Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-07-20

Gen. Soon Ching. A camp is a square fort
supposed to accommodate 800 mon. They,
however, rarely contained more than 25o
men. owing to the oyston1 that / have de-
scribed. OF the $4,000 men said TO be here
there are only between 1000 and 5000. Col.
Warranoff. belonging to the Hussars OF
the Russian Guard. and some Russian Of
| fcers were there. They had superseded
| Ave German officers in March, 1898. who
had been instructing the men, There $ no
drill and very little discipline among these
men.
met one of these German officers. whose
name was Schaller. l also met Col. War
ranoff.
A Rfotous Force.
There were about 10000 Kansuh troops,
| under Gen Tung Flu Chan-mostly Moham-
medans-encamped short distance from
Pektn. They were a most disorderly and
undisciplined rabble. badly armed and un-
| drilled. but good fighters. They had been
| ordered from the west, where they had
| been subduing rebellion, to Pekin. While
4 was there they assaulted and nearly
| killed two British engineers who were
working on the line at Fungtai. They also
broke windows of the railway station and
| damaged some boilers and stores Their
presence was deemed so dangerous to the
| foreigners that the foreign minister de-
manded their withdrawal.
| Between Hsiao Chan and Tien Tsin Gen.
| Mich had some thirty camps, containing
| about 1900 men. Some of these men had
| been well drilled by German officers They
| arc well armed with Mauser rifles artil-
lery Of mixed caliber and Maxims. but
their discipline Is very lax. There were
five Russian Instructors there. l asked for
| permission to visit these camps but the
| Chinese officials threw every obstacle in my
| way.
There is also Pekin field force. comman-
| ded from the palace, of especially picked
| men-1O.0O0 strong. They are quartered in
| the hunting park in Pekin. They are well
| armed. but indfferently drilled.
Cavalry and Manchurian Forces.
There was a cavalry camp at Kaiping
the supposed strength of which was 1,Joo
men. Three Russian officers have super
seeded the German officer who was drilling
| these men. They are extremely short of
horses.
1t is reported that there is a large army
scattered about in Manchuria Though
| fairly armed they are undrilled and url-
disciplined. The number of this army is
| variously estimated at between 5000 and
| 1000 men. The name of the general COM
handing is Yi-Ke-Tong.
Besides the armies that 1 have enumer-
ated there are in Mongolia about 100000
| Monaghan cavalry. They are excellent
a system of feudal tenure They are not
paid. 1 was informed that they de-
voted to the present dynasty.
| With the exception of Yuan Shi KaiS
| army. ali these armies above referred TO
| have little or no firing practice, and none of
| them have any organization whatever for
! transport. 1t seems incredible. but some OF
4 the soldiers are still practiced in shooting
1 with bows and arrows at a target. When
| at Pekin 1 saw them practicing in an open
| space near the observatory. Hitting the
| target is a detail of minor Importance; the
real merit consists in the position or ati-
| tude of the bowman when discharging his
| shaft.
Troops With Modern Arms.
I witnessed review of the garrison of
Wuchang. There were about 40 men and
a battery of six guns. About 200 OF these
men were very well drilled, smart and well
dressed. They were well armed with the
newest German pattern Mauser rifle. The
| others had not been drilled, and 1 was told
| had only been enlisted. The guns were
drawn by men and not horses. These were
SO centimeter Krupp guns. The ammun:-
| ton was carried by the guns crew. The
cavalry are quite inefficient in their present
condition. The viceroy has about 5000
| troops scattered over his provinces, but
these are the same character as the ordi-
nary Chinese sodier-undisciplned but
| fairly armed. Besides this. there are sup
posed to be 10000 Manchu troops about
5000 miles away, between the Tung Ting
| lake and Ichang. They are under the COM
mand of a general named Ching Heng.
They undiscfplined and very badly
| armed.
| His SXcellency, the klcerOy llu hWe0 IL,
is supposed to have 10000 troops under his
command. 1 saw about 5000 of them.
| They were fine body of men. many Of
| them of splendid physique. The majority
| of them were Human men, The infantry
We're armed with three different kinds of
rifles, this being observable even in the
| companies. OF the 10000 men 10000 would
| be required to garrison the forts on the
| river The men were well clothed and APP
| parently well fed, but not well drilled or
| disciplined.
| At Kiangzin there is garrison Of 5000
men under General Ii, which comprises two
six-gun batteries of artillery and two squad
rons of cavalry. l saw these men on parade
as well maneuvering over a country.
| They were a fine lot Of men, well turned
| out and well drilled. They had been drilled
by German officers, who had left.
Coolie Soldiers.
His excellency, the Viceroy Hsu Ying
Kwei, is supposed to have army of 5000
men; but these men cannot be called SOL
diers at all. They are mostly coolies wear
ing the military badge before and behind.
His excellency is commencing, however, to
drill some troops, and has enlisted some
fine men. 1 saw some $50 Of them They
were in the early stages of learning their
| drill.
There is a small Manchu garrison at
| Hangchow.
His excellency. the viceroy of Canton. is
supposed to have an army of 10000 men
under his command.
4 Most of these are undrilled and undis-
| cplined, and many of them unarmed.
Those that l saw were the ordinary Chi
nese coolies.
There some men in the forts very well
| turned out, disciplined and drilled
| There is also Manchu garrison at Can
| ton of about 5000 men, They live in their
private houses, and are undriled and undis-
| ciplined. All these troops were very badly
| armed, and had, apparently, no system of
| organization whatever. AS an instance l
| observed that the guard at the arsenal
were armed with the old Misunderstanding
/ Tower musketS.
The town of Wuchow, in this province is
| garrisoned by force of 800, totally I'M
| armed.
In Human and Szechuan the Viceroy Kwei
| is said to have an army of 10000 men
| They are totally undisciplined. and worth
| less police, as has been evidenced by
| their inability to put down Yu Man Tsu's
| rebellion, which has lasted for ten years
At Cheng-tu there is garrison of 5000
| Manchu troops, but they are like the 9TH
ers-undiscipiined. undrilled, badly armed
| and totally Ineffective.
Various Weapons in Use.