The suburban citizen., 1900-06-09
MODERNWAR NOVELTIES
iTRANnE DEVICES OF ALL SORTS
FOR THE SOLDIER.


and scouting-New Methods of OBJ
tanning decentralization, Animals
and Machinery Employed la New Ways
In modern war the Importance of
tccurate and reliable reconnaissance
Aas increased an hundredfold, owing
10 the fact that the forces engaged in
decisive battles have become far
greater in number, and the distances
o be covered, both in concentrating
he troops for battle and in disposing
hem on the battlefield itself, greatly
exceed those of the past.
The following is a brief summary
d the principle means which have
Deen made use of recently for facili-
ating this important military work:
!. Specially Trained Scouts and
rderlies-General Sheridan was the
irst on the Northern side in the Civil
War to object to having his cavalry
lrittered away and worn out in outpost
luty, and General Grant had the good
sense to uphold him. To free the
cavalry of the smaller elements of its
reconnaissance work, and economize
It's lighting power as much as rossi-
Bile, most of the great nations are now
raining a kind Of mounted infantry
Ia this work. In Germany each army
,orps has a squadron of mounted
Drderles" of this kind, and they have
proved invaluable; in Russia a num-
Der of the best men in each company
are mounted and trained in patrol
and reconnaissance duty, instruct
ID in riding horses and bicy-
sles, and exercised by affording them
opportunities to engage in bear and
tiger hunts; in England each brigade
Of the cavalry division sent to South
Africa received battalion Of mounted
infantry with q Maxim gun; in Aus.
tria mounted scouts assist the cavalry
in their accommodating. AS an incen-
tive to training for this work, the va
rious nations have instituted distance
rides and walks.
2. Field and Wireless Telegraphy
The improvements in field tele-
graph apparatus have permitted the
use of this valuable accessory in the
very front OF the outposts, and the
Introduction of the buzzer has so far
increased its efficiency that with even
the poorest insulation it works well
enough for all practical purposes.
Our Signal Corps in the Philippines
has surpassed all previous records in
this field.
Wireless telegraphy is still in the
experimental stage, although it is now
being tested practically in the field in
the Transvaal. Improvements are
being constantly made, and its future
cannot yet be predicted.
3. Optical Telegraphy-The hello
graph has been specially developed
in sunny climates; by the British in
Afghanistan ana in Africa; by the
French in Tonkin; by the Americans
in the United States, and by the
Greeks in Crete. 1t has been used
successfully over single stretches OF
sixty-fve miles. In France the acety-
lene lamp has greatly increased the
use of the apparatus by making it in
dependent of sunlight, and signals
have been read as far as thirty-seven
miles by day and ffty.six miles by
night. In Italy the acetylene lamp has
been read at distance of seventy-two
miles. The navy searchlights landed
in Cape Colony have been used for
fash signalling and have greatly ex-
tended the range.
4. Searchlights-Th use of search
lights by ships and Icy coast and other
forts is we'll known, but recently they
have also been applied on battlefelds
for hunting up the wounded Acety-
lene gas is used where electricity is
not available.
5. Carrier Pigeons-The use Of car
rier pigeons from fixed stations like
cities and forts has long been known,
but lately they have been used sue
cessfully in the French field maneu-
vres, their houses being carried along
by the troops. In Russia in 1898
cavalry patrols carried along the car
rier pigeons of the forts, and it
was found that in returning to their
homes they travelled at the rate Of
five eighths of mile a minute. A
number Of pigeons have been sent
from the besieged city of Ladysmith
with dispatches to Durham, distance
Of 200 miles. The great advantage of
carrier pigeons to the navy lies in the
fact that the scouting vessels of a
deet can send back information from
long distances without thems elves re-
turning.
6. War Dogs-Pigeons merely re-
urn to their homes or to their feeding
places, but dogs act much more intel
hgently, and are therefore useful in a
greater variety of ways. In the first
place, they have been used in recon
noisance duty, IN carrying messages,
and in connecting outposts and senti-
GELS. In the second place, they have
proved invaluable in hunting up the
wounded after the battle. The collie
aas been found best for all purposes.
The English used dogs to great ad-
vantage. in Matabelelaud, for exam
ole, for giving warning of the ap-
proach of the enemy's scouts in the
dark, and in advance of the head OF
column to scent the enemy Ger
many, Austria, Sweden, Norway and
kwcsvs,x. Joars for ~ in