New-York tribune., 1901-03-31
AN ARMY ON SKIS.
MANOEUVRES OF NORWEGIAN TROOPS
IN HEAVY SNOW.
From The London Post.

The occasion for watching some military
man1uvreS in midwiEter presented rare
opportunity that was persuaded to accept Cap
tain kr1S's kindly offer to this spectacle to
the best advantage. The army which was en-
gagged in these tactics the Norwegian, the
locality in which they operated NoIse mile
akin to seven English miles-from Chrstiania.
The scheme suggested mentioned that strong
force from Sweden was approaching after
nights bivouac on the Norwegian capital and
news had been received that the defenders had
advanced to strong position near Grefsen,
suburb north of the town, with Il terminal sta
ton at their command.
As paused in doubt whether to turn back or
not the earth's pail slightly lifted. and there in
front was Il black body of men waiting ready
along the road in the dip of the hill that gave
them capital shelter. Three guns there at
the halt. each drawn 10y six horses. Their track
had traced the whole way from Chris iania by
the deep burrows tramped out of the snow hy
their hCofs. Some cavalry served as their guard,
the rest were infantrymen on skis. All were
young IN appearance. though none less than the
statutory age of twtnty-three. Most of them
seemed fit for feats of endurance. with their
Krag-JUrgensen rifles slung on their backs and
their ski sticks to push themst Ives along in their
hands. But most certainly would they he a
disadvantage If they We're suddenly surprised,
fer they would have to unsling their rifles, hav
lnS 1iISt Cf all dug thclr sticks INTO the snow.
ON the other hand. an army that Was incompc-
tent 10 advance on skis would instantly he over
Whelmcd, like buffalpes in soft SNOW. hy such
a force even half It's own size. In The first place
the men would To weariei GU; lct'ce they had
marched NOR" than fe@ furlonGs second.
lntNItdtlN SLOW
whole movements of the army would hr par
alyz, 4. The Norwegian force. On the other
hand. accustomed as every soldier must I've to
skilUhrire, would have Il tremendous adv NartaGe
agairs. CcntenGiIg enemy thai dared 10
venture tuo hastily IN the winter season The
skilUhncr not only travel more lightly ever the
snow. but can advance quicker than the infantry
when merely on foot They lose no ground
cordIng the hills and cover four times
the distance OF ordinary marching in descent.
This would at once confuse any attacking gen
!. 70 =
latng his calculations for r guar assault on
given point While his troops would bc tOlling
in sweat to reach the It ndcZvous at the time ap-
pointed, weighed down hy their heavy coats.
essential during halt in such a climate. the
Norwegian bodies would have whipped t.rouGh,
more slim than the Beers. ana have caught their
foe in the rear III storical instances Wcrc fairly
pcntiful in lSuS. when the Swcdes 50 rashIy
attacked the Norwegians. The SNOW of the
winter is Norway's hest fertilization. This is
true in d-ta led well as in general sense.
for Il trench Of snow serves admirably as Il
bank Of sand against flying bullets.
company has formed up in line behind a
hill, extended, and advanced to the brow. Each
man with his skis tTamps down the snow and
kicks up narrow. roughly made trench He
shakes off the snow rc IN his skis and seats him
self on them as comfortably scullcr finds
his seat in low, narrow Outrigger. The word
to fire is given; sometimes he aims while i'm this
position sometimes at th" kneeiing. | was curl
Gus as 10 how this could bc managed. With
some the difficulty got by dctaching
the ski from the left foot and digging the right
ski aSiant into the ground but the body had to
be brought round to the front into position
that looked far from being free easy. Inde-
pendent hrlng was more common than the firing
by sections: al the same time the shooting ap-
pearcd to he less spasnodic than is usual in
our manpuVres at home, for there seemed to be
n custom that each man fired in turn all down
the lire Of the company at the enemy settled in
partial cover at about eight hundred yards
ahead The distance correctly found
by Captain krag by means of the stereoscopic
telescope made by Carl Zeiss. of Jena-certainly
a clever invention. The aim was taken with
paSsable care, though there occasions in
which b'amc could have been given for SoVenly
shooting and the sighting assisted by the
dodge of resting the point of the muzzle in the
loop Cf the ski stick. which the Individual had
stuck in the ground in front of him. This
seemed dubious policy, for, while il assists in
attaining "A proper aim. the ski stick is a prop
that cannot he used during the summer Now
and again the enemy would come out of their
hiding and race to the bottom of n hill. Then
the time for quick aiming for the foe
rather than body composed of advancing in
fanty by rushes.
But the great weak point appeared to
to be the fact that, while the men skis
50 many OF the Offices Were mounted. TIE same
objection To infantry advancing III the Snow on
foot applies with even greater force to mounted
men, whose horses plunge about in the soft
snow and quickly exhausted. The only al
tentative is to keep to the high road, and there
hy the essential instant touch between the of
fcer and the rank and fill is lost. Ii is in
cvitable to have all officers of inferior rank
perienced skis
There are. however. splendid exceptions. and
a moment after had made this decision | saw
coming toward SallODing "A full tilt