New-York tribune., 1900-04-09
THE PASSING THRONG.

Many an incident has been foisted on william
H. lraVers that never actually happened to that
best of good fellows" said well
N IA y ERs seasoned eubman at Delmoncos
FOUND THEM yesterday But just as many
EASY" srusine .rrt5o,+s ba,z =.
Travers which never found their
way without clubdom, so. on the whole the account
must ne about even. I remember cne night when
ne worked one OF his be forgotten Jokes
on some OF his fellow club members to the great
JOY or every one else present sufferers thereby
II was IN the first days OF the introduction OF the
now common safety match. and the day after the
match had been introduced into this particular
club Billy walked into the smoking room with an
unIghted cigar between his teeth, and sitting down
a. a. table. essayed TO scratch match the sole
en as also were six or eight ether ones that followed
ers Billy thnt Is new TVGT ktnd and m SAID to Iray az
will .SiIs sSTatgh st ..?iy only on the box
you only know how the wit returned as he made
another oi unsuccessful trial and cast the wasted
Son Somewhat @ mffed at tae way his kindly meant
attempt TO enlighten him, which, being received in
whether those particular matches could be
Stuck elsewhere than upon the box itself The
tn1d n A. the ne match could not which were as freely
the sole of HIS shoe when he found that no more
suckers would partake of the bait, the genial
shoe, and, wonder of wonders! it ignited and two
and drearg crowd Of his feiow members epcireieG
the astute one, Too late they saw through it all,
off the box transferred to the shank of the shoe
4 few guIbIe club members were a safe and easy
road 10 wealth"
You often hear enthusastists state" said A B.
Childers, Of St Paul, who served with the 18th
Minnesota during the late un-
DIFFICULTIES pleasantness, that
OF EQUIPPING conquerabe country because OF
AN ARMY. the great natural resources and
enormous population there is to
draw upon, and while believe that this is largely
true, since we with the possible exception of
Russia. probably the only self-supporting country
in the world Still there a great many things
to be attended to before such army : 1t would
put TN INTO O. the held properly equipped For instance
the army that went 70 the Philippines was supplied
at Camp Merritt, in san Francisco, this being
which landed there sans uniform, sans everything
things from shoes to R6Wedge @tn on tbe m
OF drill which, IL is necessary perhaps to say, re-
fighting General Funston of to-day Fifteen or
twenty thousand men need great many and
great variety OF things TO carry life and espe-
caIly 10 carry on army life. and of the STUN
al Merritt was the question OF shoes In a popuia-
m ION Q, elgh1y noas 1t would seem simple thing
70 secure shoes ior nIteen thousand but it wasn't
Of the woods m 10 e 'hf @ PaG d Ec and from m the Lake
was searched over for shoes for the F Phii,anin
army but without success. Shoes there were in
the pointed toe variety, and for a soldier a shoe
be broad Of sole easy on the foot and stontIv
made: for its covers many MANY weary
miles Of ground and spends large part OF his
uTne On his feet. Those used Merritt had to be
made TO order"
l only cited the shoes of the Philippine army
continued Mr. ChIders "as one specific instance
and example of the difficulties Of
THE ARMING equippng army for the field
OF TROOPS. which of course. increase in direct
ratio with the size of the army
An even more important matter to be considered
in making army an effective fighting force than
arming IT. for without this last the first goes for
from my Philippine experience The Eighth Army
Corps was largely made up of volunteers and the
weapons they bore of II varieties and vim
tages but principally the old castof Springfield
rifles. As the result showed. this really made but
little difference. but suppose. for example. il had
had been arrayed against. where would we. with
our archaic weapons and black powder, have been
against the Beers. armed with the best Of modern
rifles and smokeless powder? Safely beyond the
range of weak weapons they would have
moved Us down without the ability part 10
better to-day. and should the necessity arise to-
and a call be made for troops they
would enthusiastically rush into the field. they
did 1898 and armed they then with
weapons whose proper place is in museum of
curiosities junk shop. These two instances
will you idea OF the difficulties that have
| 10 be surmounted before army be
the field. be the supply from which you draw
/ such equipment great. but with present
4 system the supply of modern arms and ammunition
factured after the need for il has arisen"