Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-12

| pldctiCo III 1taiy, "ucEe, ouTiuS LILO nrmT
maneuvers of 1875, regular service of cy
clists was established for carrying on com
munication between the quartermaster gen.
eral and the chiefs of the battalions. The
| experiments were continued in the follow.
ing years, and it was found that orderlie,
| thus mounted could cover about 18 miles an
hour, and keep up this pace .or several
| hours The italian military papers have
consistently advocated this use of cycles
| even to the exclu sion of horses, urging that
the machines require comparatively little
care and no food, and that they can 60 not
| only wherever cavalry can go, but even
| wherever infantry can pass, tor man can
| lift his machine over any obstacle that he
can climb himself.
At the present time every italian regi-
ment Of infantry possesses four or five bicy-
| cles on which soldiers who volunteer for the
| service are taught to ride by the gymnastic
instructor, and such of these men as are
| regimental orderlies. The latest type of
safety bicycle has recently been adopted as
the wheel for these men to ride. Austria
was not slow in following the lead of Italy.
In 1884 party of cyclists from the Military
Academy performed a five days march,
carrying field kit The longest distance
,, covered in day was about 65 miles. As a
result regular body of cyclists was formed
at the Austrian Military Academy. Switz-
erland has regular bicycle service pro-
vided with the latest pattern of wheel.
Germany and Franco Using Them.
In Germany experiments have been made
and cyclist detachments have been put
through courses of training in scouting and
signalling at Frankfort and Strassburg. In
January, 1886, the German military authori-
ties purchased number of bicycles and
tricycles and distributed them among the
leading fortresses. These machines are used
by orderlies to carry messages from the
main tortresses to the detached forts.
They have also been put to some
use to maintain communications be-
tween the sections of an outpost force.
France was rather behind hand In insti-
tuting a bicycle service, though the ma
chimes have been used regularly for army
work for years. In 1886 bicycle riders were
very successfully used as dispatch bearers
during the maneuvers of the Eighteenth
Army Corps These cyclists, as rule,
carried seven or eight dispatches a day,
making an average distance of SO miles a
day for no les, than eight consecutive days.
The officers of the general staff were par
ticularly struck with the freshness of the
bicyclists after a run of 40 or 80 miles, and
it was found that even on cross country
tootpatns very fair rate Of speed was main
tanned.
In 1887, when the French mobilization of
the Ninth and Seventeenth corps took place,
special inducements were offered to those
expert bicycle riders who would turn out
with their machines. The best men only
were selected from the numerous volunteers.
Ten were attached to the staff OF each army
corps, five to each divisional staff and two
to each brigade staff The results were
highly satisfactory. The day speed aver
aged from IL to Is miles an hour. and the
night speed about to 10 miles an hour.
Journeys OF so miles day were often per-
formed, and this was regarded as the maxi
mum that q rider could accomplish day
after day.
Only Experts Accepted in France.
The French army bicycle corps is made
up of civilians who stand pledged, under
certain conditions, to attend the maneuvers
and perform certain services. This employ
ment of reservists-as they are called-has
had the effect of greatly stimulating the
riding of bicycles, and the results obtained
are remarkable. A machine that can be
made, under skillful rider, to travel at the
rate of nearly 20 miles an hour, and keep
up this speed tor five or six consecutive
hours, constitutes no mean power when
brought into actual war service.
So tar the French detail these cyclists
only as carriers of expresses and orderlieA
They are not assigned to duty as outriders
or as an avant garde, nor are they ever used
as combatants. But the possibility, OF
rapidly moving large force of armed in
fantry from 60 to 20 miles in comparatively
a few hours is being seriously discussed, and
there are not wanting those in France who
predict that the bicycle will in the future |
become part Of the infantry soldiers equip
ment
England had the idea of using bioyclists
~ orderlies suggested to her in 1881 by one |
Of her regular officers, at time when bicycle |
clubs were being formed all over tho |
Kingdom. Lord Elcho, an authority on
military mstters, suggested that the clubs