Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-11-23

ana marie Antolnette were beheaded and
Carrier mounted the ROyddeS of Nantes.
1ou can form no conception OF the ex-
cltement which this order concerning
boards has caused, nor OF the passionate
polemlc between its admirers and de-
tractors In the army, who air their re-
spectiVe sentiments in the newspapers,
over pseudonyms, of course, as no officer,
save with the consent OF the Minister of
War, has right TO sign any article in the
press, and the Rhadamanthus Of the Rue
81. Dominique would not be likely to
authorize the publication of anything not
ehJlrely In accordance with his own SEN
tlments. And yet, as state above, there
are so many other reforms really neces-
sary which are being neglected. Take, for
example, the matter of subsistence. Ma
poleon used to say: "When the soldier
eats, he marches" Alas he cannot march
well or long with the food that
ne gets nowadays, and little can be eX-
pected from him whose stomach contains
nothing more substantial than a meagre
soup made out of dry beans and fleshless
bones. Nor is 1t the quantity so much as
the quality of the rations of which the
French soldier most complains. His
beef is coarse, his bread and vegetables
are moldy and insipid, and then, too, it is
SO horribly cooked, and prepared by such
dirty cooks, whose filthy blouses are in
themselves sufficient to inspire disgust
and destroy all appetite; it is Infinitely
worse In every way than the prOvender
issued to the convicts at the penitentiaries
at Melun and ClairVauX. Here, though,
the fault rests with the officers who, since
the institution of the system of obi
gatory military service and the in
terdiction of Refreshments, except for
non-commissioned officers, have ceased to
take any interest in their commands. In
the olden times the regiment was a sort
OF family clrcleA qVergiwhich the Colonel
preSlaeQ, as IL were, paternally, but now,
as the meniM hOE a1@ here to-day NAV. if
they are good subjects, be replaced by
Others tomorrow, neither the Colonel nor
the Subalterns care for their well being
and comfort, being somewhat Of the opin-
ion OF that Colonel OF one of our artillery
regiments before the war, who used to de-
clare That ssAfhly Fife would be the hap
| piesC' Imaginable If it were not for those
! id soldiers. y Ia the whole French
army there is, 50 far as have been able
% ascertain, and / have seen a good deal
6f 1t. but enc example of soldiers
fare which would mot nauseate any
self-respecting medicant in Ameri-
ca or England, and that one eX-
ample is to be found at Versailles, in the
barracks occupied by the artifcers of the
Tenth company of artillery. Certainly
these men are not millionaires; they are
pa IN number who mess together, and
their combined annual budget does not
exceed 81, 000f., which is an average, daily,
of about II cents apiece, and yet, thanks
to the intelligent supervision of the Off
GERS who command the detachment, a
very remarkable improvement has been
obtained, as you can judge from the bill
OF fare OF two meals at which | was pres
ent, and which, | am assured, may be
taken as specimens OF what is always
served up as an ordinary: Breakfast
Onion soup, roast beef, potato salad. Din
ner-ROast mutton, beans, salad, cheese.
Lucullus probably would have turned up
his nose before such repast, but l can
assure you that in no other French garri-
son can any nearly so good be found,
while in no other have the men a refec-
tory, but are obliged to sit on their beds
and gobble up their victuals as best they
can. And to accomplish this not one CEN
time of debt was incurred. Less than the
allowance spent elsewhere was, in fact,
expended. The Captain in command SIM
ply argued with his men, that being men,
they should not live like pigs, and the
men, being intelligent, took in
the advantages of reform and lent
their hand willingly to the good
WIN until bue lubLdildJlOH was COlHpleI-
ed. l do not know whether you will be
surprised when / tell do know that |
was not at all surprised when L was In
fOrmed-that the hierarchical superiOrs Of
this intelligent officer, on learning of the
innovation, memorialized GG hoe the Board
OF Control OF the War Department, and
that he, being summoned to its presence,
was obliged to justify by documentary
evidence his conduct, which had been re-
ported as q ''reckless and wanton expen-
diture of the company funds"