The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-01-28

any one else just what IL required IN an
officer. and unless cadidate il all of
that he doesn't get the appointment OF
course, the commanding officer Is obliged
to choose man who has the means to
meet his expenses in the way of equip
ment prizes and that sort of thing. and
who has time to devote to drills, but we
should regard the selection of soldiers by
election as ruinous."
The British volunteer corps as II exists
today Is the result Of an enlistment act of
1860. the act. In turn, being the fruit Of q
fear Of invasion In that year. The volun-
teers number roughly 250,O00 men. cost the
government a trifie over 100000 a year.
and none Of them ever has seen service.
That Is to say, the volunteers as a body
have existed only since 1860. but there are
two or three regiments which date back
far indeed, notably the Victoria Rifles
and the Duke Of Cumberlands sharp
shooters, which were in being when Will
lam Nv. was Prince of Wales. Older by
far however, is the Honorable Artillery
Company, which received visit from its
American offspring. the Ancient and Hon
orable Artillery Company. OF Boston, last
year. and which will repay the compli-
ment by making a trip to the United
States this year.
The Honorable ARTILLERY.
This venerable organization was formed
by Henry VIII. in 1907, for, as the king
quantity put 1t, "the bettere encrease Of
the defense of this our realm" This
company, then, was formed more than
full century before any other existing
corps; 1t was in garrison at Tlbury when
Drake met Philips Armada; It fought UNI
der Cromwell in the civil wars, and was
almost wiped out by the great plague.
Later half Of its barracks was destroyed
by the London fire. Since its beginning 1t
has taken part in all public ceremonals
and all crownings Of sovereigns Of Eng
land.
Probably the most cherished possession
Of the Artillery Company Is a great book
silver clasped and black with age, in
which the organizations record was kept
from the beginning until early in 1900
This contains the majestic scrtbble of
Henry VIII. himself and those of all the
kings and queens who have come after
him-Good Queen Bess, Charles I. and
H., James. William and the Georges, as
well as the present queen and those Of
the Prince of Wales and Duke Of York
The Prince OF Wales is its captain gen.
eral and Lord Selby its commander
This curious book also contains the
names of all the members Of the company
from the beginning, and some of them
are mighty odd. In Cromwelps time we
find the names Of stanch old Puritans-
Aquilla Skinner. Repent Browne. Praise
Barbon and Humiliation Hynde. When
his name was entered in letters of gold,
or II a member did dishonorable thing
his name was stricken out. In all the
long list, however there are only two
such cases. One Of these was convicted
Of "unmanly carriage toward his officer"
the other culprit forfeited his claim to
general esteem by having bitten of his
wife's nose.' so the record ingenuously
says. Among the other names that Of
John Milton appears. The record ex-
presses itself as Justly proude" of its
branch In the New World, founded In 1928
by Robert Keayne.
The yeomanry, 10000 Of whom will be Sc
lected for service in South Africa. date
back as a force much further than the
volunteers or the militia. The yeomanry
consists entirely Of cavalry. and its menu
bers are mostly country gentlemen who
are In the saddle much Of the time. They
are obliged to furnish their own mounts
and equipment, and are drilled much more
severely and frequently than either of the
other two branches Of volunteers. Their
total IL 1880. and they cost the govern
ment $375.oO0 annually.
They Go Direct to the Cape.
In the present call for 1900 volunteers
40 OF the rank and file of each regiment
will be taken as a starter, and each regi-
ment will be expected then to organize
another company of Ito men as a reserve
in case of second call. In every in
stance this number of men will be select
ed by the commanding officer Of the regi-
ment, It Is said with special reference to
excellence of craftsmanship. Apropos of
this distinction comes an official state
ment which bears witness to a marked
Improvement in this particular direction.
In the last year more optional practices
have been had and more men exercised
in collective practices. The result is that
the figure of Individual merit has risen
ten points. while that Of collective Shoot
ing has increased by one point.
1t has been rumored that the volunteers
would be send to Aldershot for prelimin-
airy training, but an army officer informs
me that this is unlikely. They will go. he
says, direct to South Africa, not to serve
as an individual command, but to be dis
tributed among the different regiments
now in the Transvaal, to fight as regu-
lars, taking the place of those regiments
killed and wounded. The same is true of
the yeomanry.
This officer, when asked what kind of
fighters the volunteers should make, re-
piled that they now knew the rudiments
and that after they had Joined the regu-
lars and been put through the stiff drill
ing which Is part of the regulars day,
there was no good reason why they
shouldn't do their part pretty well. He
added that he fancied the British volun-
teer led less luxurious life than his
American counterpart, and repeated the
proverb that English officers desired only
that their men should be fighting ma
chimes and not individual generals, and
that the past successes of the British
arms were due to that notion. Perhaps,
although he didn't say so. some of the
recent defeats are due to the idea UNDER
lying this figure of speech.
His Pay and RatiOns.
As he will be regular when in the
field, the British volunteer will be treated
as one. He will receive '"Tommy's" pay,
which is about go cents a day and found"
He will eat Mr. Atkins rations--a pound
of timed meat and half pound of fresh
meat, when it can be had, fresh bread or
crackers-he will call them "biscuits"-
and sugar, tea and coffee when possible
His kit, blankets and great coat he will
furnish himself, but the government win
transport him to the scene of action. I
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