The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-09-29
A MILITARY CLue III MErrEvREDEr AvA~

Special 'orresporccrr" Of s'- Sunday Repatr:
Tiirnai, Java. Aug. al have come to
Tji;.ai 10 tell yot: about the Dutch colonial
army. This is one of their chief garrisons.
/; already includes 1900 soldiers. and more
will be added until this becomes one of the
chief fortified places of the East Indies. 1t
Is situated six hours from the coast. about
2.6oi feet above the sen. and nature mas
built natural Notifications about 1t. The
camp lies in a plain several miles wide
valid by mountains which rise In blue
grandeur until they are lost In feecy white
clouds. The place is a natural amphithea-
ter walled by extinct volcanoes and rooted
by the sky. 1t is easily reached by mag
nificcnt roads. and the truck line of railway
from Batavia TO Soerbaya also goes to #.
THE DUTCH COLONIAL ARMY.
] have been much interested In the Dutch
seldiers whom / have seen in different parts
of Jaws. The Holianders among them are
magnificent fellows, tail. straight and well
formed. They are especially well dressed
and are gentlemen. ! have talked with
them about the army, and I find that there
are only ze,ooo soldiers In the Dutch colonial
empire OF the East Indies. and Of these only
1900 are Europeans. We have several
times that many Americans IN the Philis.
pines. and this Notwithstanding the Philip
pines have abou. one-fourth as many peo-
PIE. The native population controlled by
Holland is a4.0O.o0. It embraces natives of
every variety found in the far East. There
are savages as wild as tho hill tribes Of
Mindora and M%indanao. and there are also !
half-educated farmers like our Filipinos Of
Panay and Luzon- The Dutch have more
tribes to control than we have. and they
understand how to use their soldiers so &.
u-eI1 that thev 0eed hD1v oue Euronoan e.
every 1000 souls.
It was through the kindness OF Lord Van
Bentham van den Berg that I was admitted |
to this encamprnent. 1 came In a carriage
behind a team Of sandalwood ponies from
Bandong. The whole way through the beau |
tiful park was filled with little brown peo- !
pie of all ages and both sexea Now we
went by a market a mile long where the
women were squatting and selling. and We
found Jayaaese houses lalFnost TO the very ,
barracks of the soldiers.
HOW DUTCH SOLDIERS LIVE.
have recently been IN the Philippines. |
and I have seen how colonial soldierB are
CHARTERED. Some of them are in tents. some
in bamboo shacks and some in Filipino
houses turned into barracks. The Dutch !
have been experimenting for centuries as
to the best accommodations for their SOL
diers 10 this tropical climate, and their |
methods can be copied in the Philippines |
with proit. The buildings Of Tjimai consist
of. vast barracks made OF woven bamboo.
The bamboo cane is split in strips when
It Is green and fiattened out. Each strip is |
shaved 30 that It Is about as wide as ordi- |
nary leth and perhaps an eighth of an inch
thick. Many of the strips are forty feet
long. They are woven into great sheets, SO |
big that they form the walls of the bar |
racks. They are rain-tight When finished |
and are at the same time airy and clean.
Walls OF this kim are nailed to studding. |