Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-23
Marche de fArmee.


The walking match of the French army
| 1t is to come off in the end of May. Each
| corps de troupe is to be represented by ten
| men, it's pick, arrived at by severe eliminat-
| ing processes.
In all the garrisons the enthusiasm is
me- gnificent." says Commandant Cordinnier,
| chief of the officers school of st. Maixent.
| while it is known that only ten soldiers
| for each corps will be admitted TO compete,
| they are training by hundreds
1.-The present-day physical education of
the soldier resumes itself in two things
says Col. Dodds "in shooting and in walk
| ing
This is natural, coming from a colonial
infantry here. But what do you think of
this, from Col. Dubois, chief OF the cavalry
school of Saumur?
1.-The future of the cavalry is as much in
walking in riding. A hussar's horse
supports an average weight of 235 pounds.
while that of culrasSler supports as much
as 2T7 pounds You will therefore under
stand how Interruptions of pedestrianism
come to be the unique means of relieving
both horse and rider on forced raids. A
week ago L sent four officers accommodating
a garrison maneuver in the neighborhood
of Mans. In forty-eight hours they did 10
miles. How did they arrive at this surpris-
ing result? Why, by walking fifty miles
of it
And finally" says Col Sauret, chief of
the artillery school of Versailles, this
walking match will be of high moral value.
1t will fix the eyes of the nation on the
army" This means that it is sign of
war times. The French army of the pres
ent moment is composed of the flower of
French youth between twenty-one and
twenty-four years of age Ultimately. in
time of need. it Includes all the valid adults
of the population.
Two Rival Schools.
1t is only natural, where there is so mu n
talk of walking. that there should be two
schools. For some time past the advocates
of 'fexion walking have gained many
brilliant converts.
''Will it not be interesting to everybody"
asks Prof. Marcy in his Introduction to the
book of DIR. Regnault and Commandant
Raoul, ito learn that there exists way OF
walking which permits you, without excess
i've fatigue, to do trips of from 30 to %
miles in one-third of the. time required by
our ordinary way of walking?"
why does not every one walk this way?
asks the professor. Because in walking,
as in all the acts of our life we are the
slaves of conventional aesthetics From
childhood we have understood that to walk
nicely We ought to walk with the bust held
up straight, not moving the arms and pos
ing the foot on the ground with the leg ex-
tended
That is why our ordinary way of walk
Ing is called extension walking'ir con-
description of which is given my NM Reg
nault and Raoul in the following words:
Lift the feet only as much as is neces-
sary to avoid the asperities of the ground
the knees bent, the upper half of the body
leaning forward as much as possible and
pose your foot on the ground fiat, without
noise"
Arguments in It's Favor.
The apostles and disciples of this kind of
marching present their arguments in its
favor; how the simple inclination of the
trunk forward forces the legs to bend and
the step to lengthen; how the bent leg per-
mts the posing of the foot on the ground
without the shocks which otherwise destroy,
at each step, part Of the acquired speed,
and demand for its recovery new impulsive
effort: and how this same bending of the
legs reduces the vertical oscillations of the
center of gravity, which in ordinary walk
ing are cause of waste force.
1t is said that this '.fiexion walking is
more supple. than extension walking On
hard roads, certainly, the shock to the
brain caused by the extended leg commune |
eating along the spinal cord the bump of
the heel on the ground is the great, If not |
the only, Inconvenience of the ordinary |
walkSfn extension"
In the "fexion walk" ~ the body being |
more inclined forward; CD the stepping leg |
being more bent at the hip. and go the sus- |
tanning leg being more inclined toward the |