The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1893-11-04
TRAINING FOR WAR.
Naval end Military Preparations
In the Celestial Empire.
The Sleepy Chinese Becoming Aroused to
Their Defenseless Condition Are Pro-
viding Themselves with Improved
Implements Of War.

viding Themselves with Improved
Implements of War.
M. Henri Bryos, the correspondent
of the Figaro of Paris, at present trav-
cling In China, gives the following ac-
count of the naval and military prep
arations which are going on in the
Celestial empire:
A fact of the highest Importance,
which for all that has escaped the no.
tice Of diplomatists, consuls, and my
English confreres of the east, has just
come to light in China. | mean the
sudden transformation OF the old and
childish method of warfare SO long in
use in that country. The Chinese art
of war has become thoroughly modern
lied, and tends to rival that OF the
western nations. The illustrious man
who has brought about this radical
transformation is Viceroy Ii Hong
Tchang. 1t is at Tientsin that he is
operating. Tientsin is the industrial
center of war material, where the
agents of Canet, Krupp and the Arm
strongs enter into competition for the
acceptance of their deadly wares. In
the tournament of the rivals the Ger
mans have almost always carried off
the prizes. At Port Arthur, in the
province of Petchili, there are splendid
cruisers, battleships and gunboats,
built with all the recent improvements
of naval science. 1t is noteworthy that
a regular feet has been created here
in less than six years.
Since the last Franco-Chinese war
the Celestials have opened their eyes.
That great, sleepy people has become
aroused. Ii Hong-Tchang has rudely
shaken off their night covering. He
has undertaken the task of waking
them up thoroughly. He can claim the
honor of having created genuine SOL
diers, organized in European style, and
armed with the improved modern rifles
On visiting the Imperial military
school at Tientsin l had chance to see
the soldiers maneuvering. Their exer-
cises had the trade mark OF their
training. Their movements, regular,
stiff and sturdy, and their heavy and
noisy march, with automatic precision,
clearly Indicated that German instruc-
| tors nlQ D6cu UllCIC. Ia 1AoAh ASAANAo q
has reformed the army of China.
A German artillery officer, Maj. Won
Richter, has been commissioned by the
viceroy to organize the new army OF
the north, that is to say, in the prov
ince of Petchili Another officer from
Berlin is Installed at the arsenal at
Tikou. not far from the forts that com
mand the entrance of the Pei Ho.
Under his direction Chinese worlmen
turn out enormous quantities OF shot
shell and schrapnel. The Krupp estab
lishment supplies the forts and ram
parts with guns Of the latest pat
tern. -.
| Such is the progress in China. The
| destructive industry is booming in thai
| country. China is arming, and armine
| formidably, and her present aim is t.
find. within herself the military re
sources and the war material that sh'
was formerly obliged to procure else
where. She is erecting upon differen
points of her immense territory nu
| merous and important arsenals, work
| shops and foundries, which chang
completely the national character o
the country by modifying it in the Eu
ropean sense. The city of Han ang
an insignificant little place shor
time ago. has now become, in less thai
a wear, a military post of the first or
der, which is destined in the future t.
outstrip all the others. 1t is the cen
ter of great works and gigantic foun
dries, workshops, brickyards and rltl
factories.
From Han-Yang, which is the cen
trail and strategic point of the empire
a railway is about to be built whlc
will join Pekin to the north and Car
ton.
The arsenal of Nankin, which wa
permitted to inspect, is a vast cor
struction, entirely modern. 1t is SUI
piled with all the modern material 10
the manufacture of engines OF wal
and from this place guns and rifles ar
abundantly supplied to the army. Th
rifles that are made at Nankin ar
something new. They are like ou
duck-guns, very heavy, and are mar
died by two men. But their range
extremely long. have procured som
OIL UllC CCI VI oAASSS . NAA''
are furnished with metallic cases.
This Nankin arsenal provides &c
everything. There are molds for shell
of different sizes and forms, and on
large section of the building is devote
entirely to the construction OF the al
tillery of the fleet. found there gun
of the Hotchkiss, Maxim and Norde1
field patterns.
But it is not necessary to enter int
| further details and to multiply exam
pies. What have seen in the center
China exists also in the north and !
the south. Throughout the empn
the manufacture of arms goes on wit
J a feverish activity. China is workin
for war, and the time will soon CON
when she will be supplied with arm
ments equal in quantity and IN mum ps
to those of the greatest European n
tons,