The record-union., 1899-10-15
ALL EUROPE IS
WATCHING ENGLAND
What the Result of the Victories in
the TransVaaI
Is Something Which the Future Alone Can
ForeteII.
While the Naval Strength of the
British is Beyond Dispute,
There Are Other Conditions to
be Taken Into View Before the
Question is Settled.

be Taken into View Before the
Question is Settled.
Copyrighted 1899, by Associated Press. }
LONDON, Oct. 14.-All Europe is
watching Great Britain at this crucial
moment in her military affairs. For
eign statesmen and military experts
regard the result of the war with the
Beers as foregone conclusion. What
they scan with such anxious interest
is England's tremendous preparations
for the contest. By the result of these
efforts will her strength be gagged.
In assembling an army twice as large
as that which she sent to Crimea and
considerably greater than wellington 5
force at Waterloo, England is offering
an illustration, for the first time in
many decades, of her ability to fight
on land.
Although her naval strength has
often been demonstrated to advantage,
it has still been matter of doubt
whether her military arm would COM
pare favorably with that of continental
nations, and in the throes of such a
day and night. Gangs of men are
working incessantly at the ports that
dot England's shores, transforming
liners into troop ships. Largely aug
mented forces are turning out ammuni-
ton and ordnance stores Some idea
of the activity in this branch can be
gained from the fact that 1900, 900
rounds of ammunition for small arms
left Woolwich last week
Although the manufacture of the new
bullet, mark five" has been retarded
by an outbreak Of lead poisoning among
the employees, this department is work.
ing day and night Tons of scrap zine
are being shipped to make a gas for
the war balloons, which are being
taken out on a more extensive scale
and with a more complete equipment
than ever before.
Meanwhile the men for whom these
implements of war are being made are
pouring out of barracks to the ports,
standing by to embark, drilling and
practicing at targets every spare hour.
The reserves are pouring into Alder
shot in unheralded patches and re-
shouldering their rifles as if the trans
formation from civil to military life
were merely an everyday occurrence.
The huge mobilization at Aldershot
is now in charge of Major General
Thomas Kelley-Kenney, Inspector
General of auxiliary forces and recruit
ing, who has succeeded General Sir
Redvers Butler.
All the work is new 1t is the first
time that anything of the kind has
been attempted since the short service
system went into effect. A visit to
Aldershot produces the impression that
everything is going like cIockwork, but
it is too early yet to express a definite
opinion regarding the British mobiliza-
ton. For the reserves themselves, who
are obliged to leave their wives and
families on a pitiful pittance from the
Government, much public sympathy
has been aroused, exemplifying the
truth of Rudyard Kipling's jeer, "A
special train for Atkins when the
band begins to play
A number OF reserves who were not
called out have asked to be allowed to
serve in South Africa, and a similar
spirit of spontaneous, practical patriot
ism is seen on all sides Sir Redvers
Buffers forces include the flower Of
the English nobility. The Beers excel
lent craftsmanship, combined with the
fact that it is an unwritten rule in the
British army that officers must always
stand under fire, even though the men
are lying down, makes mourning prob
able in many a noble British home
FT~L.
trial than the army, especially as it IS
we'll known that General Lord Wolse-
ley, chief does not ap-
prove of a system which gives the navy
such far-reaching power in transport
ing troops In 1882 Great Britain dis
patched $4,000 troops in three weeks
to Alexandria, Egypt, a feat that elic-
tied the intense admiration of Count
| Won Moltke, but the task of shipping
more than $1,000 men has no parallel
in the history of England. Already the
two branches of the service are be-
ginning to blame each other for vari-
Gus delays, but it is scarcely apparent
that there has yet been any serious
| lack of facilities. The ship brokers
have undoubtedly worked something
like a corner on the Admiralty, as they
did during the Hispano-American War,
and the recent breakdown of two
transports is still the cause of consid-
cradle abuse of the Admiralty
The Associated Press understands
that these two vessels were repeatedly
offered to the United States during the
war with Spain, but that owing to the
astuteness of the American naval rep
resentative, they were never purchased
The most remarkable point in con-
nection with the transport arrangement
is that about eighty ships can be taken
into the Government service without
materially disturbing the shipping
trade.
The weakest point in the whole
mobilization seems to be the army SER
vice corps, corresponding TO the United
| States commissary. The various sta
| tions have been gutted to obtain the
necessary officers and men, yet many
line officers assure the Associated Press
that the arrangements are gravely in
adequate for such a corps. In this
connection the Naval and Military
Record" says:
TT is quite clear that if England had
to provide a second or third army corps
| for foreign service, these, or either of
J them, would have to go without full