The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-28
THE VOICE IN WAR.
IL Is Sometimes Useless and signals Are
Substituted.

~ H IL huo Nfkhdis bIt
Substituted.
From the Hartford Courant.
With the modern rapid-firing guns
there is little firing by men in mass. ex-
cept when the company rallies to re-
pei an attack. Then a circle or semi
circle is formed around the officers and
the bullets are sent as fast as they can
travel. In the extended order" of the
skirmish line IL is impossible for a man
to hear himself think" but with a line
extending rods away TO the right and
left and with a strong wind blowing,
to say nothing of the musketry, the Of
ficer's voice cannot be equal to the
emergency. So he resorts to signals
visual, with his sword. when smoke and
landscape will allow: otherwise with
the bugle or with a hoarse whistle in
the hilt of his sword. Properly drilled
soldiers of 1898 readily interpret the
signals. Those with the sword are
simple; those by bugle or whistle are
mbinati of long and short blasts,
as, for example, one long n e. Halt"
Two longs ones. Forward Two
short one and one long one. ITO the
rear!' Two Ions ones and two short
ones, Cease firing!" The non-com-
mlssioned officers along the line. hear
ing these signals. repeat the commands
TO the men.
Aboard ship there also is great econ
omy of vocal power. If the steel sides
of the vessel are not being pounded by
shot and shell, the officers can make
themselves heard between shots, but
their words are few. As for the men.
the experience of an observer aboard
one of our vessels at the destruction of
Cervera's fleet is to the point. He said
he expected to see the men rush to
quarters with a yell and then cheer as
they saw the enemy's discontinue On
the contrary. the only sound was the
boom OF the guns, the men going on
with their work like silent machines.
Yet the human voice has it's value.
Who shall say that it is any less than
those from metal Threats? 1t comes
when there's a lull in the firing, when
bayonets are fixed, when men nerve
themselves and start forward at a run
over the short but shot-swept space
between them and the enemy. Then
the voice will make itself heard-no
rules or regulations ever could prevent
it If they tried. Seemingly, ii is the
shout that carries the men onward,
upward, over the breastworks.
We heard considerable about the
differentiation between the Southern
cry and the Northern cheer during the
civil war. The former was a high
keyed. piercing veil. the latter a deep
chested ''hurrah," leaving out of the
word all but the vowel sound. How do
they sound now. blended? Americas
foemen will never stop to tell.
And Emperor William is introducing
the "hurrah" in Germany as a substi-
tute for the old-time, choky "hoch."
The way he is doing it is by giving the
triple "hurrah' on concluding toasts
and solemn speeches. Then the cheer
gets recognition in court circles and fl
nally is adopted by the army. The en-
peror knows a good thing when he
hears it, and America and England
which country also has the "hurrah''-
can afford to let him have his without
diplomatic inquiry. But may h and
his armies never be called upon to hear
it roll up against the stars and stripes
in battle.