The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-24
WAR IN THE MOUNTAINS.
Trying Form of Soldering in the
Philippines.
From the Boston Herald.

Worsting an enemy 60 to make the sum of
! his career eventful. even interesting, and
for soldering in all its varied and absorb
/ ing forms, nothing within The scope of our
/ present struggle is likely to excel that mill
/ tary work cut out for us in the Philip
pines
] We shall certainly find we have more
10 1ll than the comparatively simple duties
of an army of occupation; and one reason
ably wonders what may not be the result
of that frenzy OF victory and suddenly
/ awakened sense of self-suficiency in the
insurgents when they are confronted, per-
/ haps, with our determination to rule them
/ hereafter.
! How Tar religious ecstacy and insdga-
ton may be made to work against US is
soma hing for speculation. The Philippines
at large know practically nothing about
US, and, with cunning pictures OF even
more hateful dominance on our part than
/ they have borne before, the religious
! brotherhoods may make a last effort to
retain their grasp by fostering rebellion
against the very saviors of the country.
| That we shall have more than the Span
iards to contend with is well nigh certain;
and II IS pretty positive, too, We shall have
TO meet our native enemy on his own ter
! rtory, and upon the very ground of his
own choosing. In a region so we'll STUDDED
with some decidedly formidable mountain
ranges the task of ferrehng out foe that
| may seek the cover of those Businesses
will be very trying undertaking; and,
before we can go through even the motions
| or that valiant warrior of old who march
ew his men up the hill and then marched
them down again-all in the same day-we
shall have to overcome some natural OBJ
stacLes then undreamed of.
| A Spanish writer has summed up the
| season in the Philippines thus: "Six
| months of dust, six months of mud, six
| months of everything and experience
has shown the country to be practically
| inundated from June till November, with
an added demand for six or eight weeks
| OF intense sunshine to reduce the roads to
passa beness Swift mountain streams
must be either forded safely or bridged
| IN the quickest and aptest way, and where
the roads stop, roads or paths must be
cut through the tropical jungle of high
bamboo, matted thorny vines, and a dense
growth OF TIMBER, and this, too before
either the hot glare Of the midday sun or
| the damp, threatening darkness of a tor
rio night is upon the men EARTHQUAKES
and violent storms must be expected and
care taken to meet them in the safest
way.
Mountain warfare is, by long odds. the
from the start to the finish of a success
full campaign in the hills there is hardly
a moment that does moi make a cali upon
the resourcefulness and skill of both Off
GERS aud men. We shall have a mlnia-
ture India of our own to contend with and
in the native, If he be rebelious. a fighter
OF true Indian instincts in all that we
know his cunning to be in our own coun-
try. Ambuscades, night attacks and re-
treats will be the order of the day, and
worst OF all, he will be armed with an ef-
fective rifle of high power.
OF all the troops dispatched to the Phil
ippines, the Aston battery of mountain
artillery is really the only detail made
with especial consideration to the possible
local or geographical requirements of the
country; and 1t is modestly suggested that
none will win greater glory or do more
effective service than this little force if
our army be compelled TO meet its foe on
anything like the terms already practiced
by the insurgents upon the Spaniards be-
fore Dewey reduced Cavite.
The battery will be composed of six r.
FOUNDER mountain guns of the Hotchkiss
type. The guns have been designed with
especial consideration to the service condi-
tons of mountain warfare, and combine
simplicity and effectiveness with the all
important desideratum of ease of trans
portation or mobility. Over country of
ordinary profile the guns will be drawn
a
to relieve the pack animals where posSi-
bic, will carry four ammunition chests
holding thirty-two rounds of ammunition
When heavy grades are encountered the
guns, carriages, limbers, ammunition and
pioneers tools Will be packed on mules
six of which bear the burden of one com
plete outfit. In service five additional
mules will carry 100 extra rounds of am
munition for the whole battery.
Wherever infantry can secure an occu-
patton the mountain battery can follow
and in practice it has been found that the
guns can be unpacked from the mules
and brought into action in a minutes
time, while only AZ seconds are required
to have them packed again and ready to
resume the march. Each gun fires either
shrapnel or canister weighing twelve
pounds. Each shrapnel contains 100 halls
and each canister 125, and the effective
range of the guns is something like 3.50O
yards-nearly two miles. There are no
delicate parts, and they are easily assem-
bled, and great care has been taken To
provide against the strains of mountain
service and the severe recoi due to the
peculiar trains of fire.
The guns, when in action, do not look
unlike exaggerated toy cannons but thew
possess a power Of INJECTING severe blows
and deal of damage from positions other
wise denied to the heavier field artillery
of the usual order.
l. OAH SOlAAu iibOullldIU crest LleY will he
able to spread vast deal Of ruin upon
an enemy's forces, his shelter, or his noun
tain fortresses, or comfort him with a bat.
terry salvo when he thought himself safe
from all but the approach of~infantry.
Nothing Is more vital to the success of
tropical expeditions than proper medical
provision and the exercise of the strictest
sanitary precautions. The wounded must
be cared for once and moved with the
least delay or shock to shelter, and this is
not an easy thing in a mountainous coun-
try where perhaps, the ups and downs of
the way are frequent and violent. An
English officer of great Indian experience
recommends bamboo poles and hammocks
or the canvas of the shelter tents, and. no
doubt such will be adopted when the time
comes.
The native following OF an eastern cam
paign has but little regard for Cleanliness
and, with the cramped quarters of a noun
tain camp, ii is absolutely necessary that
the ernlInd be uell aired dallu o M IL. -.