Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-03-25
FRENCH ARMY AND NAVY.
England's Traditional Enemy Not Behind
Her In Armament.

England's Traditional Enemy Not Behind
Her In Armament.
The French navy ranks next to that
Of England In numbers while in eff
cheney and fighting qualities the French
ships are fully equal to their English
rivals. In fact. in naval architecture the
French early took the lead, and many
of the English types of ships were mod
eled after the French designs, says The
Cbautauquan. One of the chief differ
ences between the English and the
French armored ships today is in the
disposition of the armor and the conse-
quent design of the hull. English de-
signers have striven to protect the men
working the guns, and to do this they
have reduced the length of the ships
armor French and naval architects, on
the other hand, have given little atten-
ton to the protection of men and a great
deal to the protection of the water line.
Therefore they have reduced the breadth
of the ships ar1nor.
1t is worthy of note that France is
the only great power which levies tax
on such of her citizens as either do
not enlist in the standing army or VIII
enlist for a shorter term than three
years. Only those who are officially de-
clared "impecunious" are exempt from
such tax. 1t is payable annually as
long as the liability to service lasts, and
the revenue from this source amounts to
about 80, 900, 900 francs, or So, 900, 600,
annually.
The officers of the French army re-
ceive very thorough education at the
different military schools. AT the head
of these (although not exclusively mill
tary) stands the Polytechnic school in
Paris, which admits 150 pupils annually
after competitive examination. The
course occupies nine months in the year
for two years.
AS it is impossible to keep under arms
for three years the entire annual contin-
gent of recruits, the law provides for
the discharge of thoroughly trained men
at the end Of the first or second year of
active service in such proportions as to
bring down the peace strength of the
army to the number annually deter1nin-
ed upon by the general assembly. Pref
erences in this connection are decided
by lot. For this purpose every recruit
at his enrolment draws number, and
only those having the highest numbers
are entitled to consideration.
Myths of vendland.
Charles de Kay. consul general to
Berlin, writes of Vendland in The Cen
tury under title Of An Inland Venice. .
Concerning the strange myths Of the
Venda, Mr.. de Kay says: The water
nixy is dangerous to young women who
wade into ponds to cut reeds for thatch.
The sandman has his female counter
part. When boy mods, it is Hermann
that has come; when girl gets SLEEPY
over her spinning, it is Dremotka
Reapers who fail to rest for an hour at
midday are in danger of ragged fe-
male demon called Pshespolniza. She
comes with sickle bound to a pole and
cuts off their heads She seems to have
been sunstroke personified, but is now,
like Serpowniza, only bugbear used to
frighten children away from growing
crops.
Here in the Spreewald exist many Of
the superstitions common to Ireland and
Scotland the changeling, the whirl-
wind, will o. the wisp, kobold, lepre-
chawn and good little people generally
Here are the crafty spirit of the lake and
the demon that springs on mems shoul-
ders at night. Here especially is the
banshee. Indeed no less family than
the Hohenzollerns have private and
particular white lady who appears in
the unsentimental vicinage Of the
schloss, in the heart of Berlin, and walls
round the battlements when death is
to occur in the family. Connection be-
tween the British islands and the lands
drained by the Elbe and the Vistula has
been constantly renewed by migration
and conquest In remote periods the
race seems to have been alike in both
countries