The evening times., 1898-05-30

officer who is successful IN this Is per-
mitted to elect, as far as the immediate
requirements Of the army may permit.
which branch Of the service he will join.
He then passes into one or other Of the
military academies. where his profess
sional education is begun. The academy
for the infantry is at Toledo: that for
the cavalry at valadolid. The artillery
school is at Segovia. and that for en-
gineers at Guadalajara. At Madrid there
is a superior institution, where officers
are trained for stan duties. Admission
to this is also by competitive examina
tion. but before an officer is eligible for
nomination he must have served for a
prescribed period in his regiment. Grad
yates of the college do not return to their
regiments. They become members of the
grand staff corps. and II Is from the ranks
Of this body that officers are selected for
staff duties. In the Spanish army an Off
Ger cannot hope for employment on the
staff unless he has passed through the
staf college. The Spanish authorities
pride themselves on the professional at
tainment of their officers, and also on
their reserve Of officers. This reserve is
also Of two grades: one is paid and the
other is not.
The Spanish colonial forces, including
local militia and in Cuba volunteer
force, number about two hundred and
thirty thousand officers and men.
The militia in Cuba has not been
permanently embodied for nearly ten
years. The volunteers are Spaniards who
have settled there or who are born Of
Spanish parents In Cuba. They are an
unpaid body. who have elected thus to
serve in consideration of their being ex-
cused having to serve in the militia.
They are Instructed and commanded by
stan afficers of the regular army. The
Cuban militia Is not a very strong body.
and for a variety of reasons 1t is not look
ed on with great favor. The Spanish au-
thorities assert that there are now one
hundred thousand officers and men of
their regular army in Cuba The volun-
teers and militia total another seventy
thousand. The American authorities.
however. estimate the Spanish forces in
Cuba as one hundred and thirty-three
thousand regulars and thirty thousand
militia and volunteers.
The Spanish government wishes 1t to be
known that they emphatically deny that
boys OF premature years have been sent
out to the island as soldiers, and point to
the conscription laws as affording posi-
tive proof that there cannot have been
soldiers of the regular Spanish army in
Cuba under twenty years of age. unless
they had been boy drummers and buglers,
very few. indeed. Of whom have been
allowed to embark with their regiments
The regular Spanish infantry is equipped
with Mauser rife. constructed on
Spanish model, which is slightly different
in its breech and magazine action to the
German Mauser. Its caliber Is seven mill
metres. The Cuban volunteers and MILL
tia are armed with rifles Of various sorts,
mostly Of American manufacture. The
larger number is of the Remington and
Winchester types. In Cuba there are
-
guns. Those of the regular army are
Krupp's breech-loaders. slightly modified
In certain respects to meet the views of
the Spanish authorities. They are of
eight and nine centimeters caliber. Some
Of the Spanish scientific and department
tai corps are still armed with Remington
carbines.