The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-06
SOLDERING IN MOROCCO.
Queer Troops and Funny Ways of the Army Opposing the Man
 With the noulrev

tue army opposing the Man
 With the Donkey.
 l took the opportunity yesterday of in- tervfewing the three British non-commis- stoned officers who have been attached to the sultan's army during the last twelve month in the quality of instructors, says letter from Tangier in the London Tel egraph. They are smart-looking men, burned dark brown by the hot sun of the interior. and their conversation was very interesting. They wore a neat uni- form in khaki. white turban was wound tightly round their tarbooches, or small fezzes, and flung loosely over their should CTS was a white burnouse, or jelaba, which looked very picturesque. Their court uniform was much more gorgeous, however, being of rich orange-red color, embroidered with gold at the neck, and coattails. The men were we'll satisfied with their life in the Sultan's camp, hav- ing. in their own words, little to do and plenty to get" They expressed them selves eager to return. Their duties while the army was on the march were nil, but at Fez they had to drill the troops into some show of order.
 The Moorish troops do not appear to have taken very readily to the instruc- ton procided Tor them. An entire ab- sence of authority and discipline pre- walls. On parade they would behave fairly well, the different regiments being divided into companies under Kaids. but any attempt at evolutions invariably re- suited in disaster. On the march the soldiers would straggle as fancy listed, although on the whole each tribe would keep to itself. This precauiton was necessitated by the enmity existing be- tween various tribes united under the Sultan's banner. These tribal feuds brought about constant disturbances in camp, and rival factions were usually far more eager to get at each others threats than at the enemy. In one or two expeditions the only men wounded were those who became involved in an intertribal brawl in the camp itself. The sergeants have a very poor opinion of the fighting qualities of the Moors. They declare it Is the side which makes the most noise which wins the fight. Hence the advantage of numbers who shout and blaze away until the enemy retire. The Sultan had about 25,000 men, regulars and irregulars, in Fez when the sergeants left. These included the Sherihan bodyguard, composed of 2,000 picked men, and called the Arabas: a regiment from the Sus dis trict of whom the greater part are blacks, about 2.OO0 strong, and regiments from the Abda, Dakala and Sherada tribes of a strength varying between 1,5O0 and 5000 men, the aforementioned being the largest.
 The Arabas are uniformly armed with the Martini-Henry rifles, which were dis carded from the British army. This regiment is fairly we'll drilled, and main tains a pretense of discipline. A con- siderable portion, about 30 per cent of the rest of the troops Is armed with the weapons known as the Tallihanner, poor reproduction of the Martini-Henry, manu- factured in Fez under the superinten- dence of Colonel Ferrera of the Italian army. Although this rife is most ec- centric In its behaivor, invariably jam ming the cartridge after the first round. while 1t can not be fired at all If the bayonet Is fixed, yet it is a distinct im- provement on the old fiink-lock muzzle- loader with which the remainder of the force Is armed, and which is commonly known as "gas-pipe tubing" When on the march, and even fin camp, the men with the fint-locks are constantly dis charging their weapons with reckless in- difference as to the course the bullet may take. They do this principally to assure themselves that the guns are in working order. always a matter of doubt, anl also to clear the barrels. Accidents are very numerous. A bullet once pierced the camp-bed of one of the sergeants
 The artillery park of his Sheritian Maj esty is varied and jeculiar. He has about twenty breech-loading Krupp field guns and twenty-tnree brass muzzle-loaders- The light artillery consists of twelve Maxims firing the Martini-Henry cart ridge. twelve Maxims made in Germany and fitted up in Fez by German artisans, not always reliable as uuick-firers, how ever: one Hotchkiss, five Gardners, three Nordenfeldt, which are absolutely non efficient. and twenty-four pompoms. Of these. Bou Hamara recently captured four Krlnp breeoh-lo -loaders and three hrass field guns four Gardners and one Maxim. There are large quantities of ammunition stored up in houses In Fez, hut no method has been employed in the storagA and consequently nobody knows exactly where to lay hand on any par ticular ammunition. No proper guard Is kept over the casks, and pilfering is very rife. Numbers of the boxes have been broken open and half their contents ex- tracted and replaced by stones. The am munition thus stolen is sold to the enemy One of the sergeants doubted whether the troops would ever make efficient gunners and related that he attempted to give in- strIctions in gun drill to some of the men. The first morning he kept we'll at it, until they began to understand the rudi- ments. Next morning all the men absent cd themselves, complaining that they were sick. but sent substitutes to take their nlaces When firing practice was begun, and the Moors felt the kick of the lever and recoil of the gun, they simply turned their backs on the satanic instrument, ando. spreading their mats, said their prayers. Any attempt to enforce obedi- ence would almost certainly have been followed by the wholesale desertion of the fellow tribesmen of the man punished.
 In tho opinion of the drill instructors,