Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-08

III VI ISSIl - 49, A''"S
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 antiquated field guns, the
Chinese fought with their ancient
spears: some had bows and ar
rows; others We're armed with clubs.
Not one in a hundred had a lirearm that
would have been used during the war of
the American Revolution. 1T5.
Germany had armed one section of
China With Mausers. long ago, when
trouble was anticipated with the Rus
slams. And Russia, it is said, had armed
a portion OF China against Germany.
Even France had contributed arms to
China and so had England; therefore
the soldiers of the Celestial kingdom
boosted much more ambitious Weapons
and more numerous ones than they
would otherwise have had. 1t is we'll
known that the Chinese government has
made no attempt to arm its soldiers with
up-to-date
In the matter of reconnaissance the
Chinese know nothing. Indians nav
their scouts. and even the most unskill,
ed of armies have their pickets, but the
Chinese have always disdained the idea
of scout or picket. They do nothing to
ascertain the state or strength of the
opposing hosts, nor do they even care to
know When the are advancing: sufficient
to know when they arrive.
In modern war the Importance of &C
curate and reliable reconnaissance has
increased a hundredfold, owing to the
fact that the force engaged in the de-
cisive battle have become far greater il.
number, and the distances to be covered.
both in concentrating the troops for
battle and in disposing them on the bat
+'eiell itself, greatly exceed those OF
the past. Specially trained scouts and
g,.J n.1i n 1A rt-o1 lyy oil YN1f To f,nn
the cavalry of the smaller elements of
Its reconnaissance work, and economizG
its fighting power as much as possible,
most of the great nations are now train
ing a kind of mounted infantry In this
work.
III Germany each army corps has a
squadron of mounted orderlies" of this
lind. and they have proved invaluable;
il Russia a number of the best men il
each company are mounted and trained
il patrol ami reconnaissance duty. in
Structel in riding horses and bicycles.
mi exercised b. affor7ine them oppo--
~tunitiee to engage in bear and tiger
hunts; in England each brigade of the
cavalry division SEM to South Africa
received a Battalion of counted infan-
try With Maxim gun; in Austria mount
el scents assist the cavalry in their re
connGitring.
OF GREAT HELP.
Then there is the very important use
OF the field and wireless biography. The
improvements in field telegraph p
ratus 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 eff
cheney that with even the poorest insu-
lation it works we'll enough for all prac-
tical purposes.
The United States Signal Corps in the
Philippines has surpassed all previous
records in this field.
- Wireless biography is still in the ex~
detrimental stage, although it is now
being tested practically in the field in
the TranSVaal. improvements are being
constantly made, and it's future cannot
yet be predicted. One of the latest ap,
piications is to balloons, but the diff
Guilty of carrying the apparatus prop
erly in the basket has led to a modifi.
cation consisting in leaving the latter OH
a table on the ground below, the balloon
merely carrying up a copper wire, which
hung down several yards below the bas-
ket to send the waves reviewed by the
apparatus on through space.
The signal service is of great benefit.
The Telegraph has been specially de-
Veloped in sunny climates: by the Brit
ish in Afghanistan and in Africa, by
the French in Tonkin, by the Americans
in the United States, and by the Greeks
in Crete. It has been used successfully
over single stretches of over s. miles. In
France the acetylene lamp has greatly
increased the use of the apparatus by
making it independent of sunlight, and
signals have been read as far as 81 miles
by day and Sc miles by night.
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
In Italy the a%cetylene lamp flash has
been read at a distance of seyenty-twu
miles. The navy searchlights anded in
Cape Colony have been used for flash
signalling and I'VE greatly extended
the range. At coast forts and in the
navy the Ardois signal light Ca CAM
bination of red and white electric lamps
hung in the rigging or on a mast) are
extensively used for short distances.
either between ships, or between forts
and ships.
There has been a recent and most
novel use made of searchlights. The use
of searchlights by ships and by coas,
and forts is well known, but recently
they have also been applied on battle
fields for hunting up the wounded.
Acetylene gas is used where electricity
is not available.
The carrier pigeon is by no means to
be ignored. The use of carrier pigeons
from fixed stations like cities and forts
has long been known, but lately they
nave been used successfully in the
French field maneouvres, their houses
being carried along by the troops.
In Russia in 1898 cavalry patrols car
rled along the carrier pigeons of the
forts, n 1t was found that in return
Sn0 tn their hnOnoc %ha,