The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-11-30

men and forming a line of certain
length. That was an army. While the
same holds good today the idea is to
have every man in the company, bat
TALON, regiment or brigade perfect
soldier in himself. He may have du-
ties of his own to perform at any time,
at any crisis of the battle, and he must
be the man to do it. Physical training
is made as much of in the drilling Of
the soldier as it is in a training school.
1t has long been acknowledged by mill
tary men that it takes but a few weeks
to teach soldier a manual Of arms
that is, how to handle weapon effect
lively. At the same time many months
are required to turn a raw recruit into
a good soldier, for the simple reason
that his training is so much broader
and deeper. The army now takes
raw, lanky youth and turns him into
perfect specimen of manhood, thor
oughly developed in all respects.
At the time of the civil war soldiers
who became smitten with the craze for
the zouave drill trained themselves in
the handling Of the musket and went
far ahead of their comrades who sime
ply chung to the old fashioned manual.
While all the soldiers Of infantry and
all the cavalrymen were drilled more
or less with the musket and saber, what
were called the fencing and bayonet
exercises, yet there was no attempt
made to make perfect swordsmen or
adopts in bayonet exercise. There was
not time. Nowadays soldiers mus
ket Is his Indian club and his dumb.
bell. Certain hours of the day he must
go through a variety of evolutions
swinging, raising, lifting his musket,
SO as to put strain upon every part Of
his body.
In political uprisings like the great
civil war the recluse and the dreamer
are equally eXcitable with men of ac-
ton. They volunteer, but the fiery en-
thusiast is as impracticable in the ar
my as the fiery genius in civil affairs.
| The ranks of the modern militia and
the regular, army have been filed by
| young men spurred to enlist by sort
| of restless energy and ambition. Foot
ball, baseball, rowing or other contests
have hardened their muscles, knocked
! off the angles of character and pre-
! pared them for rough blows of every
sort, whether in play or earnest. A
a splendid soldier, but how many coun-
/! try boys are handy and shifty about
/, the farm?
The out of door sporting boy is mas
| ter of himself in every muscle and
| fiber, and his wits are as keen as his
/ limbs are agile and his sinews strong.
In the army he will be a success, be-
! cause he is the right man in the right
| place. 1t is a man which the recruit
ing officer of today demands, not a
mere ablebodied male of certain age.
The material is plenty; the right kind
| of reception awaits it in camp. Says
| the captain, ''I'll make a soldier of
him." and the recruit answers, "That's
what am here for.'
Young men go into the best militia
/ regiments and into the regular army
/; with the same spirit that sends others
/ to college, into business or the trades.
Their reasons for choice may vary, but
the aim is the same, ito make sol
der" The crack shooting weapon
which the modern soldier carries tends
also to strengthen his individuality.
Good aim and magazine of cartridges
make him master of something on his
own hook. With so many shots at in
slant command he is or can be in the
heat of action little arsenal all by
himself. This power and sense of
the vital Importance of knowing how
to use it make man instead of a ma
chine New fighting tactics tend to
the same result.
1t would have delighted Frederick
the Great or Napoleon to review the