Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-08-25
GEN. soHoFIELD's VIEWS.
Uncle Sans Army. lie says, Can Whip
Anything OF it's size on Earth.


Lieutenant General John NJ. Schoield
made tour Of the army posts simulta-
neously with that made by Secretary
Lamont. They did not so together; in
deed, their aim was to divide the labor
so that each should visit one-haf of
the total number and leave the other
! half to his fellow traveller.
of course explained General Scho-
field, as he sat in his waiting room in
the Windsor HCcel, there were one or
| two exceptions to this. Naturally, our
paths frequently crossed, and each of us
passed through many OF the same posts.
But il was agreed that only one of Us
should make any stay or charge himself
| with any extended examination Of the
place Thus, Secretary Lamont made
only hasty stay in Puget Sound, so it
! dey0lyed upon me 10 remain there
for some days and to make a detailed
/ examination of the forts. We have no
| adequate fOrtifcati0ns as yet completed
or even undertaken there. But plans
J have been made indicating what spots
should be fortified, and work viii COM
mence as soon as Congress apprOpriates
the necessary money
40 ~ "a NtN NAAtAe INC 41- LllnlA q UIA4tl-
ing, or have built, extensive mysterious
! and menacing forts and defenses on
Vancouver Island, in the sound?'
No, returned the General There's
been lot OIL gas upon the subject. but
do not pin any faith upon it. / didn't
visit Vancouver Island upon my recent
/ trip, but / was there four years ago. and
/ there were no Notifications of any con-
sequence in sight Bpt, in any event.
/ this would be of small consequence TO
the United States. We have little 10
fear from the neighb0rhOod of Puget
Sound and Vancouver Island. Our
weakness lies lower down. The de
lenses all along the northerly part of
our eastern coast are very weak. as. in
deed, they are weak pretty much every
| where But in general. / may say they
are far stronger than they Were year
ago"
What are the principal improve
ments made on our coasts?"
Well / should single out the fOrtif-
cations in the San Francisco and New
/ York harbOrs as being especially nota-
I bic. There is a mortar battery at'each
| place which is q model OF its kind.
/ Each viii throw @ shell six miles be-
You'd Sandy Hook or the Golden Gate
/ respectively, and deal destruction TO
/ any foreign ornaments which come
within that range
General judging from your recent
| trip, what is the general condition of
/ the army ar preseut?'
u think it excellent in a large pro-
| portion Of principal posts in the West
/ there is q perfect administration, the
! troops are very effective. thoroughly fit
well drilled and disciplined in every
! way for action. A great point has been
| gained by the abandonment of small
! posts and the concentration OF the
| ,rCps into larger ones. a few years ago
/ there were some one hundred posts in
! ALL About Jwenty-fveof these have al
deadly been abandoned. A few others
/ of minor Importance viii probably soon
| be Misunderstanding sixty that are alb
/ sOlutely necessary. AS result of this
| concentration the troops are better
/ housed and betcr disciplined. All the
| posts are looked upon as permanent.
| Many of the smaller ones in Old days
/ were put up temporarily. and it did not
/ seem worth while 10 spend much money
upon them. Now all tht posts are pref
I " comfortable places. [ believe. There
is also a decided Improvement in the
character OF the troops None but
| American citizens Of q certain amount
| of education are allowed to enlist-a
| great Improvement over the times when
almost any one, native or foreign, was
! considered good enough for recruit.
The establishment Of the canteen. or. as
ii is now called, post exchange, has also
worked wonders. I don't say that the
/ influence of the canteen is as pure as
that of the Christian Church, but il is
an immense advance over the places
that We're formerly allowed TO exist i'm
the ncichborhOod of military posts.
where the vilest liquors could be obtain
ed by the soldiers. Only detter-gOod
7 beer-is sold at the exchanges.
rs our army adequate to meet for
eisn foe?"
yes and no Il can whip any army
of its own size, no matter who or what
that army may be. But 25,000 men, no
matter how superior i'm themselves,
could not face 250.000. Recently it has
been found that the army was hardly
large enough to suppress domestic vio-
| lence TO say notring of foreign enemy.
| Nevertheless, the troops gave an excel
lent account OF themselves in that en-
| Urgency. and VIII doubtless do so again
i'm the event Of a conflict with q foreign
enemy"
Besides. the national guard would
prove Invaluable auxiliary in case Of
war. Tt is not, of course substitute
for the regular force. but it Is a good
deal better than none Il would form
IN excellent reserve. II has been the
/ policy of the militaryau every
| where TO encourage the growth of the
State militia i'm every way possible One
! important step ought 10 be taken 1t
J has already been taken tn Massachu-
( sets and I'm Connecticut, but has been
| strangely overlooked I'D New York.
/ This is 10 create an artillery force in the
! national guard for manning the f0rtif-
cations in the harbors. At present
neither in the State nor government
I service are there One-ffth enough men
/ 10 man the guns now built or building
Reinforcement in the artillery service
are absolutely necessary.
GOOD SIGHT.
Stout lady Cat street crossing to DO
| licemau)-C Could YOU see me cross the
street, officer?
Policeman-Sure. ma'am I could see
pc tin times the distance. aisy.
HIS SPECIFIC KIND.
Zones is a brick, isn't he?"
"Well. I don't know always
thought him to be a tricky fellow"
ssT,haf'c it-pOld brick -