all armies would be bet
ter OIL without them. Campaigns are
won as much by legs as by arms, and
70, 900 men capable OF marching 30 miles
in a day are equal to 30, 900 men who can
only manage 20, remarked Major in
my presence. These Germans are stout
bodied fellows, used all their lives to en-
dure fatigue, and a few pounds. OF over
load in their knapsacks will perhaps not
tell on them as 1t would ON American
soldiers.
: Besides exercises in marching and the
: to pass certain time each day at gym
nastics OF varied sorts; this soon enables
the most awkward peasant to leap over
wide bitches and high fences with all the
grace and ease OF trained club athlete.
AS for the bayonet drill, instead OF being
an affair OF show on the part OF the whole
company, it is
A ERIrABLE FENCING MATCH
The men are paired off. each couple fenc.
mo with their bavonets fixed as though
thew really wamfed TO Kill each other
Thev wear masks nodded nrotectors
cover two thirds Of Their hodv and hut.
TONS are IN the hayonet tins Aside from
the knowledue of how IN use this weanor
70 tho host aSyontaoe in n hand. to.hand
strugole this svstem is in itself an excel
liant Symnast;c EXERCISE and one that i,
, hiphiy enioyed bv the men. When two
ar1;cs are drawn nm face IN face anf
when the cannons have been noundinp
away for hours n time arrives when The
troons must he thrown at zach other
when cIose.onsrter fightino mist decide
which side thc mGod Of ba1tlesn Is coino
IN lat remain in nossession of the held
II is when that time comes that victor,
. will be MIGHTY ant To nerch on tbe color,
If the most steady hattalions where III,
: men know how TO make good use of the
weanons that have been placed in thei