The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-04-10
-------------------- AN ARMY ON SKIS.
Manoeuvres of Norwegian Troops in
 Heavy Snow.

Heavy Snow.
 The occasion for watching some mili-
 tary manoeuvres in midwinter present.
 ed so rare an opportunity that l was
 persuaded to accept Captaln krag s
 kindly offer to see this spectacle to the
 best advantage. The army which was
 engaged in these tactics was the Nor
 wegian, the locality in which they ope-
 rated a Morse nile-akin to seven Eng
 fish nliles-from Christiania. The
 scheme suggested mentioned that a
 strong force from Sweden was ap-
 preaching after a nights bivouac on
 the Norwegian capital and news had
 been received that the defenders had
 advanced to a strong position near
 Grefeen, suburb north of the toWn
 with a terminal station at their com-
 mand.
 As I paused in doubt whether to turn
 back or not the earths pail slightly
 lifted and there in front was black
 body of men waiting ready along the
 road in the dip of the.hill that gave
 them capital shelter Three guns there'
 were at the hall, each drawn by six
 horses. Their track I had traced the
 whole way from Christiana by the deep
 furrows tramped out of the snow by
 their hoofs. 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 twenty three. Most of them seemed fit for feats of endurance, with their 1 Krag-Jorgensen rifles slung on thelr
 backs and their ski sticks to push them | selves along In their hands. But most | certainly would they be at a disadvan- 1 tage if they were suddenly surprised, for they would have to unsling their IT. nes. having first of all dug their sticks into the snow. On the other hand. an army that was incompetent to advance | cn skis would instantly be overwhelmed, | like buffaloes in soft snow, by such a | force even half it's own size Tn the | first place the men would be wearled out before they had marched more than a few furlongs; second, progress would be inevitably so slow that the whole movements of the army would be par alyzed The Norwegian force. on the other hand, accustomed as every sol der must be to skilobning, would have tremendous advantage against a con LtIluIllS clGlHy ltlat NcAA VA " NY ~'-NNr-~ too hastily in the winter season. The skilobner not only travel more lightly over the snow, but can advance quicker than the infantry when merely on root They lose TO ground ascending the hllls and can cover four times the distance of ordinary marching in descent This would at once confuse any attacking general, ignorant of the swiftness on skis in formulating his calculations for a regular assault on a given point. While his troops would be toiling in sweat to reach the rendezvous at the 1 time appointed, weighed down by their l heavy coats, essential during halt in | such a climate,at Norwegian bodies | would have whipped through, more | Slim than the Boers, and have caught 1 their foe in the rear. Historical in- | stances were fairly pentiful in 1898, l when the Swtdes so rashly attacked | the Norwegians. The snow of the win ter is Norways best fortification. This | is true in a detailed as well as in gen. eral sense, for .trtnch of snow serves | as admirably as a bank of sand | against flying bullets.
 A company has formed up in line be-
 
 the brow. Each man with his skis | tramps down the snow and kickse up narrow, roughly made trench He shakes off the snow from his skis, and | seats himself on them as comfortably as a sculler finds his seat in low, nar- row outrigger. The word to fire is giv- en; sometimes he aims while in this po- siticn, sometimes at the kneeling. was curious as to how this could be | With some the difficulty was got over by detaehing the ski from the left foot and digging the right ski aslant into the ground, but the body had to be brought round to the front into a position that looked far from be- ing free or easy. Independent firing was more common than the firing by sections; at the same time, the shooting appeared to be less spasmodic than is usual in our manoeuvres at home, for there seemed to be a custom that each man fired in turn all down the line of the company at the enemy, settled in partial cover at about eight hundred yards ahead The distance was correct ly found out by Captain Krag by means of the stereoscopic telescope made by Sdll DSISS, Ol J6lid-- tpliliy eh SiCNGl l invention The aim was taken with passable care, though there were occa- sons in which blame could have been given for slovenly shooting, and the sighting was assisted by the dodge of resting the point of the muzzle in the loop of the ski stick, which the individ- ual had stuck in the-ground in front of him. This seemed dubious policy, for, while it assists in attaining proper aim, the ski stick is prop that canhot oe used during the summer. Now and : again the enemy would come out of heir hiding and race to the bottom of a ill. Then was the time for quick aim- ng for the foe more nearly approached n their speed to running deer rather han body composed of advancing in- 'antry by rushes. ' But the one great weak point ap- )eared to me to be the fact that, while 2 he men were on skis so many of the f officers were mounted. The same objec- ion to infantry advancing in the snow ( ,n foot applies with even greater force f O mounted men, whose horses plunge bout in the soft snow and are quickly q xhausted The only alternative is to ,eep to the high road and thereby the seaOtial instant touch between the off,