Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-27
THE FRENCH ARM 7
SCENES DURING THE RECENT
WAR SCARE IN PARIS.
Size and Quality of the Troops-An
Organization for Fighting,
Not Parade.

| Paris Cor. New York Evening Post.
| Down the broad boulevard an unusual
| sight and sound advance in the red sun
| set. There is a military band at the head
| of some infantry regiments; the flag is
proudly displayed; the general and staff
are riding properly in their places
| The soldiers are sunburned and dusty
but they step off blthely in the Paris
air. All through this war scare they have
| been doing the maneuvers at the camp of
| Chalons in the east. along with other regi-
ments and now the special railway trains
! have brought them back to barracks.
| They march conscious of the patriotic
| eyes devouring them.
! There is silence as the flag passes, but
! there is not a Frenchman in the crowd
| who does not salute No outcry is needed:
| there is an electric feeling in the air
| that France has pulled herself together.
| Perhaps 1t was for this that the regi
ments had orders to march down the
| thronging boulevard, which Emperor
| William has never been allowed to see.
| The drums play their part noisily in the
| march. There are $4,000 drums in the
French army and it has just been decided
that they must go This has happened
bring them back. But now it is many
| more soldiers to handle the guns Bet
ter the drums than the Lebel rifles!
grumbles Gen. Faure-Biguet, who is a
veteran and sentimental. The crowd, still
wondering whether Germany means to
force a war on France, discusses this
vexed question of the drums. Their place,
in battle or out of battle, Is now to be
taken by bugles keeping the time of the
march, sounding the charge.
No one really doubts that France will
keep on spinning gfddily down the grooves
of change; and Germany, with all her
booming from the sudden bass drums OF
her diplomacy. will sooner or later fol-
low after. Bedel has SAID 1t to Buelow:
klay, ,ff,,-t a X m Of
something to say to your wars. sir!
Jaures. whose patriotism has been sus-
pected and compared not to his advantage
with the readiness of German socialists
than that!
Small Men.
An American. evidently a newcomer IN
Paris stands up on a chair in front of the
cafe and scans critically the soldiers as
they pass "Runts' he says. land what
clothes!' No one understands or takes no
tice that he does not salute the flag. The
Partisan crowd is used to foreigners, ana
Roosevelt is as popular Emperor VIII
liam is surprising. No one would dream
that a citizen of the United States could
deride the army of the sister republic.
The American is cocksure-and wrong
These French soldiers are not picked men
for the militia parade of some Phliadelphia
crack regiment They are simply the whole
mathematician their twentytirst year to
their twenty-third, whoever is ablebodled
enough to stand the military service en-
forced alike on all. Since the law of 1901
there has been no limit of height for a SOL
der; up or down, dwarf or giant all must
serve. Before that time the limit was only
five feet one inch With all these efforts
to scoop every healthy citizen into the
army the average height has not yet run
down to that of Napoleon's Grand Armee
in it's last years; and not so long ago IL
was above that of the German army meas
ured a whole.
AS to their soldier clothes, French uni
forms have only three sizes, and the o!d
hand who gives them out carries his tape
measure in his eye. The result is obviously
not agreeable to Files-on-Parade; but an
American song when lighting was on, tod
of the regular army man doing the work
and was not enthusiastic over the tailor
made soldier French infantrymen have,
however, ventured to complain of one thing
in view of this sudden war alarm. Shoes
in three sizes, fitted by eye. do give sore
feet for the first days marches. What II
the reserve had had to be modified In new
shoes?