The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-11-08
LES Bellies zOUAvES,
Their Remarkable Wall Scaling Fsats
al Keith's.
Result Of Capt. ksly's Careful Training.
Military Experts Interested.

| present weeks engagement of Tos
| Bellies Zouaves, similar. orpaniz,.,o,,
OF young women, al Kenhs na,, thao
tire. have aroused no little interest. not
only among military men but vim Tho
public at large In the new. branch Of
military science comprehenSed nv tho
J term rwall-scaling
| II is only within co,on,r,,i,..,,.
short time that this Important ractor
in military operations has received GO
ious attention from tactlcians and ex-
! perts or has been made = subiec, 90
cafeIui stuns anu even now there IS no
regularly adopted method ~ ".,lI-s,,I ~ az
! ing I'm the tactics Of the TnitnS ST.
! army or navy. although In botb b,,nch
| es of the service much attantion -, -
/ subject H. given and congldarabto -,
/ ficiency has been acquired tbo,,gb h,,
| methods that differ more or loss Ia "a,
| rious localities and according 10 the
| ideas Of individual drill-mastcrs
A comparatively few years aeo
! high wall. such, for Instance ae oS,an
supports Notifications of various lt,,ds
| was practically an insurmountabta hae
| rer TO a successful charge. and q, ,,S,,s,
! be battered down before an attar,,,t ~
get over II could b. made Surh n,oe ~
ress has been made. however In he
art OF scaling wall even to n bats,h,
OF 25 feet that such structure now or
fers little, if any. more difficulties "a
be overcome than many other ohsta d.
that are 10 he met In charging the
works OF an enemy.
Both the United states army ana tho
navy are now regularly drilled i'm wall
scaling. though, as hefof, ln,at"d
without any regularly adopted or au-
n a n go 10
and among such independent military
organza lions, state militia ana exhihi.
tiCn drill companies as have Dracticad
wall-scallng widely differing methods
prevail.
In the practice Of the regular army
and navy. the scaling squads are work
cd in sections OF fours, while i'm Les
Bellies IouaNes, Tor instance. the sec
tionE consist of six each and in tha
Streator Zouaves OF eight each. ana
each OF these plans has its advocates
and strong partisans. In the regular
army. the wall-scaling squad empIovs
what are termed "wall-scaling ropes"
which are carried 10 the top of the wall
by the first men 20 ascend and are then
used by them 10 assist in pulling up
their comrades: and this idea has also
been adopted by Capt NJ. A. Kelly i'm
his training Of Les Bellies Zouaves while
the Streator ZouAVes us. no roDes al
all, substituting for them their mus
kets. which are raised by the men on
the ground TO those above and are then
used In -tafe-t fat1trr-tt tr1r-r1
of the two methods is preferable is a
mooted question among experts: and
the time records made by each seem to
be 40 evenly balanced as 10 cave the
matter yet in dispute.
The methods employed 10 get Sle first
men up must necessarily differ accord
ing To circumstance and localities. and
must of course be dependent largely up
on the material OF which the wall or
other obstruction Is built. with refer
ence 10 the opportunities offered TO get
a hand of foot -hold.The method employ
ed by the crew OF the dynamite cruiser
Nesuvius which is famous for wall
scaling, is one that may be utilized un-
der all conditions. and consists Of build
ing pyramids Of the men standing upon
each others shoulders, the number of
men at the base depending upon the
height 10 which the top man must be
raised When this top man has gained
the top of the wall. he pulls up the ~
two below him. the size Of the pyramid
at the base is decreased and the height
Increased and this
course is followed as long as may be
practicable, when ghe Last men are rails
ei by the scaling-ropes.
Ht ltttIpu duOIitu ny ' dpA htli9 >
LES Bellies Zouaves and by the StreatOrs
consists of raising one or two zouaves !
at time on "A musket held horizontally
by the others, each one IN ascending be-
ing reached down for and pulled up by
those at the top, until but two or three |
remain on the ground, and thes" either |
climb up the scaling-ropes hand Yer |
Land or are pulled up by the Others by !
m ans OF the ropes.
These, however. arr a few of the de- |
tails Of the fascinating exercise which |
interest chiefly those who watch il with |
ne eve OF experts ar trained tacuclans |
ana which. perhaps, escape the atten |
ton of the majority OF those who sec |
the exhibition and applaud it merely as |
a feature of high class vaudeNitta en- |
TO the vast majority of spectators, |
thess exhibitions OF wall scaling are on |
loyable chiefly because " the novefty |
OF the sight and the exciting pictnre !
presented by from dozen To- a scoFt
N z1tTTCs apparently sCTdm0TnE UN'T
each other. and Yet IN reality WORKING |
with the utmost system, I'm an ehort TO
rcach the top OF a wall In the shortest |
possible 'time, and those who have no, |
enjoyed the spectacle can hardly real |
lze how exciting and interesting il is
rms matter OF time is the test by
which the proficiency of the Wali-schi-
ers Is largely measured. ~ ls slat'd
mat about 80 seconds is = very cr'dlla-
bic average for the ascent OF "a wall
rom y Co II feet in height by squad
Fhe Streator Zouaves have record of
% seconds but rarely cut unu.i ;he 90
mark In their public exhibitions. capt |
\ellys Les Bellies ZouaVes have done ~
IN 20 seconds. hut are we'll coutenled
when 'they 20 IL i'm public in au avrraE
)t ABOUT 2Sle seconds which ls thr aN-
rare or the famous NosuNius crew.
When IL is borne I'm mind. also th3l
hese zouaves are young women. whose
Military training has ext nded over less
nan -FOUR months and who for many |
'easons labor under dsadvantag not |
net DN men. their aChirvCmnrt Us con |
idcred most rem 3rkable ana lh me
lRhest degree complim utaty &" lapt'
EellN wHo. as fhc commander ol inc
'amous South Providence tadrls' IN
hampton Independent military orgahl-
,aton or New England for the past ten
'ears mas already made reputation
ls Crill-maSter
The wall-scalinP however Is only |
he concluding featurs ~ their pctu- I
"sdue nnNel and pleasing act as pre-
'n'ed az keith's: and the fancy march-
nc moVem nts without a word 0f cont
1aud. the MANUAL OF arms ana Dayo- /
ret exercise. together with the pleasing |
'in.ur' presented bv their uatty uni