The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1900-09-19
The METHODS OF
MODERN WARFARE.
How the profes ion of killing YOul
Fellow Man has Been simplilied
Within the Past lew Years.

The present campaign in China Illus.
trates with great vividness the vast
change that has taken place in meth
DDS of warfare during the past century
Except for a few rifles, and a small
number of antlquated field guns the
Chihese fought with their ancient
weapons, spears. some had bows and
arrows; others We're armed with clubs
Not one in a hundred had a nrearm
that would have been used during the
war of the American Revolution Il 7G
Germany had armed one section OF
CHINA with Mausers long apo. when
trouble was anticipated with the Rus
SANS And Russia. il is said had
armed portion of China against Ger
many Even France had contributed
arms to China and SO had England:
therefore the soldiers Of the Celestial
kingdom boasted much more ambitious
weapons ana more numerous ones than
they would otherwise have had 1t Is
well known that the Chinese govern
ment has made no attempt to arm it,
soldiers with up-to-date weapons.
In the matter of reconnaissance the
Chinese know nothing. Indians have
their scouts and even the most un-
skilled of armies have their pickets
but the Chinese have always disdained
the idea of scout or picket They de
nothing to ascertain the state OF
strength of the opposing hosts, nor do
they even care To know when they are
advancing; sufficient to know when
they arrive,
In modern war the importance of ac-
curate and reliable reconnaissance has
increased hundredfold owing to the
fact that the forces engaged in the de
eisive battle have become far greater
in number. and the distances TO be coy
cred, both in concentrating the troops
Tor battle and in disposlng them ON the
battlefield itself, greatly exceed those
If the past. Specially trained scouts
and orderlies are used by all armies
To free the cavalry of the smaller ele-
ments OF its reconnaissance work. and
economic its lighting power as much
as possible, most of the great nations
are now training u kind of mounted in
fantry in this work.
In Germany each army corps has a
squadron of mounted orderies" Nf tbs
KIND, and they have proved invaluable.
in Russia number OF the best men in
each company are mounted and trained
In patrol and reconnaissance duty, in
strueted IN riding horses and bicycles,
and exercised by affording them oppor-
tunities to engage In bear and tiger
hunts; in England each brigade of the
cavalry division sent to South Africa
received battalion of mounted infan-
try with a Maxim gun; in Austria
mounted scouts assist the cavalry in
their accommodating.
Then there is the very important use
of the field and WIRELESS telegraphy
The improvements in field telegraph
apparatus have permitted the use of
TINS valuable accessory in the very
front OF the outposts, and the introduc-
ton OF the buzzer has so far increased
its efficiency that with even the poor
est insulation IL works well enough for
all practical purposes
The United States Signal Corps In
the Philippines has surpassed all pre-
vious records in this field
Wireless telegraphy is still in the ex-
perimental stage, although ii is now
being tested practically in the field in
the Transvaal. improvements are be-
ing constantly made and its future
cannot yet be predicted One of the
latest applications is to balloons, but
the difficulty OF carrying the apparatus
properly in the basket has led to a
modification consisting in leaving the
latter on table on the ground below,
the balloon merely carrying up a cop
per wire. which hung down several
yards below the basket to send the
waves received by the apparatus
on through space.
The signal service is of great benefit
The heliograph has been specially de-
veloped in sunny climates; by the Brit
ish in Afghanistan and In Africa, by
the French In Tonkin, by the Ameri-
cans in the United States, and by the
Greeks in Crete. 1t has been used sue
eessfully over single stretches of over
65 miles. In France the acetylene lamr
has greatly increased the use of the
apparatus by making 1t independent OF
sunlight, and signals have been read
as far as 81 miles by day and Sc miles
by night