The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-22


velop into more satisfactory soldiers ill.,
older men. because they received - nan
ltary training during and nor 49, MI
| formative period of their lives II ne ne
| ne understood that not all British rs.i
are OF inferior physical types AIer fr.11
every walk of life enlist in her man I'm
| service, and many of them are s7is
| chaps bodily. They enter the cr..i '-lluld
| ments, of course. 1t is not expeoted - -
| any of the raw recruits will he So. .a'
| at this time. The British aim is aI.
to nave the fighting done by seasoned So
diers, and should it continue in any ~
| stance till they are exhausted IN
soldiers will have been pretty Wen Nv
| ed meanwhile. ''''-
Recruiting sergeants are paid an o...
| for every ordinary recruit; for a rsor....
suitable TO enter the Scots Guards t
cavalry, the engineers or the apfitl.r
whose qualifications must be of a biat
order than those of a recruit for most re-
iments of foot soldiers the paw is Il ~
Much more is often allowed for man -,
TO be a Life Guardsman the equivalant ~.
SIS is not Unprecedented ana there az.
some other regiments recruits for VIII
bring fancy pay to the sergeant serurII..
them.
"TOmmy Atkins"
The nickname Tommy Atkins uti-,.
outside of the British empire is eerer,i,.i
in reality applies only to the infantr,. ~.
the line, To call an artilleryman an
thing but gunner would be 10 inn,
him; the enlisted cavaryman who jiko bt
superior, is bit of a swell, would sr,r,
at any title save trooper" the engineer
is a 'sapper," and the men of the Gre,
der Guards would have fits were thew -
be spoken of as "Tommies." The orisIl
of the nickname is rather curious TUsT+,.
years ago. when Gen. WolesJv w.,
his celebrated Pocket Book" he used ..
name Thomas Atkins" in the forms pra-
scribed for officers accounts and rendr,-
Somehow, after the dimnutive Tommy.
was substituted for Thomas" the nam
stuck and The ordinary British soldier y.it
probably remain Tommy Atkins" to f5s
end of time
The raw recruit is a Tommy" in evs,,.
sense of the word from the momenr he
takes the shilling and is liable to punisb-
ment for desertion should he fail IN re-
port at the recruiting depot very soon a.
ter his acceptance OF the coin But sho,Id
ne repent he may be bought off within
certain definite period, and British moth
ers, who hate the recruiting sergeants in
tensely, frequently secure their sons ~.
lease in this way. In time of war fb.
duties of the British soldier are like tbs
duties of all soldiers engaged in aotusl
fighting; in time of peace they are far
more adruous than those of the America,
soldier, much greater degree of atten-
ton being bestowed upon the condition ~
arms and accoutrement trimness .of nr,
form, etc, than here. On the whole tha
caVairyman has more work In peaceft,l
times than the foot soldier, for the cav
alryman has his horse as we'll as himself
TO keep in constant condition
The uniforms furnished to the B,itisb
soldier are well made and comfortable .s
a rule. Some of them are gorgeous ana
there is great variation in the outfit of
different regiments of the same branch If
the service The normal pay is a shilling
DAY, or "A cents, while the nor
NAL daily ration, varied sometimes to suir
conditions is pound of bread and three
quarters of a pound of meat OF course.
the actual fare of the British soldier bas
more variety than this would indicate I'm,
he has to pay for the additions out of his
scanty stipend. His clothes cost him
nothing but he has TO pay for his WASHING
Il is claimed by the authorities that his
net is larger than the average artisan
class i'm England. 1t is of record Thar
more than one British regiment has mui-
MED because of poor maintenance but
complaints of insufficient and bad food
have been rare of late years The nav Of
soldiers serving in India and the colonies
IS generally supple ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
doubled
Much more respect has been paid 10
the volunteer service in Great Britain than
formerly. II appears to nave much in
common with out own State National
Guard, especially as membership in a vol
unteer organization is counted a sorC OF
social distinction and the prime object Of
the volunteers is home defense ana not
outside fighting. The Iee-Metford rifle,
the standard arm of the British army, has
been dealt out to the volunteers only la,e-
ly, however. and they are almost as I'M
familiar with it as our volunteers were
with the so-called g-Jorgensens
when the Spanish war broke out.
The Lee-Metford is considered in
ferior 70 The Mauser by some au-
thorties, especially for use against civ
ilized enemy. The often expressed fear
that the British soldier viii prove detec-
tive in workmanship, particularly if pit
ted against the Beers, is based on admit
tedly insufficient rifle practice.
Transportation of troops TO South AFRICA
in numbers sufficient to carry on war
with the Transvaal, of necessity, calls for
an increase of the British transport serv-
ice, and this has already augmented the
demand for suitable ships, and there is
great danger of a worse miX-up than at
tended our sending of troops TO the West
Indies and the Philippines in the early
stages OF the game. British troops unus-
ed 10 service away from home will UNI
doubtedly find much to learn about me
proper care of themselves in South AZ
RIGA, but every regiment will probably
contain enough experienced soldiers to re-
duce the complications from a change OF
climate, etc, to a minimum.
Lieut. Gen, Sir Redvers Henry Bulier'
recently adjutant general of the forces as
successor to Sir William Butler, is just
the man to command the forces against
the Beers. He is said TO have an Oh
grudge against them. He served in South
Africa in 1889, when British arms vrtu-
ally wiped out the Zulus the Beers
greatest enemy. Sir Redvers is 60. re
has been in the service since he was l''
and has served in China North America
and Egypt. winning many honors and de
tinetions for extreme gallantry
-Bacon-I hear your friend has got an
automobile.
r-ot,o,+ We. it,- all ox,e.r town -YonkeTs