The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1905-04-28
SOLDIERS USE SKIES.
EFFICIENCY OF NORWEGIAN
TROOPS INCREASED
THEREBY.

troduce the "=oot Sled" in Their
Armies During the Manchurian Cam
paign.
1t would seem that both the Japan
csc and the Russians might profit by
the experience of the Norwegians and
introduce the skee into their Manchu-
rian manoeuvres. By so doing they
would enable their soldiers to move
nearly three times as quickly over the
snow; for the skee practically trans
into a sleigh with a narrow, 1.-THE,
nine-foot wooden runner, tipped with
sort of toboggan prov.
Norway is the home of the skee, and
1t is here that its practical use has
been best recognized. Not only does
the Scandinavian appreciate the foot
sled" in the way the Canadian does,
for the sport it furnishes in the hunt
or the coasting carnivals, but he has
come to realize that it is a most i'm
portant aid in winter time to the sol
der. He will even tell you that II
Napoleon's army had been equipped
with skees in it's invasion OF Russia
the French would have triumphed over
the Slav and there would have been no
such thing as the disastrous retreat
from Moscow.
England has become deeply interest
ed in the military value OF the skee,
and is considering it's introduction into
some of the Indian regiments. Ac-
cording to such British experts as
Captain F. j. Jackson, of the Jackson
Harmsworth expedition, and Edgar
Seyers, many of the difficulties ex-
perienced by Colonel Younghusband
and his men in the recent expedition
into Tibet would have been avoided
had the troops been equipped with
Skees.
The Scandinavian infantryman is
taught to manouevre on skees the
same as he is instructed in the use
of the rife. AS soon as winter has
covered the earth with snow he is
drilled in regular series of exercises,
and is expected to march" and "coun-
termarch," to face about" and mark
time" on skees, just as he would with
out them. Such practices are contin-
ued until the soldier feels perfectly
at home on his nine-foot soles.
To the beginner skees are not only
cumbersome, but painful as well.
Should he strap them on an ordinary
pair of shoes his legs would feel
weighted down like those of diver,
and the muscles of his ankles would
soon begin to ache, as if they had gone
through the setting up stunt of a
military academy. But as soon as
the amateur learns how the veteran
keenan, equips himself he sees his
mistake. The veteran does not wear
shoes, but goat hair socks, and he
fastens his feet to the four-inch strips
of wood by means of straps fastened
into the top of the runner.
Members of the Norwegian skee
regiments contrast strongly with Rus
sian soldiers. They do not wear the
high boots, long coats and heavy
knapsacks of the Muscovites, No
matter how far below zero may be the
thermometer, they wear no overcoats.
The Norwegian skeeman is dressed In
a grayish green uniform, which fits
him tightly and is only heavy enough
to keep him warm. Because of the
color of his clothes he may almost es-
cape detection amid clump of pines,
such as are almost everywhere to be
found on the Scandinavian peninsula.
Besides his rifle, his sole burden is
a 3-pound bag, loaded with provisions,
a sleeping bag, an Iceland sweater, a
change of underwear and a pair of
boots.
When on the march skee infantry
can travel eight miles an hour, going
at a speed about equal to that of an
average carriage horse on the trot.
When necessary such body of troops
can cover 70 miles in a day, or nearly
as great a distance as amateur
bicyclists in the same length of time.
At the command to go into camp the
soldier changes his goat hair socks
and skees for stout pair of boots
wrapped about with pieces of old mil
itary capes to prevent them from get
ting wet and freezing. If the camping
ground is near trees he builds tent
by cutting down fir saplings, trim
ming their trunks clean and stacking
them up against each other so as to
form a cone. their tops tied together
with wire. This skeleton he covers
with canvas walls made of the tri-
angular pieces which each soldier
carries and which are quickly fastened
together by means of hooks and eyes.
When there are no trees near, the
skees are used to support the tents.
If the soldiers are stationed in one
place for any length of time they find
skee coasting the best means of break