Evening star., 1900-07-20

China: ard for this reason l have entered
thoroughly into its equipment and eff
cheney.
ARMIES Near PeIin.
When l ives in Pekin there were the fol-
lowing armies in the neighborhood:
Gen. Sung. who is reputed to be a very
able man, but is now eighty years old. and
has an army supposed 10 be 10000 strong.
scattered all along Inc coast about Kin
chow As matter of fact l could not
make out that there were more than 10000
men-J.WF0 at kinonOE. 5000 at Chung-ho
80 and 2.WD at SaInh&ikwan.
They are well armed with MGuser rifles
and have krupp artillery and Maxims.
Some of these men have been drilled by
German officers.
AT Lutdi there were thirty camps under
Gen. Soon Ching. A camp is square fort
supposed to accommodate JUo men. They,
however. rarely contained more than 10
men. owing to the system that l have de-
Scri5ed. of the 1I.UUU men SAID to be here
there are only between 1.0t9 and S.O'D Col.
Warranoff. belonging to the Hussars of
the Russian Guard, and some Russian Of
ttccrs Were there. They had superseded
five German officers in March. 1S!'S, who
had been instructing the men. There is no
drill and very little discipline among these
men
l met one of these German officers. whose
Fame was Schallcr. | also met Col. War
rdnOff.
a RiOtOus Force.
There were about 10000 Kansuh troops,
under Gen. Tung Flu Cn.n-mostly Moham-
medans-encdmned q short distance from
Pekn. They were q most disordcrly and
urdisciplined rabble. badly armed and uu-
drilled. bui coed fighters. They had been
ordered from the west. where they had
been subduing a rebellion to Pckin While
| was there they assaulted and nearly
killed two British engineers who were
working on the line ut 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-
m&Eded their withdrawal.
Between Hsiao Chan ard Tien Tsin Gen
Nleh had some thirty camps containing
about l3.chn men. Some of these men had
been well drilled by German officers They
are well armed with Mauscr rifles artil-
lery of mixed calibcr and Maxims, but
their discipline is very lax There were
five Russian instructors there. / asked for
permission TO visit these camps, bus the
Chlnese officials threw every obstacle in my
way.
There is also a Pekin field force. comman
Ged from the palace of especially picked
men-1h.HD strong. They are uu&rtcred in
the hunting park in Pekin. They are well
armed. but indifferently drilled.
Cavalry and ,;anchurian Forces
There was cavalry camp at Kaioing.
the supposed strength If which was l.pp
men. Three Russian officers have super
seded the German officer who was drillins
these men. They are extremely short of
horses
1t Is reported that there is large army
scattered about in Manchuria. Though
fairly armed they are undriled and ur,-
disciplined. The number of this army is
variously estimated at between $500 and
1".Vo men. The name of the general COM
manding is Yi-Kc-Tong.
bn 7
atel there are in Mongolia about 100 up
Mongolian cavalry They are excellent
men and ruled by their own princes under
system of feudal tenure. They are not
paid. l was informed that they are de-
voted to the present dynasty.
With the exception of Yuan Shi Kal's
army. all these armies above referred 70
have little or no firing practice. and none of
them have any organization whatever for
transport. 1t seems incredible. but some OF
the soldiers still practiccd in shooting
" th bows and arrows at a target. When
at Pekin | 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 atsi-
tudc Of the bowman when dischargag his
shaft.
Troops with Modern Arms.
l witnessed a review of the garrison of
Wuchang. There were about 40 men aud
a battery of six guns About 2vo OF these
men were very well drilled. smart anu VIGIL
dressed They were well armed with the
newest German pattern Mauser rifle. The
others had not been drilled. and | was told
had only been enlisted. The guns were
draw by men and not horses. These were
% centimeter krupp guns. The ammun:-
ton was carried by the gums crew The
cavalry are quite inefficient in their present
condition. The viceroy has about 6.tnO
troops scattered over his provinces, but
these are the same character as the ordi-
nary Chinese oldier-undisciplined. but
fairly armed. Besides this, there are sup
posed to be 10.sD Manchu troops about
3,oH miles away, between the Tung Ting
lake and Ichang. They are under the COM
mand of general named Ching Hen2
They are undiScplined and very badly
armed
His excellency. the Viceroy Liu Kwen vi.
is supposed 20 have 2o.D0 troops under his
command. l saw about 5000 of them:
They We're fine body of men. many of
them OF splendid physique. The majority
Of them Were Human men. The infantry
were armed with three different kinds of
rifles. this being observable even in the
companies. OF the - ;t,J men 1o.U,j would
be required u garrison the forts on the
river. The mea were We'll clothed and APP
parent.y wei! fed. b!t not we'll drilled or
disciplined.
At kiau:;ziu there is a garrison. Of 1900
men under General II. which comprises TWO
s:x-gul batteries of artillery ana Two squad
ron= Ul c,lvdi,y. | saw tllcs" men on parade
as well IS In4neuyer.,.S exc. country.
They were . t:2e lot @: rfen. we'll turned
out AMI well drilled. They had been drilled
CooIic Soldiers.
His exca.iency the V..c-oy :isu Y!ng
Kwei. is supposed have al army Of 5000
men; but these men cannot be called SOL
,iers at all. They are mostly coolies wear
ing the mjliteIy badge before and behind.
His exce!lency is commencing, however, to
drrll s.,rra r-0aDc ana MS enlisted s;orr.