Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-03
MAI. BURNHAM'S EXCITING CAREER
Has Seen Active Service in All
Parts of the World.
IN THE FUTURE


letter WTltteil TeCeUlly IN LOrQ ROBERTS
own fine irregular hand which testif1es that
in Bobs' opinion no other man could have
performed the service he had rendered
service requiring such peculiar training
skill, courage and endurance The same
man has magnificent gold watch bearing
inside its case a similar testimonial by Cecil
Rhodes Chartered Company. Furthermore,
he has record Of startling adventures,
hair-breadth escapes and cool courage that
is probably unequaled. His name is Fred
erick Russell Burnham.
He is back in England just now. recover
ing from injuries that would have been the
death of most men. l found him down at
Bournemouth. using his enforced dleness
IN revolver practice to keep his hand in,
although ever since he was boy of ten he
has been crack marksman
No SvvashbucLling for Him,
Knowing his experiences tracking red In
dams in the northwest of America white
outlaws in Arizona and southern California.
greaser bandits in Mexico Kaff1rs in Rho
desia and Beers in the Transvaal YOU
might figure him as lean, long swash-
buckler, with revolvers in his belt and vast
oaths on his lips, and would pass unnoticed
tne quiet loW-voiced, modestly dressed lit
tie man who strolled on the Fashionable
BournemOuth cliffs
Perhaps it is not just to speak of the IA
nous scout as a little man. for although
me- ne Is nor much over five feet in height, his
shoulders are bread and square and there
Is something about his appearance thot
suggests immense strength You would
tnink the suggestion was fulfilled If YOU
were to grip his arm and feel tbe Stool
muscles rise under your fingers
Wonderful Experiences
Major Burnham is not fond of telling
him for six months without discovering. If
you didn't know it already that he was
the man who put bullet through the heart
of the Mlimo in 1896, and TINS basten.d
the end of the Matabele rebellion brouoht
on by the illinois treachery: that he was
one OF three men who came out alive from,
the terrible fight with Lobengula in which
MAJOR wilson made that famous last
stand since celebrated In song story and
drawing; that with rifle close to the head
OF the King he had put down a Bazotz nm
rising ana prevented a massacre; that he
hau entered the Boer lines over a hundred
times in the TransVaal war and that when
frlghtfully wounded. he had crawIed on his
hands and knees to railroad line he had
peen ordered to blow up, fulfilled his mis-
sion ana then lay hidden, more than half
dead, for.two days and nights without food
or water ~
The major refuses to talk of these things
for newspaper publication-he saws it
Wouldn't look rfght-but he had some
shrewd and noteworthy observations to
make concerning the warfare and the scout
ing of the future.
Every Soldier His Own Scout
Il am convinced" he said that the mod
ern gun brings us back to first principles
in warfare and puts premium on individ-
uality. Men who under accurate fire
at long range from concealed enemy have
to advance the best way they can each
man for himself and spread out over so
much ground that no officer can keep an
eye on the whole of them. The day when
men are moved in battle-like machines
seems to have gone by, and instead of pro-
ducing machines any more have got to
train the individual soldier. One thousand
men trained to think for themselves and
to shoot straight can whip 10000 drilled in
the old-fashioned way. 1t is the greatest
mistake to think that victory depends
numbers
This new individuality and mobility will
bring back the scout, who had almost died
out Many good scouts are being produced
by the war with the Beers, and some ex-
cellent scouting is being done by the Ameri-
can army in the Philippines. 1t seems to
me that the ideal training for the soldier
in the future will be that which makes
every man more or less scout, taught to
common sense and all five of his other
senses, and above all to become a good
rife shot, for, with all due respect to the
artillery, 1t is the man with the rifle who
counts in battle.
ut is surely a mistake to give man
three years drill and only three months
at the rifle butts and then call him SOL
der when he could meet modern cOndl-
items far better with three years of the
rifle and three months drill. l dread to
see savages become expert with the rlhe
while the average white boy does not know
one end of gun from the other 10 snoot
properly with rifle one must be trained
to it from his youth up.
Fighting VIII BE Done at Night.
THE scout nowadays must have many of
the faculties that Daniel Boone had, and
good military training in addition Modern
guns and modern ranges have changed the
whole scope of his work One reason why
the trained scout will be m greater demand
In the future is that nights are gong TO
count for as much as. and perhaps for more
than, days in the warfare OF the future.
The general who moves in the night must
be absolutely sure of himself and of his
destination, and that is where scouting Will
count. We estimate in night march
body of men normally makes half the pro-
gress it would in the daytime; but with
training in the art of stealing forward on
the ball of the foot. night marching should
become much more rapid and sure.
'1t seems to me that Baden-Powell Is the
type of soldier to whom the future belongs
the man who can do the thing the enemy
doesn't expect. If you do what the enemy
expects of you, naturally he is prepared for
you.
"ateh the AnI"dASs
I'VE can get important lessons in scouting
from the animals. The horse is especially
we'll worth watching. Many times when
out on the plains alone with my horse
have lain down and gone to sleep in perfect
security, while the horse grazed close at
hand. However exhausted | might be, l
would wake up instantly If the animal
stopped grazing. And 1t would be instruc-
tive to watch him then. You could tell by
the way he held his head that he was say
ing to himself, Didn't I hear something
little unusual then? He would cock one
ear back and listen behind him, and then
go on grazing If convinced that everything
was all right. But sometimes, when, SO far
as the human ear can. tell, there Is no
sound, the horse holds his head high, with
his ears pointed steadily in some partic-
ular direction, then lids time to make In
vestigations There isBas great difference
In horses, of course, asthere is In men, and
1t behooVes scout to travel with an intel
Ilgent, Quick-witted horse, and to study
him thoroughly, especially the language of
his ears.
IF the leopard were not such an ire
sponsible beast he would make a wonderful
scout, but you can't depend on his charac-
ter, although You can depend on his senses
every time. friend Of mine had a tame
leopard, which watched with interest. He