The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-05-15
MILITARY GIANTS.
TALL SOLDIERS IN DEMAND IN
ALL LANDS.

Stately Fighting Men in the Armies
and Navies Of the
World.
Ever since men began to fight ana
nations began to quarrel about strips
of territory, the soldier has occupied
q prominent place in human society,
and. other things, being equal, the taller
the soldier happened. to be the more
he was esteemed and the more likely
he was to be promoted to some post
of unusual distinction. This was eSpe-
cialiy the case in the old days, when
hand to hand fights We're more common
than they are now, and when, in con-
sequence, a soldier had mainly to de-
pend for his safety upon his own per-
sonal proWess and deXterity. Even In
these modern days, however, when per-
sonal pIowess seems to play a smaller
part in battle than, skill in marksman-
ship, there are occasions when men
rush at each other in the old UNI
bridled fashion of their forefathers, and
it is then that the strong arm and the
surprising stature of the tall soldier
1t would be hard to name a country
or an age in which these fine fighting
men have not been hymned and sought
after. We read of them in the Ho-
merle wars, and We cannot help ad-
miring those among them who are de-
scribed as outtopping their fellows by
the head and shoulders. A tall man
Hector must have been; otherwise how
could he have handled his spear, which
was SO ''ponderous, big and tough?'
In the army of Hannibal, the astute
Cartha gilman, were many men of this
daredevil, picturesque type, just as
there We're at another time in the army
of Brian Boru and in the battalions OF
freebooters that made Europe their
hunting ground during a great part
of the Middle Ages.
UNUSUAL ATTRACTIONS.
Dynamite and rapid-fire guns were
unknown then, and hence, to a man
unusually strong and tall the life of a
soldier offered unusual attractions.
And even after the invention of gun
powder the inducements to tall men to
enter the army increased in some couE-
tries. Frederick the Great valued tall
soldiers highly, and it is doubtful if
finer specimens. of men have ever worn
uniform than those whom he gathered
around him. Napoleon resembled him
In this respect, and visitors to Paris
While he was Emperor must have been
struck by the stately appearance of
the many tall French soldiers who
might have been on duty at Versailles
and elsewhere.
In this country men of great strength
and hight have played heroic parts in
many wars. We read Of them IN
legends and tales of Revolutionary
times, just as we read to-day of the
doughty deeds that our soldiers are
doing in their fights against the Fill
pinos. And here it may be said that.
though the worlds attention has been
specially attracted to the feats of tall
soldiers, yet a volume of no small in
terest could also be written about the
deeds of soldiers whose stature was
not even that of the average man.
Goliath Of Gath was a giant, yet did
not the STRIPPING David overcome him
with consummate ease?
GREAT LEADERS SMALL MEN.
1t is worth noting, too, that some of
the most famous Generals the world
has ever seen have been comparatively
small men. Caesar, Alexander the
Great and Napoleon l. We're by no
means tall. A modern scientist. in
deed, goes so far as to say that if he
had to select a military strategist from
number of soldiers he would pick
out the smallest
The first Napoleon valued tall SOL
diers, but his main efforts were spent
in securing first-claSs Generals. and
these he is said to have selected not
according to their stature. but accord
ing to the length and shape of their
noses. Physical endurance in SOL
der was what he priced, and if he
could stand the strain and stress of a
long campaign he cared little as to
his stature. True, among his guards
there were some notably tall men.
and, indeed, it is safe to say that the
stature of the men in the French
army at that time compared favorably
with that of the men in any other
army.
England has long been famous for
her stately fighting men, and it is said
that Queen Victoria has always been
unusually complaisant to any tall SOL
der who wears her uniform. Those who
have seen the Life Guards in London
Know what an English soldier
of this type is like. Some are
too apt to look on these colossal
officers and men as mere ornaments
and appendages of an effete mon
archy, which is absurd, since there is
ample evidence that. when real fight
ing is to be done. there are no more
dauntless warriors on the face of the
earth. Such a man was the late Cap
tain Fred Burnaby, who achieved so
much distinction some years ago by
his admirable work describing his trav
els through Asia. When trouble broke
out in Egypt he went with his men, to
the front, and when the moment of bat
tie came he swept forward at once to
that point where the fighting was fierc-
est. Round him his dusky opponents
swarned, striving to unseat from his
horse the tall. muscular Englishman.
whose strong right arm was making
havoc in their ranks, but not until he
was wounded to death did he cease to
fight for England. and England had
the satisfaction of knowing that he had
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