The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-24

any place a man can lead him, up hill or
down. and carry his burden easily through
all the hours his human guide can bear
the strain. The coolie is far from being so
satisfactory, and it has been found by the
British in India that for an expedition of
1000 fighting men, at least 1000 or 5000
coolies must be had to bear the accom-
panying baggage
With all the ills to which man is prone
menacing, with a disposition TO quit, but
with an unfailng tendency to eat at all
times, the coolie train is hardly a welcome
charge for a commanding officer to con-
template
Now, as ever, the ''victory win depend
on the legs Of the army" and it viii be
the trying task of the commanding officer
to bring his men to the enemy with the
least tax upon their vitality, and TO have
them ready to bear the strain of a charge
or to shoot with that accuracy unknown
to exhausted muscles. The wisest kind OF
generalship has got to be exercised, and,
at the same time, aggressive action must
be assured, for experience has proved de-
fensive tactics the costliest manner OF
meeting mountain foemen who gather
strength and purpose with every moments
passive stand on their enemy's part.
Night marching is thing that must GER
tainly be counted upon, for then only will
the men be free from the frightful, trying
heat of the SUMS intense glare, not to men,
ton the dangerous consequences upon the
eyes. But at night there are other dan
gers, such as venomous snakes, the giant
cayman in the marshes and streams, and
the foe, who knows 50 well how to make
the most of the cover of these dense jun
giles. Ways must be cut and roads made
even before the troops themselves can
find a sure footing; and the path must be
wide enough to guard against the heavy.
dripping dew falling upon the treadway
proper, for it has been found to render
the roads so slippery that passage was
next to impossible.
Yankee cunning is going to adopt itself
very quickly to the work of meeting these
changed conditions, and the never-failing
bamboo is going to cut an important figure
in most of our engineering feats out there.
Rats WEI be made of it, defenses made
of it, and quick and effective waterproof
shelters formed of it, with the aid of the
native craftsmen.
The rapid mountain streams. though
narrow, call for some very skillful engln-
eering to get a body of troops and their
animals safely across, and we must eX-
pect to hear of suspension bridges of bam-
boo, and telegraph wire, fashioned with
eXpertness and expedition, yet strong
enough to bear the burden of the heaviest
of mountain forces. Boats may have TO
be built to ferry these streams on short
notice, and we shall not be SURPRISED to
know that a wagon cover of canvas or a
shelter tent or two fashioned upon
framework of bamboo or saplings will an
swer the purpose well enough to carry the
first lines of a bridge across these water
ways. At almost every step there viii be
some new obstacle or some new condition
to be met, and these, though drains most
ly upon ingenuity and Skill viii tax the
aptness of our men even more than the
work of actually routing the enemy. Our
mountain forces. whether artillery or in
fantry, will be nil climbers, Indian fight
ers, engineers and pioneers, all in the Same
breath; and We shall have ample reason to
be proud of their achievements.
Signalling by the heliograph will form
very conspicuous part of the means OF
visualcornmunication among the hills, for
while the distance as the crow flies may
be short, the route by even foot or horse
back would be long, tortuous and beset
with the dangers of a lurking foe. The
suns Hastings will speed our messages
from crest to crest with dextrous haste
and certainly of delivery, and beyond the
reach of our~enemy's interruption, and at
night a lantern modification will stand US
well in stead
Much of the work of possible pacihcation
will be that of Furnishing refractory ma
tives, and our futile trial In Formosa in
81 showed what really adept strategists
these Eastern Indian tribes and their mix7
lures are. 1t will be necessary to strike
them quickly and convincingly, and pun
ishment to them does not mean rout and
a few slain. They must be brought to
reason by reducing their villages and by
inhicting a wholesome loss of life, and
that can be done only by the most skillful
of strategy and by bringing them out and
by forcing them to conclusions in sufficient
numbers.
Whatever may be the service called for
in those distant Islands, we can be sure we
shall have every reason to be proud of the
work done by our forces under their splen-
did leader, and whether it be a matter Of
long-restrained liberty. the record of our
little army there viii certainly be crowned
with laurels and our mountain battery
viii not be without its full share Of that
glory.