The National tribune., 1901-05-23

master to see the lrapidity with which
these homogeneous Packages were handled.
They fitted the 9eooIie laborer and the
coolie fitted them exactly, for everything
is carried on head or shoulders.
Contrast this with case of stationery,
weight 600 pounds. put up in a thin,
himsy white pine case, and which from
rough handling and its own weakness has
come to pieces In the bottom of junk.
Think of the time and stores lost in re-
packing, for the coolie never Iaiis to steal
even if he knows thaththe bamboo and the
loss of his much-Irized cue is the inevita-
BILE result of detection. It's gamble with
the coolie. be he Ghinaman, japanese or
festive Filipino, and they are all gamblers.
If this particular case had been put up in
six 1O0-pound boxes, they would have ar
rived in good order, and have been un-
loaded in tithe of the time.
THE British Qndian Army, practice is
very much the same. Small uniform pack
ages, with heavy jute sacking instead
of the Jap rice-straw mating. One hun
dred and sixty pounds is the load for their
packmules. hence (as their transportation
was nearly all pack trains), their packages
averaged about so pounds.
The Russians did not seem to have
much of any stores except liberal sup
ply of ammunition, which, as was the
practice of all the powers, was put up in
small. neat, strong packages of about so
pounds.
The French, that is those who came at
first viz, Marine infantry, | believe from
Tonkin, had a miscellaneous collection of
stores of all shapes and sizes, which seem
ed to have been purchased for the occa-
sion in various East Asian ports, judging
from the marks upon them. The troops
who came later had regular supplies, gen
orally nicely packed, but not with the
same care as those of the British and
Iar.s 'tnx~ leo hnI mob.
to transport, viz, Claret casks of great
size and weight. 1t was common ocCHr-
renee for the monotony of our teamsters'
life to be broken by the sight of an OBJ
stinate Chinese mule, an irate Frenchman
and an overturned Pekin cart with its
load of one wine caSk at the bottom of
some gully.
The foregoing remarks apply to the
Italians and Austrians as well.
THE Germans We're as bad as our
selves; they had their stores in big, himsy
eases, and in consequence | saw many
broken at every shipping point As they
had little or no transportation except what
they slowly gathered in the country, they
We're put to much trouble in trying to
make a four-foot box fit three-foot cart
''As a rule our subsistence stores were
very well packed III strong eases of moder-
ate weight and volume. Sacks were all
double sacked and were quite strong
enough.
Quartermaster's supplies, as n rule,
were very poorly put up, cases too large
and much too heavy. More proportionate
breakage of cases occurred in this class
than any other. Then, too, the cases should
be made with reference to fitting an escort
wagon.
Most all of the ordnance stores were
put up in very bulky and heavy packages.
remember several cases of powder that
weighed 400 pounds net, and it took all
the coolies that could crowd around it to
lift it into n wagon. \ 100-pound case
would have been much better.
Medical supplies were better put up
as regards weight f.nd volume but many
cases were of too fi.msy material to with
stand the hard usslge of such long and
complex transportation"