The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-10


Goth ult., will not be performed at
reviews or any other parades as pa
rade practice" And quite right, too"
said the captain, who was sitting in
the midst of a most fearsome collec-
ton of weapons when the terms of the
COMMUNICATIVE chiefs announcement
were brought to his notice. Sword
exercise in the cavalry was a pretty
sight for the entertainment of ladies
in carriages on the parade ground,
when it was done uniformly by whole
squadron; but it was utterly worthless
as. far as personal skill with the weap-
on was concerned. Nobody minded
very much whether the men led the
edge or not, so long as they all swung
together and recovered at the same in
slant. But if the army gymnasiums
give up fencing as part of the officers
and mems physical exercise and train
ing, I think 1t would be very bad
thing. Display is one thing. But prac-
tical utility is another.
las things are at present a few
squads are vamped up into some sort
of proficiency every year for the mill
tary tournament. and a few officers
take up sabre play for use on the same
occasion. But they can very rarely
find any one to fence with at Aldershot
except Sergt. Maj. Belts, and the con-
sequence is that in all ranks there is
very little interest taken in the art at
ALL"
We tried to imagine a condition of
affairs in which an entire army only
cared for the sword because it could
win few prizes at the Agricultural
Hall, and we failed, the thing seemed
impossible. But the captain went on
sternly:
''It was not always so. Do you re-
member that autobiography of Donald
McBane, from which I quoted in The
Sword and the Centuries?' If you look
at that. you will see that there was
a very different feeling among soldiers
in 1922
The passage is amusing and instruc-
tive both, and runs as follows:
Il complained to my officer, but
found it in vain, for at that time, If
any difference fell out betwixt two
| soldiers, they were obliged to decide it
with their swords. 1 was afraid to
venture on my Governor, he, being a
| bold old soldier being a. sort of a gen.
| tleman, was allowed to wear a sword:
1 had nothing but a wooden-handled
| bayonet, and did not know how
| should be upsides with him. BY chance
| l got some money from my friend. so
! l went directly to a sergeant who
! taught gentlemen the art of the small
| sword. 1 got a sword of one of my
neighbors, and went privately with it
under my coat into the canteen where
| the old gentleman was; demanded the
| remainder of my pay: his answer was,
| You saucy rogue then we
| drew, and after two or three turns
he made great stroke at my leg. I
| slipt him and thrust him through the
| body before he could recover himself.
After this 1 lived peaceably
for some time, and continued learning
| at the fencing school publicly"
After a long dscursus on the various
| weapons Donald was likely to have
| used we returned to the main point
| again, and the captain admitted that
| 1901 was a different thing in many
ways from 1892 but" said he, the
| war office has gone too fast. as is
usual after prolonged periods of lethar-
| gy- Now they have abolished so much
how do they propose to fill the gap?
1t is not the first time authorities have
done much the same thing. When An
| gelo was teaching in London he pro-
duced a system of cavalry sword exer-
else in which he grated the Hungarian
method upon his own principles, and
elaborated system of defense for
horse and man as well. This was sud-
denly abolished, and the horse was left
to take care of itself. Of course if they
had all fought as well as Baron Mar
bots man-eating charger that would
not have mattered. But Marriott was
a Frenchman. Then, again, the war
office suddenly adopted Maclaren's sys-
tenn of foil fencing, which was radical
| ly and anatomically wrong, contrary
to the opinion of all the best masters
| in England and France. They have
abandoned it now, but they have no
other handbook on the foil, although
they certainly possess the handbook
| of sabre play, which is based upon
what Mariello taught them on his visit
to this country.
Foil Fencing Good for Soldiers.
my point is that foil fencing is an
indispensable foundation for proficien-
cy in all hand weapons. Don't stop at
the foil, of course, but begin with it,
and go on to other things. 1 have heard
| a great deal about the lessons of the
South African campaign, but l have
yet to learn that Boer warfare has
abolished all possibility of hand-to-
hand conflict. You can never tell when
a sword will not be of use. Do you re-
member that letter which was publish
ed in one of the papers about a party
of 'cavalrymen' who charged some
Beers with nothing but rifles in their
hands? If we had only had swords,
said the writer, we could have ac-
counted for the lot And so they would
have. What is a mounted man to do,
at close quarters with a rifle? Is he to
have a revolver as well? We shall see.
The rife is almost as useless as the
lance in a really close melee, but Moth
| ing is better than a lance for pursuit.
A good tent pegger will pick man out
Of a ditch like a Wrinkle out of its shell,
and at full gallop, too. All!
For a moment the captain appeared
to give himself up to delightful day
dream. But he threw it off with an
agreeable warmth exclaiming:
"All the English authorities seem to
enjoy a sudden decision very much.
Look at the way they abolished duel
ing and left us helpless, with nothing
in its place. In these days scoundrel
may run off with a girl, and the law
does nothing except punish you If you
thrash him. Now, in the old days.
and the captain strobe among his
weapons with the light of battle in his
eyes-"it was not possible for man to
offer you a gross affront merely be-
cause he thought he could do it safely.
| With the fear of duel before him he
kept in his place. Now, what are you
| to do? A row in the street or in a
drawing room is out Of the question;
legal methods are no remedy. The con-
sequence is that the commonest usages
of established courtesy are rapidly be-
coming obsolete. Are we the better for
that?"
The problem was too vast for us even