The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-10-06

to good citizens. They lave aiken up lands
and they are now adopting our ways Upon
their old camping grounds lave grown up
big cities. and / have seen q population Of
millions construct an empire on the wilds
where they nave hunted. 1t is, / think, a
great thing to have witnessed all this. and
/ deem myself fortunate In having done
So"
At one time during the conversation the
subject Of military improvements came up.
and 1 asked General Miles where he
thought would be the next general advance
in army matters.
He replied: 1T will probably be in the
line OF transportation OF men and equip
ment. The bicycle and the horseless vehicle
will have much to do I'm -he wars of the
future. Put an army on bicycles and their
opponents would be at their mercy IL they
were not similarly equipped. The bicycle
troops could feed off OF the supplies OF their
enen Us country They could move so rap
idly that the others could not catch them.
They could choose their own positions and
fly from one point to another At a few
hours notice. They could forestall sup
plies and haye every position of advantage,
both in attacking and retreating. Take the
horseless carriage. The French have shown
that some OF such vehicles will go at the
rate OF sixteen miles an hour and at the
same time carry four persons. They had a
competitive race for such vehicles from
Paris to Bordeaux and return, a distance
of $50 miles. and the average speed was six
teen miles per hour. The different motive
powers used were steam. electricity. naph-
tina and petroleum. Petroleum came out
ahead and fha mount mead uoo Very
small. a single gallon carrying a small car
rage over a hundred miles OF travel. There
is no doubt but that such vehicles can be
utilized In place of horses. / am glad of 1t.
The horse has been the slave of mankind
for thousands of years. and it is time that
he should have a rest"
What do you think. General, OF the pos
sibilities of getting an armor which. will be
perimented on In Europe"
II doubt it," was the reply. ANY such
armor. to be really effective. must be too
heavy for USE"
How about dynamite, General? MAY the
day not come when a few men with a
busheI of dynamite and a balloon Will blot
out a city or an army
ut may come" replied General Miles.
oht IL "Outu DC ciltcllNe IL one QdliOn
could have a monopoly of such inventions
and such explosives, but such things cannot
be. If one nation has them, others will
have them. and battles will go on all the
same. 1t may be that the wars Of the fu-
ture will be fought TO some extent above
ground We have many battles in the air,
and the efficiency OF modern guns il al
ready such that in great battles balloons
would be In great danger. We now have
mortars which will shoot three miles
straight up in the air, and we could really
make 1t very uncomfortable for any bal
looms which might come within our range"
Speaking of new inventions in modern
warfare. General, many people think that
through them war is becoming 30 terrible
that it must eventually be done away with.
Do you think SOP
NO" replied General Miles, "I do not.
I don't believe that men will stop fighting
for such. reasons. The modes Of fighting
may change, as hey did in this Chinese
japan war. The soldiers will not fight
close together, and battles are becoming
every day less of the hand-to-haad struggle
that they were in the lays of Caesar. AS
to destruction the numbers killed in the
Chinese-Japanese war do not compare with
those of our late civil war. There were
many more men killed in the battle of
Gettysburg than there were in all the bat
ties of this late struggle between China
and Japan" FRANK G. CARPENTER.