The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-08-31
THE AUTOMOBILE FOR THE ARMY.

|
that esta b1ishment. The cavalry branch
of the service. in his opinion. should
be reduced one-third. In the place of
FIVE regiments of cavalry so disband-
ed, five regiments of buffers, autos,
chauffeurs or whatever else the new
branch might be called should be or
gained. Gen. Miles himself stops
short of coming a name for It. Wheel
cry" might accurately describe 1t. In
fantry, artillery and "wheelery."
In suggestions and recommendations
filed with the War Department before
his retirement Gen. Miles gave his
views on the question of supplanting
the horse with the automobile. His
recommendations have just been made
public.
Gen. Miles does not disparage the
efficiency of the cavalry. He says that,
with the possible exception of Russia,
the United States have the finest horse
men, and that this country could oppose
any force OF cavalry, that any foreign
government or governments might land
on its shores, with a mounted force
ten times as great. We have 100000
men, he says, accustomed to the use
of horse and rife. that could be used
to quickly sweep over Canada or Mexico
should the need arise.
His argument is, however that even
| greater results could be won from a
force of automobiles or motor cycles.
| He says that the marvellous develop
ment in modern arms renders the cav
| airy, as formerly used on the battle
| field, obsolete. The wonderful advance
| that has been made in the adaptation
of motor power to 1ocomotion, he holds,
has reduced the Importance Of the
horse. A corps of five regiments equip
| ped with the most modern of motor
machines, he considers, should be re-
garded as flying corps. or a corps of
| observation, to open the way for the
| advance of an army, to obtain infor-
nation, to reconnoiter the country and
to repair or build roads and bridges.
This aspect of engineers and sappers
| that Gen. Miles would assign to his au-
| tomobile corps would probably render
it popular with the farmers of the coun-
| try, provided his other recommen1a-
tions were carried out. These are that
the corps be employed in time of peace
in constructing roads in various lis
! tricts throughout the country, over
which it might be necessary for an
army to move. A real benefit, he
points out. might thus be given the
people by corps of the army-a ben
eft more practical than all the rest of
the army affords in time of peace, and
in time of war it would be invaluable.
Gen. Miles concludes as follows: 1.-The
millions of dollars that are now use
lessly expended for one-third of the
mounted force could in this way be
utilized in bringing about great i'm
provement in the army, comforting a
great benefit upon the country, at the
same time training most important
Ecorps for military service, and I urge
that this measure be recommended to
and authorized by Congress-
In view of the unfrlendly feeling to-
ward Gen. Miles that is believed to
pervade the administration, it seems
scarcely probable that his reoommen-
'dation will be transmitted to Congress-.
|
Some daysN ago we made the sue-
gestion that it would be interesting
to have the Reliance and Shamrock
Ill exchange captains and crews. So
1t would be interesting, but it would
not be sportsmanlike. Our dispatch
from London indicates that there are
some there who would like to see the
exchange effected and series of FIVE
races sailed. They call on Sir Thomas
Upton to advocate such a trial, but
1t would seem safe enough to say that
Sir Thomas will not consent. He is
too genuine a sportsman. There is
no reason to believe that he has not
every confidence in Capt. Wringe and
the crew of the Shamrock. Such an
exchange, therefore, would be an in
| suit TO them. They have done their
| best with the Shamrock, and it would
| not be courtesy to them to intimate
| that the wrong meh have handled their
boat. Capt. Wringe knows more about
| Shamrock III than Capt. Barr could
! learn in many days. The same Is true
Of Capt. Barr and the Reliance. Meth
er boat, with the skipper and crew
| of the other in charge, would show
to her best advantage, and there would
really be little satisfaction in such a
series of races as is proposed Yes.
| they would be interesting, but they
would prove nothing.
i -S-0~e-
Some operator. working a powerful
transmitter on shore during the yacht
race last Tuesday, began sending
snatches Of poetry. bursts of profanity
and collections of obscenity out into
the atmosphere. These got all mixed
up with the messages that were being
sent to the shore from the course of
the yachts. The result was that a lot
of meaningless gable reached the
shore stations. and they could not tell
whether the Reliance or Shamrock III
was winning. About the most nauti-