The times., 1898-06-27
THE HORRORS OF WAR.
The Death Rate in Battle Rapidly
Dfmfuishing.

six hundred shots a minute, What a
frightful slaughter must accompany the
use of these terrible weapons. capable Of
throwing such relentless hail OF death
dealing projectiles! How destructive Of
life a modern battle must prove!
Such is the opinion one hears con-
stanrly expressed in these days of Maxim
and dynamite guns; yet, surprising as
il may seem. an investigation into the
facts. coming down to the bedrock of
figures and statistics. reveals an entirely
different state of affairs from that usu
ally imagined. Not only were there more
men actually killed in the battles Of olden
times. but also the percentage Of dead
was often far greater than in modern
engagements.
For instance, compare the battle of
Marathon, which was fought in the year
39l B. c., and is one of the earliest OF
which there exists any authentic record.
with that of Ha-Shan in the Chino-Japa-
nese war of 1884,. In the former conflict
out of a total of some 10000 troops en-
gagged. nearly 1000 were left on the field,
while in the latter only 40 dead were
counted, though the opposing forces
amounted to more than 23.000 men; dis
parity that seems incomprehensible when
we remember that throughout the war
the japanese, were provided with the
latest types of guns and ammunition.
Some of the battles of ancient times
showed a proportion of dead or disabled
that cannot be accounted for unless we
accent the view that the wars of those
days were waged in the spirit of a
policy of determination pure and simple,
in the belief that success was not assured
until every enemy had been killed. or
captured with view to subsequent tor
ture and execution.
Three memorable battles took place in
France shortly after the advent of the
Christian Era. and the story of each Of
them is fraught with intense interest as
marking the successive downfalls of three
powerful races that strOve in turn TO
obtain a mastery over Central and West
ern Europe; every one was a bloody
butchery.
At Dethmold, A. D. 9. 5000 Roman
troops under Yarus, with some 5000
camp-followers, were sidllfully surround
ed and cut to pieces by a large force Of
Teutons under Arminius. not one of the
unfortunate descendants of Romulus, it
is believed. escaping to tell the tale
Four centuries later, at Chalons, Attila
at the head of his villainous multitude of
rapacious Huns, met the allied forces of
Romans, Franks and Goths, 800 000 strong
Attlla's strength was estimated at fully
700. 600 The night before the great con-
nict a ''skirmish" took place between
outlying pickets. in which over 15000
troops Were killed. but the following
evening the plain was strewn with the
corpses of the slain to the number OF
close on a quarter of a million.
The third of the epoch-making con-
tests was fought at Tours. in the year
732 and resulted in the driving back of
the Moors across the Pyrenees, which
they had crossed under the leadership of
Abderrahman. with the intention by one
bold stroke of conQuering Frankland
and crushing the rising faith of Chris
tianity that was striding rapidly through
Western Europe. At the head of 100000
Arab troops Abderrahman arrived at
Tours without encountering the slightest
opposition. and proceeded to encamp at
a little distance from the ancient Roman
city. The thoroughly alarmed Christians
had meanwhile assembled under the BAN
ner OF Charles afterwards Martel, and.
with only $4,000 followers, the champion
OF Christendom determined to give battle
to the Saracen. The cause of the Cross
prevailed against the almost overwhelm-
ing numbers of the heather, and the vic
tory was accomplished by the inevitable
wholesale destruction of the vanquished
If We can believe the accounts of his
torians of the period, Abderrahman and