The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-11-12

THE G1RMEN SOLDIER UNDER DRILL
AND DISCIPLINE.
Ets Daily Life in a Garrison Town-I;uies
tn which He l. subjected
Stride and Cadence
Bayonet Drill.
TRassldt Cor. New York Times-I

Martial music is heard here from early
r,nrninc, until late in the closing day. Inc
.nuni of drums and fife was my revellIo
after my frst nights sleep at the best motel
in the place, when L sprans from bed
to find out what was up, l saw battalion
of infantry marching past my window Oh
it, way to the drill ground And how well
the men marched, to be sure! Every foot
was lifted quickly and just high enough, all
heads were held up straight the guns were
evenly shouldered, and the battalion, as IL
marched down the street, reminded me OF O
coat Of chain armor, all tho links being
closely knit and very strong, and yet the
whole light and supple.
The first thing that struck me was the
close attention being given to individual in
S::uctiOn, to gymnastic exercises, ana 70
t,ayonet drill. A on-cOmmssioned officer
to0k the "gresnhorns," one by one, and
drilled them separately; he KEEP each re-
scruit at work for a long Time and carefully
criticized and corrected each movement II
made incorrectly. All Of this was done I'M
der the eve of commissioned officer, but
l,e did not say word while L was on the
ground to any of the men.
STRIDE AND CADENCE.
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 some what
automatic mechanical Some military
critics assert that it is fatiguing, but | do
not know about that, and certainly German
officers deny it most cuergetically. The
stride is II inches and the cadence liz per
minute; that of an English soldier Is 80
inches stride AMI 1l6 cadence; that in the
United States i; % inches stride and 90
cadence in common and 10 in quick time.
This shows that the German infantry wouid
gain As inches every minute on the British
~. IL -,
lean. But the troops over here are much
more heavily weighted than they are in
America There are few things that a
: LIiar ought never to be separated from
his musIet, his cartridges, his haversack
and canteen, AMI his knapsack, but the
knapsac1 ought to be reduced to the small
est possible compass.
The Germans, however, do not lay much
stress on the Importance of carrying shelter
tents in the field and am not sure but all
armies wouil be better off without them.
Campaigns won much by legs
by arms, and $4,000 men capable of march
ing thirty miles in day are equal to 30 900
:nen who can only manage twenty" re-
marked ma or i'll my presence Those
Germans are stGIt-bo liei fellows, used all
their live. to endure fatigue, AMI few
pound, OF overload in their knap5aczs viii
perhaps not tell on them as it woulI on
American -o!diers.
THE BAYOEET DRILL.
Besides exercises in marching and the
rnauual. each German soldier is required
20 t,4e Il certain time each day at gym
nastio Of varied sorts; this enables
the most a@i- ward peasant to leap over
wi le bitches and high fences with all the
grace and ease of trained club athlete.
As ar the hayonet drill, instead of being
affair of show on the part OF tho whole
com; any, ii is veritabie fencing match.
The arc paired Off each couple fencing
with their bayonetS fixed as though they
really wanted tn Kill each other. They
wear masks. padded protectors cover two
thrls Of their body, and buttons are on the
hayonet tip Aside from the knowledge Of
how to this weapon to tho best advan-
ta[e in n hand to hand struggle. this system
is in itself excellent gyunastic exercise
and ona that is highly eni1yel by the men.
Tic Germans ought never t. quail before
the enemy. they are we'll disciplined.
1t is discipline alone which begsts that con-
tdence that every soldier should feel, which
rGuiers them unfinchingly bravo AMI fixes
them cad IA to their flag.
EASILY DISCIPLINED.
Tho tnwnsman as we'll as the pes sant is of
IL patient phleg matte disposition. and his
sluggish mind is easily bent to discipline.
Accustomed tt life of hardshps they both
support the labors and fatiguss Of war
almost without n murmur and Obey with
ont reflection. Nothing Is moro striking
than the wonderful rapidity of their move
ments, except, of course, tho rigid accuracy
and inslasticity of the preliminary drills
that have already referred 10.
1T i believed in the German service that
perfect regularity, silence, and steadinees
are Of the utmost moment, especially in
changing positions under fire Companies
and battalions at drill on parade are I'M
bonding and are apparently but iron
mass of rifles and steel-cappei helmets. No
one Zee the infantry at drill without be
ing impressed by tho rapil pace Of thcir
unwav1rin-, solid lines. No other country
pr tects its army SO excellently from criti-
81 III by pre- or people as Germany, and
yet the mon are rule with an iron hard.
The social difference as we'll as that OF rank
letween the common soldier and an officer
is far greater than it Is in any other country.