The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-12-17
TIE GERMAN S0LDIERY.
HOW THE ARMY or THIS MILITARY
COUNTRY lS CONSTITUTED.

Of III becomes ldDle 10 sci iNS All 20
army. and this liability continues unit
ne Is g.. ii he s. no. ht ior active sefVfc
he Is relegated % a reserve force nc
called out unless there is danger OF ID
yasion. For nearly his whole active NE
therefore. the German lives in specie
OF military servltude that hampers hin
should he desire 20 einigrate, aud may .
full OF petty annoyances to Inn II IL
does not.
Under ordinary circumstances IN
German lad steps into the ranks al th
age Of %. For three years he serve
with the colOrs. the next four years N
IS n the reserve. and the following Nv
years he belongs 70 the Landwenr
another reserve more remote than th'
nrst. OF these twelve years the ms
three are occupied entirely in sever
military work. The most stupid peasan'
unior n system SO thorough "a ter
rnanv's must beelupid beyond recovery
be does not turn out an alert, obedlen'
and well trained soldier From the TIM
he takes his oath Of allegiance 10 M
military superior, the kaiser, he fenoun
ees the civil responsibilities and nghls O.
a citizen With the loss or his vote ne J.
TAUGHT tina. the sooner lac fOrgets pohti
cal matters the better for him as O sol
der. His life is completely engrosseo
with banach routine and military ideas
His only law Is the law Of court martial
his only duty is % obey without que
ton. and the Interpreter Of las duty
lhe captain Of bis company.
With the putting on OF his uniform II
/ haeofpos one OF ala army which ia time
ofpeacenumbers 46s 40s men, thoroughly
equipped. admirably trained and re1eI
| Ia follow tleir officers anywhere, non
the st0iming Of a Russian Icdoubt l.
! charcing q mob Of wOIkingmcn %
strike The soldier of the German en-
I rire ceases o. be- a Baydrlan n Nurlen
I berger or q Saxon when he steps into 10,
ranks HIS military service j. persona
/ 10 the emperor, from whom be receive
( his orders. t. the exclusion Of all cthe.
authority. Everything thai hc secs am
! hears ia the army Is calculated ID IN
press upon his mind that bis parJculs
state aud its particular public men ale o.
I very little consequence compared VIII
an emperor who has absolute power over
an army such rs no belongs t.. lie ais
+ learns that fidelity 10 his duties as
soldier is one Of the few as well as sur
means Of securing later ia life position
tn that great class OF men whose saiaIic
come from the taxes OF the people an0
[ whose appointments hang upon The IA
vof 81 She government.
Every soldier dreams II the day |her
I be shan possibly be promoted as non
/ commissioned officer, and az the end o.
his term be given q berth in tho railway
/ telegraph or po5tOiiice service, pOsaiDi,
on the police force.
The peace footing Of the German army
/ i6S lOg, becomes In time OF war q fight
[ ing force Of nearly / 800, 900, commando
| by 3j,421 officers. A careful estimate
/ made by Hugo Hnze in The Berlin
/ Nation OF Jan. H. 1858, shows that Ger
many has today 1884, 900 men trained C
/ arms between She aces Of I, and So. The
/ experience Of the Franco-German wa
| has taught that 90 every l 900 men thcr,
I should be az least 24.5 officers IN tn,
active army and reserve, and from 20 t
2l.1 10 the 900 in the less responsible,
reserves called Landsturm and Ersatz
| .ruppen-trOOps designed 10 prOyid.
home defense only. On this scale the
| German fighting force calls for at least
1853 officers, making a grand tota
dghting force Of 3,34i ,253-an army
greater in numbers than the population
Of all the United States when it became
sn Independent power a century age
10 this must lie added 1900 more who
t arc surgeons, paymasters veterinariea
/ arm0rers, saddlers, officials OF various
kinds and 3l2, 900 horses.
10 raise the peace footing OF the army
% treble is size in tweuty-iour hours, IN,
mCsr careful system is observed. OH
/ Gals in every nook and corner Of the en-
pire know exactly where they can tine
fyery able bodied man who has scrveC
lis first three years aud is now thcrefori
in the reserve. Then they know jas
how many uniforms ana accouteInent
ere needed and where they can put thei
fingers on them &C a moments notice
/ These well drilled officials besides know
every horse in their district, what he cal
DO. and what be can be impressed fol
they have q record OF all the farm
WAGONS that may be needed on thl
march. they have minute Information a
to the Whereabouts of every truss Of hal
or bag OF oats, as well as every pig, COW
. ] ~ flAA klitt iIlaiih 10 iAAeArNf
To illustrate. Not long ago 1SsSl az
certain small town on the main line be
tween Berlin and Metz the station mas
ter, who Is also the head OF the mobile
ing district, received an order 70 preplT
coffee for . 200 men at 4 o'clock IN tn
afternoon and dinner for al equal mum
Der at O:9O o'clock Of the same day
This order be received exactly tine
hours before the troops were % arriv
and had no other warning.
The $500 men came, had their coiiee
and were of. AT $50 came another de
, tachment OF $500 men. These weT
served with a dinner, consisting OF boile'
mutton broth and vegetables all bOilel
in fourteen huge pots, kept for the purpos
close TO the station. Each Of these pot
cooks enough for 200 men at one sime s.
that with fourteen such the dinner 10
$500 can be served up In "a short tim
after the materials are produced.
When, therefore, the order comes from
b the emperor that the troops are - l.
@ ready fOr the frontier, every able tOlie
. man in the country between the age G
5 II and A. knows exactly what Is expecte
0 Of him; Inc provision trains with eXtr
3 horses spiln4 up as II Dt magic, UNIFORM
weapons and forage appear from convC
nieut places 81 eonceaiment 20 rapid
snd effectively that ono almost suspect
; that the pant has been rehearsed man
times.
people respond to the demands mad
upon them by their kaiser.
In spite Of all this, however, Their
Is much in this huge military organ
cation that fosters cruelty OF othe
e unnatural feeling. The fact that l
j. per cent of the suicides tabulate
5 Is the government are in the arm
] IS in itself very extraordinary. d
, we ever hear OF suicides az West Poin
3 or Woolwich, or any other well man
4 aged training institution Why shout
the German army furnish any apprecis
BILE quota TO the general RESULT 1t
: hard for Us to answer this. -Poultne
, pigeiow in New York Times.
A WOMAN ON CREMATION.
She Believes a Higher Civilization WI
Abolish Grave Yard0.