The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-11-28
THE BRITISH ARMY.
r, 10 Not a Formidable Machine
in Numbers.
large Deductions Of Force seces-
,ary for Special Duty-Height
Measure and Weight.

Ernm q UtGt-bDRh 49, -" 49, o 49, =
.hst the aggregate effective strength OF
- british army during the year 1857.
.-s,ading all ranks and all branches Of
a..v;ce was 209,574. The average il
..r,ck from the returns furnished to
the war Office on the first day OF each
aontb The actual strength of the
..r,,lar army on January ist, 1888, was
a,10ot to which number must be
sdaed those portions OF the reserve and
.u,iliary forces which may be called
- the ranks for general service upon
snv emergency. On the first day of
The present year the strength Of the
~ reserve and militia reserve was
sso-s and 3f.474 respectively. OF the
.or,a;ning auxiliary forces, the ordin-
80 militia Is only available
g., home defense and the vol
rn,eers cannot be called out
sxesnt In the case OF threatened in
sssidn The total OF the British forces
.hirh on January /, were available for
ssbtiug in any part of the world was
inns 2gT ,563. This IS a gross total
s-on which deductions have TO be
made but before proceeding to do 80
r viii compare this gross total with
fhe totals for preceding years Going
Ssek % wears we find the strength OF
Az regular army on January /. 1868,
n he 200,0l5. This was the highest
6eure for many years and IL was not
n9til 1886 that the total again reached
g0n0. In 1876 1t was as low as 49,
oia and in 1884 ii had dwindled down
N fsf .227. Taking the regulars and
reserves together the army has in
creased since 1865 by 62,2i6, result
which must be regarded as satisfac-
tory.
B1t as referred to above, certain de-
auctions must be made from the gross
total OF 2g7 .5S3 before the net number
al men available for aggressive meas
ures can be aseertained. Some 900
must be struck off for non-combatants
and the local West India regiments.
Then the total number of soldiers quar-
tered In Ireland on January LIST, 1883.
was 2s.035. force which Is not of
course available for war purposes, as
II sort OF occupation or landlords
garrison. The army in Egypt num-
bers 473s; there are q, s4S men in the
colonies, ard in India. including Bur
nah. there are no fewer than - ,345. II
would hardly be safe to diminish any
of these forces: so there remains an
army OF somewhat less than 100 goo
available for aggressive purposes.
On the. LIST of January, 1857, there
appeared on the war Office lists an ag-
gregate OF on-commissioned officers
and men of 200,507. During the year
81. 2a5 recruits were enlisted, of which
% In. E,..rfav1 1fA- IN,
Scotland, and 1897 in Ireland. Taking
the contra side of the account, 1916
soldiers died, II ,905 were discharged
on the completion of their service, $3.50
deserted, i0.76i were drafted into the
reserve and $50 into the auxiliary
forces, and other causes were instru-
mental in the disposal of 12i4. Ii is
a noteworthy fact that barely half of
those desiring to enlist were passed
into the service. Eighteen thousand
were rejected as unsuitable; 7463 failed
TO come up for attestation; 279 desert
ed directly they had attested and 2003
were rejected on more careful exam
nation. Another table gives the ages
OF the recruits: 1902 were under ~
years of age; "A were between II and
Is; l2,575 were between Is and 10. and
pBbt were DttNttu 10 anu ~ ltfF2-
were between 20 and p, and only $50
upwards of Is. The table OF
HEIGHT, CHEST MEASURE AND WEIGHT
Is also interesting. One thousand
eight hundred and twenty of the re-
eruits were under IT. in. in height
another inch covered 68ii msre; 6ai3
were between II. s in. and 3 IL. 6 in
52s2 were under 5 feet. in. and only
1906 were above that height. There
were bat 9iS5 who measured round
the chest IS inches and upwards,
while 1876 were under SO inches; by
far the greater number, IL ,67s, being
between "a and IS inches. The
weights are somewhat more satisfac-
terry new fewer than II, 575, or nearly
half, assing the maximum weight OF
10 st. 10 ID; but 560S failed TO come
up 10 the minimum weight of f20 lbs
Elaborate statistics are given rs to
the physical condition, mental ac-
quirements and religious beliefs Of The
soldiers of the regular army. Seven
hundred and twenty men in every
thousand are now between 20 and 30
years of age, larger portion than in
any year since 1878. The stature OF
the British soldier is, however, grow
ing small by degrees and beautifully
less Last year only SIG per thousand
reached the not very giant height OF
f., in. while in 1874 only f2 per
thousand were under that height, The
chest measurement likewise shows a
diminution. Only 3ts in every thou
sand measured more than 81 in. as
compared to 1913 in 1874 The pro-
poftionate nationalities of the soldiers
are as follows; In every thousand
AS are Englishmen, i57 are Irishmen,
So are Scotchmen, II we're born in In
dia or in the colonies and one Is q
foreigner
RELIGIOUS AND KDUCArIoNALs STATISTICS.
Twenty-Five men in every thousand
can neither read nor write. Here there
Il vast Improvement over the year
1865, when no fewer than o. per thou
sand were totally illiterate. OF the
total army $50 men are set down as of
superior education, while 20 years ago
the proportion stood at 81. The re-
igious denominations are apportioRed
as follows: The church of England
claims lSi ssh or no less than 6tis per
thousand. the Preshyterians claim lS,-
6tH, the Wesleyans 1852, other Pro
testant bodies ii72. Roman Catholics
@SS7 and Mohammedans and Hin
docs $40, A fact OF which the British
nation ought 10 be proud is that there
not single Mormon in the British
army.
NArLEsoN's MEMOIRS.
Mr.. Mapleson. the world renowned
!mpresario, has just published n most
interesting work entitled Memoirs of
me Stage The author has had deal
mgS with every great artist who has
appeared behind the footlights for the
past forty years, and has racy anec-
Votes about each, | will here repro
duce the one headed
aiN6LiNI AND MS TROUSERS.
On the termination OF my spring
concert tour in lStii, - saws Mr.. Maple
soh, we began a season of opera in
the beginning of March, at Dublin,
uinglint promising TO Join Us at the
conclusion OF his 81. Petersburg en-
easement, which ended about that
VINE One morning | received tele-
gram from London saying that the
ceieefated artist had arrived. | was
indeed delighted. and left Immediate
n vr London. On my arrival at Cling
UNI house | was told he was very
.heisposed in consequence Of the Ia
ugues OF the journey, and tina. his
nilnu aid not seem quite right. went
upstairs to him at once. He was very
ment
HE HAP 40 TROUSERS on,