The Washington times., 1901-07-13
Rife Training for British Recruits.

Lord Roberts has decided that in fu-
ture the use of the rife must receive
prime attention in the training of re-
cruits for the British service. Sword.
lance and bavonet exercises are con
sidered by him to be unimportant, and
have been abolished
This is a most sensible decision, and
it is not on the whole. Surprising that
ii took so good a soldier as "Bobs' TO
! arrive at it. The persons in control of
matters of uniform and drill in the
! British army have, until recently, ap-
peared to be walking about in sort
of Rip Van Wrinkle sleep.
Anyone would suppose that rifle
| practice, in such wars as those which
England has had on hand for quarter
of a century. would be at once recog-
| nized as important. So long as the
troops were sent against uncivilized
tribesmen, who fought with spears and
| arrows. it was, perhaps, more sports
manlike to come down to their level
and use the sword and lance. The Won
der Is that the British army did not
contain some regiments Of archers,
time of Crecy and Poitiers, and used in
fighting American Indians, and other
tribes skilled in the use of these
weapons. But for a long time past the
wild men of India, and even some tribes
in Africa. have been very much up-to-
date in this respect. Certain willy Pa
1 thans make their living by stealing
rifles, or buying those stolen from bor-
der regiments. and selling them to the
hillmen; and whole tribes are armed
with more or less effective varieties OF
the modern rife. This is a surprise to
the ignorant British recruit. perhaps,
and he may wonder, on the occasion of
his first standup fight with the enemy,
why these niggers use Martinis,' but
the gentlemen in command ought to
know about It
The fighting savage does not take long
to become accustomed to the use of fire
arms. for the simple reason that it is
his sole business in life. From a child
he takes a keen interest in the way to
handle gun, for it is by this means
that he expects to kill his enemy and
save his own life, perchance, to say
nothing of killing game in the mean
time. The British recruit has often
never had gun in his hands until after
his enlistment, and he then uses it be-
cause he is told to. Sometimes he de-
velops into a crack shot; sometimes he
does not. 1t is obvious that If he is to
be as effective as the savage he must
receive an extra amount of training.
He cannot spend all his time practic-
ing, as his adversary does. He has to
drill, and to march. and to engage in
social diversions, and do a great many
other things.
The American Army is not subject
to this disadvantage, because American
boys are. as a rule. more familiar with
firearms than English boys, and those
who go into the army are apt to be
fair shots before they enlist. The same
is true Of the Canadian, the australian,
and the New Zealander. All these come
from new lands. in which the shooting
Of large and small game is or has been
In the days work. The home-bred Eng
hshman of low degree comes of an
cestors TO whom shooting meant
poaching, and poaching meant theft,
and theft meant hanging. 1t is a good
thing that, with this material to deal
with Lord Roberts has ordained that
there be rifle practice.