The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-22


equivalent of SIS is not unprecedented,
and there are some other regiments.
recruits for which bring fancy pay TO
the sergeant securing them
Tommy Atkins
The nickname Tommy Atkins,
which, outside OF the British empire, is
generally supposed TO apply 70 All BRIT
ish soldiers, in reality applies only to
the infantry of the line. To call an ar
1illeryman anything but gunner
would be TO insult him; the enlisted
cavalryman who, like his superior, IS a
bit Of a swell, would snort at any title
save trooper the engineer IS a sap
per-" and the men of the Grenadler
Guards would have fits We're they to be
spoken Of as '.Tommies." The origin
Of the nickname is rather curious.
Twenty years ago, when General Ward
Wolesly wrote his celebrated Pocket
Book he used the name of Thomas
Atkins in the forms prescribed for ofa-
GERS accounts and reports. Somehow,
after the diminutive Tommy was
substituted for sThomas, the name
stuck and the ordinary British soldier
viii probably remain Tommy Atkins
to the end of time.
The raw recruit is a Tommy in
every sense of the word, from the mo-
ment he takes the shilling and IS Ia
BILE to punishment for desertion should
he fail to report at the recruiting depot
very soon after his acceptance of the
coin. But should he repent he may be
bought off within a certain definite per-
iod. and British mothers, who hate the
recruiting sergeants intensely, frequent
~ secure their sons release in this way.
in time OF war the duties of the British
soldier are like the duties of all soldiers
engaged in actual fighting; in time of
peace they are far more arduous than
those of the American soldier, much
greater degree of attention being be-
slowed upon the condition of arms and
accoutrements, trimness of uniform,
etc, than here. On the whole the cav
alrymarf has more work in peaceful
times than the foot soldier, for the cav
alryman has his horse as well as
himself to keep in constant condition.
The uniforms furnished to the British
soldier are wen made and comfortable
as rule. Some of them are gorgeous
and there is great variation in the out
fit of different regiments of the same
branch of the service. The normal pay
is a shilling a day, or "A cents, while
the normal daily ration, varied some
times to suit conditions. is a, pound OF
bread and quarters of pound of
meat. OF course the actual fare of the
British soldier has more variety than
this would indicate, but he has to pay
for the additions out of his scanty sti-
pend. His clothes cost him nothing,
but he has to pay for his washing. 1t
is claimed by the authorities that his
net is larger than the average aru-
san class in England. It is of record
that more than one British regiment
has mutinied because of poor mainten-
ance, but complaints of insufficient and
bad food have been rare of late Gears.
the colonies is generally supplemented
sometimes doubled.
Much more respect has been paid to
the volunteer service in Great Britain
than formerly. 1t appears to have much
in common with our own state national
guard, especially as membership in
volunteer organization is counted a sort
of social distinction and the prime OBJ
iect Of the volunteers is home defense
and not outside fighting. THE Lee Met
ford rifle, the standard arm of the Brit
isla army, has ben dealt out to the
volunteers only lately, however, and
they are almost as unfamiliar with 1t
as our volunteers We're with the So
called g-Jorsensens when the
Spanish war broke out The Lee-Met
ford is considered inferior to the
Nauser by some authorities especially
for use against q civilized enemy. The
often expressed fear that the British
soldier viii prove defective in marks
manship particularly if pitted against
the Beers is based on admittedly in
sufficient rifle practice,
transportation of troops to South
Africa in numbers sufficient to carry on
war with the Transvaal. Of neces-
sity, call for an increase of the British
transport service, and this has already
augmented the demand for suitable
ships and there is great danger of a
worse mix up than attended our send
ing of troops to the West Indies and the
Philippines in the early stages of the
game. British troops unused TO ser
vice away from home will undoubtedly
find much to learn about the proper
care Of themselves in South Africa, but
every regiment viii probably contain
enough experienced soldiers TO reduce
The complications from change of ell
mate. etc, to a minimum.
Lieutenant General Sir RedVerS
Henry Butler, recently adjutant gen
Grad of the forces as successor to Sir
William Butler. is just the man to COM
mand the forces against the Beers. He
is said to have an old grudge against
them. He served in South Africa IN
1883, when British arms virtually
wiped out the Zulus, the Beers greatest
enemy. Sir Redvers is SO. He has been
in the service since he was 10, and has
served in China, North America and
Egypt, winning many honors and dis
tinctions for extreme gallantry.
Enp NETCupQP CI I1R WINNERS