The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-19
THE CHILEAN ARMY
Nos Formidable Except Upon Paper. bat
Made Up OF Fighters.

Nos Formidable Except Upon Paper. but
Made Up OF Fighters.
The CHILEAN army IL formidable only on pa
per. In 1883 II contained two regiments OF
artillery. ten battalons OF infantry. and three
regiments Of cavalry. with 1923 officers and
1880 men. BY the law Of 1884 however. this
establishment was reduced. and limited to
1910 men at most.
In 1891 the strength Of the standing army on
paper had fallen to 397 officers and 5.7l9 men.
organized in eight battalions Of infantry. two
regiments OF field artillery. three regiments
OF cavalry. one battalion OF sappers. and one
battalion Of coast artillery. Tho effective
strength Of this army. however. WAS estimated
by German Colonel last year as only 2,305
men. for during 1890 no fewer than l. 158 had
deserted.
There is universal liability to service in
Chill. and therefore there Is the fiction OF a
peoples army" such as is supported in
France and Germany, but in fact most soldiers
are pressed into the service and are paid to
stay in 1t. while exertng all their political in
fuence to get out When political influence
fails. an unwilling soldier merely takes his
case into his own hands and deserts. as the
Tourists II Chill frequently have much t. to
Say about the strength md sRsy OF T fhe
explanation ' Of tkis is that every iireman is
exs%pt from n military seryee AZ s tSs s
Continent to drill the Are and police ORGANIZES
tiops for service in the field the Gillian fire.
ns Be
BESIDES It's 1906 regulars the CHILEAN Gov;
t. has II times OF a.sls
w posed e to Seons an f TRe National GUARD
@s n m Ss
last year 1t was estimated to contain but "a 600
men and l.O55 officers. poorly drilled and
Is divided vi among thirty.f four regiments Of
infantry and three separate com panies. eleven
sqnadrons of cavalry. and few old.fashioned
THE organization OF the Chi lillian army" wrote
German military authority last February gI};,. is
ons Srssd reom Ths
training Is hardly better than the organiza:
ton. So. for instance. the cavalry ts drilled
army are sufficiently modern, The Held artii.
MAI aynnlicher rihes. The ammunition factories
and repair shops, are under tho supervision Of
CHILEAN army is that it has an amazingly large
number OF commissioned officers. Every bat
has TSe eSansa
peace formation to the war formation has been
In no way provided for
the result Of poor management OF War Minis:
tiers and Inspectors General than OF lack OF
good material. The CHILEAN soldiers are fair
fighters. ns 10000 ofthem showed In the war
with Bolivia and Peru some twelve years ago.
ana Of Ere endaranee In the Iast
war the Gillian infantry did eome astonish-
insly good marching. Marches OF thirty
power OF the highly trained European troops.
were for them nothing extraordinary.
withstand fatigue. Marching day and night it
several times covered sixty or moro miles ut "A
stretch The secret OF this endurance OF the
mounted soldiers is that every CHILEAN is at
home on horseback and that every horse. when
ridden at a gailop the only gait Of tho Gillian
cavalry. has almost inexhausttb!e strength.
Because the Chiiians are famous riders. how
ever. it Is not correct to draw the inference
that they are roor pedestrians. This is shown
not only by the work OF tho infantry In the war
with Peru. but also BY the records Of the
couriers and professional runners. The latter
often cover forty-fv or nifty miles day. al.
their shoulders. That from such material
fine soldiers can be made Is seli-evident