Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1901-05-10
rHR ALLIED ARMIES.
quality and Performances of the Sol
diers of Different Nations
I'm China.

LIVING ana camping WIN tAAO -A1S--
of these various forces on an expedI-
ton such as this very severe march
to Picking, one got a very close insight
into the comparative discipline, the
equipment, the endurance and the
fighting or soldier spirit in them, as
well as into the working of their
transport, commissariat, army medl-
cal corps, ETC., writes George LYNCH
in the Independent.
The standard of comfort of the
United States soldier is far and away
higher than that of any soldier in
the world. The United States com
missaries in Peking were a perfect
godsend for procuring luxuries which
could not be obtained in any others
In discipline mean the obvious
discipline, the surface discipline if you
wish, the discipline that was apparent
to the eye of the spectator-the Amer
lean soldiers were wofully lacking, and
would compete with the French for
the last place among the allied forces,
but when real fighting is to be done
they generally manage to get there,
fight we'll and shoot straight.
In sharply marked contrast to ev-
cry other arm of the service, the jap
anese cavalry were an absurd carica-
ture. This is not altogether surpris--
ing when we bear in mind how unusued
to horses is the average japanese. He
has not the instinct for caring for
horses which is ingrained in those who
are accustomed to them from child
hood. In every other branch of their
service it appeared to me that they
equaled, if they did not surpass, the
best of the allied troops in China.
Their extreme mobility in the field
was a revelation, all their movements
seemed to be done on the double, and
there was verve, go and activity about
them that was simply delightful to-
watch. The old fighting or soldier
spirit of Japan seems still actively
burning in the breast of every little
Jap. They sing as they fight, and
fight with the frolic welcome of
schoolboys who love the game they
are playing. Their disregard of life
is extraordinary.
Quite in contrast this spring and
go and fighting spirit appears con-
spicuous by its absence in the Ger
man. He appears to be the acme of
the manufactured soldier, the soldier
who is the result of Iaborious and &C
uI1l1 O4 l1tC4I 0A41A
showed up superior to that of any
of the other allies. But then it was
stiff, wooden and mechanical to de-
gree, and it would be curious to OBJ
serve, when occasion should arise, ow-
| ing to severe losses among the officers,
how this human mechanism, manufac-
| tured on the parade ground, would
work when thrown on its own re-
| -,
own individuality.
Rough, uncouth, heavy, slow moving.
but giving one the idea of great stub
bornness and endurance, the Russians
appeared to be in many respects the
best war soldiers of the lot. They al
most equal the japanese in the sim
plicity of their diet. Although slow
in movement they are capable of exc
cutting extremely long marches.
The regiments of colonial French
nal expedition may be passed unno-
ticed, for they lacked nearly every sol
dier-like quality of conduct or equip
ment. They were simply beneath con-
tempt. They distinguished themselves
chiefly by their footing exploits and
by their outrages upon the Chinese,
AAAOA pa OlSu1dAA oPOh tnC WOiLChs
and competed successfully with the
Russians and the Germans for the first
place among those who were to dis
grace western civilization in the orient.
CantOn's Water-CIOck.
The famous clepsydra, water
clock, of Canton is housed in a temple
on the city walls. In "China: the
Long-Lived Empire Miss Scidmore
tells of a visit paid to this famous
temple. We went into sort of rub
bish-room and sat down to wait I'M
til the expected bargaining should
be concluded and we were free to en-
ter some further hall, the supposed
splendid Temple of Time. Lady,
jump down. Lady sitting ancient wa
ter-clock,'' said All Poll, our swagger-
ing parrot of a guide; for three big
earthen jars on successive shelves be-
side US, a fourth and lowest one with
a wooden cover, constituted the whole
clepsydra, and we had unHittingly sat
down upon q quarter-section of all
time. The water descends by slow
drops from one jar to another, the
brass scale on a float in the last crock
telling the hours as it rises. Every
afternoon at five o'clock since 1921, A.
D., the lowest jar has been cmptied,
the upper one filed, and clock thus
wound up for another day. Boards
with the number of the hour are dis
played on the outside wall, that the
cifu lrnnxz he time