The Arizona sentinel., 1886-06-26
FRENCH CONSCRIPTS.
How Raw Recruit Is Transformed Int
 an Artilleryman.

How a Raw Recruit Is Transformed Into an Artilleryman.
 The conscript has listened to so many stories that in his eyes the regiment has come to assume the aspect of sort o1 ante-chamber to the penitentiary The way he is received at headquarters is not calculated to remove such ideas or to please lad of twenty, fresh from the tender solicitude of a mother. From | the storehouse, where he is furnished with an ill-fittirg and ugly uniform and stout stogies tl$cS-S,lrt his feet, he is taken to the artillery school, where he is armed with saber and a brace of re- volvers, of which he is, of course, very much afraid.
 He knows from hearsay that he owes respect to his superiors, but how is he to know the Colonel from the Adjutant, and if he makes a mistake he is not merely severely reprimanded, but also becomes the butt of no end of imperti- nent ridicule. Never has he experienced so severely as during the first days of his military life that he is alone and aban- | dOned He lacks the experience and coolness necessary in order to make the best of every thing, and no matter how zealous may be the corporal whose duty i: is to instruct him, he is apt to think that no one takes the slightest interest in him. What really is the matter is that he is homesick and disgusted with the promiscuity of barrack life, with the food he is forced to eat, and with the | way it has to be eaten.
 Buttoned up in new uniforms which impede their movements, the con- scripts are drawn up at the entrance of the riding-schoOl, gloomy-lOoking building which has nothing reassuring in its aspect. The solitary horse which is about to serve as the 'piece de | demonstration" assumes, in the eyes of She raw recruits, the proportions of a | monster; the track runs around bare stone walls, and each young fellow asks | himself what will become of him if he | happens to be thrown from the saddle and strikes his head against the wall. The riding master has not an unkindly manner, and all the sous officers are smiling, so it can not be so very dan gerOuS after all.
 Tie first lesson consists of instruction n saddling 3 Id unsaddling horse se- lected for its quietness. The Lieuten- int-instructor names the different parts of the saddle. ''Ths is the pommel; when you are afraid of falling off catch hold of it with both hands; but try to I'd yourself of this bad habit as quickly as possible, and so on. Two days later the conscripts are placed on horseback. Their spurs have been carefully wrapped up and their caps are strapped on. They move around the riding-ring at walk while the instructor explains to each how he must hold the reins, throw back the upper part of the body and keep his elbows close in to his hips. The lessons end with a slow trot which the horses, well accustomed to carrying experienced riders, execute with sort of contempt uous gentleness.
 The new-fedged cannoniers lead their horses to the stable, where they are taught to use the curry-comb and brush, to fill the rack with hay and straw, to measure out the ration of oats, to repair the stalls, to arrange the litter and to clean the bridle-bits All this fills up the time until eleven o'clock, when the barracks courtyard all at once becomes very animated. The men on fatigue duty pass around carrying tin bowls filled with a savory-smelling soup. If the kitchens of a French rack bar are