Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-10

Her Army and Navy and How Men
Are Secured.


Are Secured.
From the New York Herald.
The regular army is composed of seven
complete army corps and strong division
Six of these are formed on the territorial
system. bs.ttalions being stationed In times
of peace in the districts wherein they are
raised. Conscription is universal every
where in Turkey save in Constantinople it.
self. The natives of the Turkish capital
have the privilege CT exemption. Every
other male subject, as soon he arrives at
the age Of twenty-onc. mist present him.
self at the military center of the district
wherein he resides and draw for the ballot.
The men who draw lucky numbers pass at
once into the Iktihat, class of immediate
resolves: the others only reach this dignity
after four years preliminary service in the
regiment. Six years is the total period Of
service In. the Nizam, or rank and file of
the army.
At the end Of those six years the re-
servist becomes a Redif for eight years,
and then passes into the Mustafiz for the
full period Of his life during which he is
capable of bearing arms. The Redifs and
the Mustafiz hold themselves ready to be
called upon for military duty in times Of
war. 1t is not in the peace establishment Of
the regular army that the military strength
of Turkey resides. but in the enormous ex-
pansion of which 1t is capable a short
notice through the mobilization Of the
Redifs and the Mustafiz. The men are all
In the country. and can be got together
with the greatest ease, for the MIssulman
population Is not shifting one. Every
Kedifs name stands on the register, and
the force is controlled by the system Of
muster and inspection, which takes place
every four months. Five thousand officers
are distributed among the recruiting dis
tricts solely for this purpose The actual
standing army of 10000 men could be in
creased to nearly 3O0,OO0 at short notice,
provided, of course, that there were suffi-
eient funds In the treasury. Therein lies
turkeys chief weakness.
The Turkish Navy.
The navy is manned by recruits selected
from the population that lives on the Dor
ders of the Black sea. Many of them are
Lares, q race specially fond of and specially
fitted for seafaring pursuits. They are pa
tent, docile and easily trained, with the in
stinct of discipline strongly developed. The
conscript, when selected, is sent to Con-
stantinople, where he gets his first !nstruo-
ton in the ordinary duties of seaman On
the depot ship He then passes on TO the
gunnery vessel, an old wooden frigate sta
toned in the Golden Horn, where he learns
the use of both great guns and small arms.
His education is completed on board some
one of the squadron of gunboats which are
ontnually moving about from port to
port.
Turkey has net had money enough to pur-
chase the immense ornaments which are
the boast of her European neighbours. Yet
her fleet is respectable one, especially in
view of her natural advantages of defense.
She has some nineteen ironclads, rrigates
and eorvetteS. This is the main element OF
her naval strength, although there are near
ly two hundred and fifty wooden vessels
stationed for the maintenance of order at
various points on the extensive coasts of the
empire. OF these ironclads three of the cor
vette class are usually away from Constan-
tnople on service, two frigates and two cor
vettes are in the first reserve, always
main tanned in a position to proceed to sea
at the shortest notice, and the remainder
are lying temporarily dismantied, but ready
for use within fortnight's time. The total
active list of officers and men is %, $50, with
q reserve of $1,000.