Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1885-03-14
NE FRENCH ARMY.
Liability IL Young Men to Military Duty
-Conscripts and Volunteers.
lHaynie's Paris letter.

liability IL Young Men to Military Duty
-Conscripts and Volunteers.
Haynes Paris letter.
Every able bodied man in France be-
sween the ages of 20 and 40 is liable to
military duty Every young man must
present himself, during the last fort
light Of the December preceding his
10th birthday, at the Marie of his CON-
nune or reimbursement for registration
for military duty, with his class-that
IS, with the other men torn during the
same year as himself. Young French
men do not discharge this duty very will
mgly; sometimes they neglect it alto
gether, and when they do gendarme is
sent after them The registration is
called the appel de la classe," and
when the lists are all made up, notice
If the ''tirage au Sort is given, and
each man may go to the marie and draw
MS number for himself If he does not
90 the marie draws for him. 1t is now
lime for those who may have valid ex-
uses for not perform ng military duty
o make application tor exemption, and
his exemption is granted to the oldest
sons of widows, to orphans ON whom
|OuiiS5Ci DAQtuClS SiottIo tEt uCJt1u-
INT, to public school teachers and to the
eldest sons of blind faturs and of
fathers upward of o Years of age.
About Fl, 500 young MN annually es-
ape doing military duty by claiming
he benelit OF these reasons for exemp-
;ion
tip to the list of July of their twenty
lrst year Frenchmen can get married
without the consent o. the military au-
horities; after that they are considered
Is belonging to the army, and this con-
sent, which is very seldom given, is alb
'oiutely necessary. The. next thing
which happens to the 'conscript is tne
mise Ell route, the data of which IS
liked by the minister OF war. Zach man
receives persona. order indicating
where and when he must report for
iuty. The duty, hour and place are
Ill mentioned in the notice. ! rom The
place OF rendezvous they are sell tiie
headquarters of the several corp; on
heir arrival they receive an order for Il
uniform, and when they have drawn it,
heir five years of military service be-
gins. Last year 15s,000 young men
were mustered in the ranks OF the
French army in this way
If young man has a fairly good
education, and rather more than the
ordinary physical qualifications for a
soldier, he may get off with only three
years active service, and by the pay
ment of $3.50 this may be reduced to
one year. This is what is called yolun-
teering, and even after they have drawn
their numbers, the conscripts may still
volunteer, in which case they are sent
on duty at once. To volunteer, man
has to go in person to the central re-
eruiting Office of the military subdivis-
ion in which he resides, where he is ex-
amined, and, if he passes, receives a
certificate of aptitude. Armed with
this and accompanied by two witnesses,
he goes to the marie and signs an en-
gagement or enlistment paper. Al
though the volunteers are allowed to re-
turn home when they have served their
time, they are not mustered out, bat
are considered as still belonging to the
army until the class to which they be-
long has completed its time, and each
year they are required to return to their
regiment and do twenty-eight DAYS
duty. Like the conscript, the volunteer
Is liable to be called back to the ranks
until he has passed his 40th year.