The evening world., 1902-10-18
TO SEE BRITISH
ARMY ATHLETES.
Team Of Gymnasts, Selected by
Earl Roberts, Is Coming Here
to Teach New Tricks to Our
Soldiers.
THEY PLEASED GEN.. C0RBIN.

LONDON, Oct. lz.-Gen. Corbin. OF
the United States Army, gives glowing
praise to the excellence of the gymnas-
tic exercises taught to soldiers in Eng
land.
He was so greatly impressed by the
exhibition OF calIsthenIcs he saw Mt
Aldershot that he induced Lord Roberts
to send a team OF twelve crack nom
commissioned officers to this country to
give an exposition of the British Army's
gymnastic training.
Gen. CorbIn will try, he says. to have
an American team sent later to Eng
land for a similar purpose, saying that
such an exchange of experiences will
be a fine thing for the armies Of both
countries.
Praise Well Justified.
The praise accorded the gymnastic
work OF the British soldier Is we'll justl-
fed. For the past thirty years calls
themes has formed an important part
OF the British Arms drill methods.
Its results are apparent in improved
ply 1llu dllu VI
Major-Gen. Hammersley Called THE
Father of Army Gymnastics') sent a
number of non-commlssioned officers to
oxford three decades ago to be trained
by a regular varsity coa y. These men
later returned and drilled their subor-
dlnates.
All recruits must go through a course
Of callsthentcs at one OF England's AZ
teen great %gymnastlc schools for SOL
diers.
The course for recruits, on joining, is
ten weeks, and each non-commissloned
officer must take n six months course
in order to qualify as an instructor.
Three months a year up TO thirty years
Of age, Is the g~ymnastic course OF the
private soldier.
The principal army gymnasium IS at
Aldershot, and Is the most complete In
stitution OF its sort in Great Britain.
The Army Gymnastlc Staf there num-
bers eighty, running in rank from a
colonel down to sixty stan serseants'
Selected by Lord Roberts
The team which will visit the United
States is picked by Lord Roberts MIN
self from the finest gymnasts In the
English Army. They will visit various
army posts here as well as the West
Point Academy, giving exhibitions
from which our instructors may gain
valuable points, and which will also
enable the American soldier to Judge
for himself the Justice OF Gen. Corblns
assertion, that the English gymnastic
course eXcels that In use In our own
Army gymnastics are by no means in
known In this country. They are in
common use. and many New Workers
have had an opportunity OF seeing the
soldiers calisthenic work at the Madl-
son Square tournaments. The gymnaSts
who exhibited there were OF a degree
of excellence hard to beat, and America
will scarcely feel ashamed OF such a
team II II is decided to send one to Eng
land. no matte" how cleverly the visit
ing Englishmen 30 through their evolu-
tons.
Gen. Corbln. while awarding highest
nraiae to the Fvrnnaslum work cf the
British Army, adds:
hut They Haven't the Brains.
The men in the British ranks rsr.noi
begin to compare. from the rnint u
view OF brains. education and Initiative.
with the men who compose .Arhcrica's
non-cOmmisslOn army. The pCrSmrp-i
OF the enlisted men Is vastly different"
1t now remains for AInr:isa's array
ana to try to keep up the inter
national standard set by Americas