The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-06-02

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Among the specifications for the warm
weather army clothes upon which bids
have been invited by the quartermaster
generals office in New York the prom.
inent and picturesque item is that of
trousers reaching only TO the knee or
but trifle below AS the number Of
suits to be contracted for is 40, 900 this
order means general revival of knick
erbockers in the American military uni
form. The results will differ from any
thing seen since the days of the conti-
mental army.
In practical significance the new
knickerbockers will be the first outward
symbol of the transformation that has
taken place in the army itself Instead
Of handful of scouts and frontier po-
| lice there is now military force equip
| ped and eager for service in any part OF
| the globe 1t came into existence with
the first sudden expansion of the great
republic of hemisphere into an inn
perial power of worldwide influence.
In future it may be decreased in num-
| bers, but the varied character of its
| equipment and service will remain as
| long as the stars and stripes are upheld
in Manila bay.
The uniform that has been ordered
for use by the regular army in warm or
tropical regions is suit of brown can
vas, plain in cut and peculiar chiefly
for its knickerbockers. The plain jacket
is distinguished for cavalry, artillery
and infantry by the use of the respective
colors, yellow, red and blue, as facing
for the pocket flaps and shoulder flaps.
Patterned after the fighting costume
Of Great Britain's soldiers in Africa
and the east the new American uniform
preserves Yankee individuality by re-
tanning the soft felt campaign hat The
white helmet familiar in pictures of
military forces on the upper Nile has
not been adopted. OF the canvas knick-
erbockers a fair idea is to be obtained
from any of the London illustrated
weeklies that picture General Sir Her.
bert Kitchener's Egyptian campaign.
Similar conditions have evolved similar
costumes for an American army in
Cuba.
"More like bicycle trousers than like
the regulation long trousers, " runs the !
official description. \ sample suit is to |
be shown at the Army building in this |
city as soon as it is received from the |
authorities at Washington. Meanwhile |
the prospective bidders are preparing !
their estimates
Canvas is in itself somewhat Of nov |
city for the army, it having been more
generally used for naval uniforms. |
United States troops in Texas, however, |
as well as other parts of the southern |
frontier have long been accustomed to !
a summer uniform Of brown duck. The |
trousers there used were long, while the !
tops Of the leggings We're corresponding
ly low. A change 10 lnickerbockers will |
involve leggings long enough to cover
the entire leg wherever high boots are |
not used.
1.-THE burden and heat Of q tropical J
day, remarked a veteran who has serv-
ed with the army in Texas, when seen |
in New York recently, lis exactly what
we seek to overcome by material as |
light and cool as the brown canvas of |
army wear Insect pests Of the tropics |
constitute, however, far more impor-
tant factor in determining the style of
uniform. The cut of the trousers is the |
main thing You require protection |
from such pests as red bugs, ticks and |
like insects Of warm climates that at
tack you wherever Won walk
There are times in Texas when Won |
cannot put your foot down upon the
grass but that your clothing becomes
infested with minute red bugs. The |
same is true in Cuba. Swamps and low. |
lands in that island abound with the |
tiny mosquitoes called jejenes, and with
a variety of scorpion called alacran. |
Protection from these pests is to be Sc |
cured only by having trousers tight over
the ankle calf Whether this is the Gus !
tom of the Spaniards in Cuba do not
now recall. Their uniform, except on
gala occasions, is of canvas, however
The insurgents wear whatever uniform
they can get
A fine canvas suit that do happen
To know about was that used by Lieu
tenant A. S Rowan of the Nineteenth
infantry, who landed in Cuba and made
the trip to the insurgent headquarters.
The suit was made in Jamaica. Brown
duck was the material, and. as usual,
the trousers were the special feature.
Lieutenant Rowan's duck trousers were
long and were not unlike riding breech.
es. Fitting loosely over hip and thigh,
they narrowed at the knee, buttoning
snugly from there to the ankle and con.
tinuing III strap that bound them like
CATERS over the instep of the foot. The
protection against insect attack was
thus as complete as it could be made.
The knickerboclers ordered for our
regular army will do precisely similar
service if leggings are used with them.
and such will doubtless be the case.
Canvas OF duck material will give the
necessary freedom from heaviness and
warmth, while the leg protection will
decrease the annoyance due to attack by
the insects to which loose clothing gives
easy Judgment. That is the immediate