Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1897-09-03

The maNImum lighting strength Of the
Ameer j, 700. 900 men, bat OF n, Sc not
one .fonrth could be- ctirctually AIMED.
Agaiu,t Il disorganizcd foe, un-
drilled and poorly armed, England
would eveu'oajly conque', bar The
struggle .oud ice COSTLY aud wopli -
qaire five "' lcu Times the present mill
tary stren@', 81 luda. To-day mis-
consists of 75.ooo Et2tsh soldiers and
10000 native ttoop.. The former is
IA known article and little needs 10 bee
said Of them. The 10000 natives are
well drilled. e1ectuauy armed and
miserably paid.
The best fighters in the native troops
are the Pathans, made up 81 collee-
ton Of tribes along ,he northwest bor-
Der of India, many Of them being of
Afghan birth. These could not bee ro-
lied upon in war with ,hc Amecr.
They are men of powerful bud. highly
tempered and capable of heroic cour
age. Human life they hold as naugb;
they are fierce and savae and win
great difficulty are made to obey mill.
tary discipline.
A more reliable body of mon are the
Ghoorkas of the independent state +
:
Metal, on the northeastern frontier.
Experts declare that the Ghooka, are
the flower Of the native troops. TLey
are not such wonderful fighters a> the
Paihans, but are amendable to mil taly
laws and are easily ollicered.
The Goorkas are extremely sholt Of
stature, not averaging more than five
feet IN height. They are thickly built,
however, and are famous mountaineers
being as sure-footed as goats. In a
campaign like an invasion OF Afghanis-
stan, when the stflest kind of hill work
is required, they would be most useful.
In countenance they resemble the
Chinese, but in fight one Ghoorka is
considered the equal OF five Cinnamon.
Their national weapon is the ''kukrl'
a curved knife of exceptional heavineSS
with which they DO terrible execution
at close quarters. In many scrim-
images they have been known to throw
away their rifles and other accoutre-
ments and trust alone to this terrible
weapon In Difference to this habit,
the Indian army officials have added
the kukri to the equipment of the
Ghoorka regiments. There are many
Ghoorkas in the Puniab military sta
tons, as it has been found that they
are more formidable than the native
Sikhs IN dealing with the turbulents
hill tribes.
The Sikhs. however, are above the
average native as soldiers. In 1916
they formed an alliance with the Al
ghans for the determination Of the
English IN the Puniab. For three
years the allies maintained the war de-
feating the British in several sanguina-
ry battles After the decisive battle at
Guicrat, on Feb. p, 1919, Won by the
English, the Afghans under the Amcer.
Dost Mohammed, deserted the Sikhs,
and since then there has been little love
between the two people.
Since the Indian mutiny when the
Sikhs rendered valiant service, they
have been loyal III their support Of
British rule. In recognition of this
they have been largely employed for
police work in Burma and the Straits
Settlements. and many of them have
been transferred TO distant Africa 10
maintain order in the various British
colonies.
They are nearly all of them men of
fine ply sique, solderlike and steady,
and can generally be recognized by the
| fierce, martial whiSkers which adorn
their countenances, while certain of
them wear round their turbans large
metal quot, as big as dinner plate
These they throw much in the same
way as an Australian native handles
his boomerang and with marvellous ac-
curacy and precision.
Aside from these mentioned the ma
tive Indian soldier is a commonplace
article. The Madras and Bombay cav
airy regiments are made up of men of
superior qualifications. They are usu-
ally the sons of small land owners and
by the common native are regarded as
persons of distinction. They are paid
but 30 ruples a month, equivalent to
about IS 40, and on this insignificant
sum the "sowar,n as he is called, feeds
md cIot hos hinnSo1f finds food for bi.