Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-04-25
,MARESNEN in THE ARMY.
ts4 ~ -
TIE DISCIPLINE THAT Makes oUB
3 soto.sRs expehFs.

Force, but the Boys In Blue Arc Remark
RIae-n"w They Are Taught aud Trained.
The Uiiited States has very extensive
territory, yet it has the smallest regular
army of any civilized power of nearly
equal territorial extent. Still, with
American ideas and policy, the gallant
little force seems amply. sufficient to
guard tue cointry Peace is so much
the policyof our nation that even the
small army finds little to do The great
Indian tribes have been corralled within
their reservations, and the life of the
United States soldier is now narrowed
down to the stereotyped military code.
Weary with the some old ceremonies
from year to year, practiced until the
regular tactics are absolutely perfect,
they have developed the principal gar
rison duty, target shooting, into science
of remarkable accuracy. The pleasure
of the practice and the spirit of emula-
ton aroused combine to make them the
most skilled marksmen in the world.
{ THEY BRAr THE WORLD.
The rifle used is the ordinary Spring
field service pattern, a breech loader,
carrying seventy grains of powder and
500 grains of lead, common service sights
that never get out of order.
Our little army may be deficient in
many ways, but in the matter of rifle
shooting to hit and with the object of
hitting to kill (the business in which the
soldier is presumed to be particularly
efficiently, it certainly stands first in the
world. Another great advantage, al
though not a pleasant one, has been con-
tinuous and almost everlasting stations
on the remote frontier. Surrounded with
large and small game, what wonder that
men, whose business it is to kill, always
seized every opportunity for hunting?
Tobe perfectly fair, our 'marksmen are
30 far in advance of the best European
soldiers, that, so far as execution is con-
cerned, the latter would have no show
whatever when pitted against our own
regulars. European armies, though
armed with longer range gun, yet lack
practice and accuracy.
They are trained to volley shooting in
stead of individual aim, and the result is
that fully half of the men fire at random
into the air. Uncle Sans man has to
depend upon himself. European nations
nurse their dislike of each other and their
military training partakes of it. They
pay more attention to Matching up new
schemes to hurt each other than hitting
the bulls eye. They are able to pierce,
times without number, target in the
shape of an effigy of q French soldier,
but would miss at every shot an Ameri-
can target. Neither the French, Ger
mans, Belgians nor Russians have the
skill of the Americans in sighting their
guns or in handling their pieces.
Routine duty on the frontier is about
as follows: The soldier gets S13 per
month straight pay, rations, clothing,
and certain allowance which is paid
him on the date of his discharge; an in
crease for each years service or re-en-
istment; additional remuneration if pro-
NOTED corporal, sergeant or artifcer;
extra, pay if worked as carpenter,
plasterer OF mechanic, and lots of other
perquisites too small to mention. Guard
duty is the hardest in the service, and
to this the soldier is eligible about one
day in six.
SOLDIER LIFE.
Three roll calls day, reveille, retreat
and tattoo Gf a cavalryman, stables twice
aday); drills Mondays or Fridays, dress
parade every evening, and target prac-
tice whenever weather permits. Each
company in the service is provided with
pair Of breech loading shotguns, GER
tain annual allowance Of powder, shot,
wad and shell, and these are open to
everybody for hunting purposes when
not employed on other duty. The soldier
can then amuse himself knocking over
jack rabbits, bagging sage hens and prai-
rie chickens, and missing as many ducks
and wild geese as he wants to.
Tours of detached service are merely
picnics. Large game of some kind can
almost always be found, and what better
sport could any one ask? There is one
undeniable fact about five years term
al tllc Cultcu hobhICS d"y. AA oOLOo VI
material are caught for soldiers; the beer
drinking Teuton, the bull dog English
man, the fun loving Irishman, the igno-
rant darky, and, in fact, men of all ma
tionalities and all climes They come to
us as bright as meteors and as verdant
as cucumbers; but no matter how green
and unsophisticated the recruit may be
when he joins, he has developed into a
fine marksman when he leaves the army,
and with decidedly more sense than he
was enlisted with.
The bump of fun is exceedingly large
in the average soldier Of the line. Gen
orally, as remarked, they are young mer
in the prime of manhood, , of fine physique
and perfect in every way (else they
would not have been accepted by the re
cruiting officer), who look upon the tern
of enlistment as a sort of lark, and pro
pose to get as much amusement and fur
out of the five years as possible. Aston
ishing as it may seem, yet it is neverthe
less true that it as no easy matter to en-
list in the United States army. Ninetee1
out of twenty applicants are rejected fol
cause, and the twentieth man must b.
up to the mark, or he is liable to trave
the road of his nineteen predecessors.
After enlistment expires o majority o
the discharged soldiers, who original.
came from some of the states back east