The San Francisco call., 1906-03-25
To Be Kn0wn as the
Legion of From
IzerSWzGn.
Will GoUeyn HseHI
During the Time
of Peace.
Ready to Do SeyUlce
Where Trouble
Occurs.
Special Cable to The Call.


on the surface in the sanction just
given by Mr.. Haldane. the new Liberal
Secretary of War, to the establishment
of the Legion Of Frontiersmen. APP
parently it's field Of operations is to be
the whole wide world, and it's COM
ponent parts the British empires most
vigorous and picturesque Inhabitants
those of whom Kipling wrote:
There's legion that never was listed.
That carries colors crest.
But split in thousand detachments,
Is breaking the road for the rest.
OF the best men of this heretofore
wholly unauthorized horde" a new
army is now to be formed, entirely
civilian in organization, unfettered by
any red tape, self governing and self
supporting in time of peace, but ready
wherever and whenever there is trouble
to take the field and tackle the lighting
Jobs for which the rough and ready life
of the frontier affords far better train
ing than any machine-made army pro-
vides
Because America contains better ma
terial than is found anywhere else in
the world for the formation of SINH
lar organization, and the wars in which
the United States may become engaged
are likely to be of kind that will af-
fOrd excellent opportunities IOT the eIu-
ployment of Just such a force. the ro-
mantle story of the founding of the
Legion of Frontiersmen, its plan and
scope Will be of great interest TO Amer
lean readers.
The founder of this new army is
Roger Pocock,S an English gentleman
rover, author and adventurer, who has
spent most of the forty years Of his
lue In hunting trouble, and has been
f1,li if, in n That is shown
by his thrilling book, "A Frontiersman,"
which is really his autobiography, and
his wildly exciting story, Curly" which
is based on his own personal expert
ences among the robbers of the Wild
West. He has taken part in several
campaigns and has engaged in no less
than thirty varieties of the damned
fool trades" as he calls them, because
we who serve In them get only small
part of our wages in cash, taking the
balance in kind, in excitement, discom-
fort, adventure, plague. pestlence and
famine, battle, murder and sudden
death"
1t was at the Savage Club that Mr..
Pocock told me the story of the found
ing of the Legion of Frontiersmen.
Personally Mr.. Pocock is one of the
urbane of manner, there is nothing
about him remotely suggestive of a
dare devil, according to the popular no.
tions of that type of character. That
makes him all the more interesting. 1t
sets you wondering what 1t is in him.
of which the outer man conveys no
hint, that has impelled him so often to
go forth on the long trail, and risk his
life, apparently just for the sheer JOY
of risking II.
"In civilized life," he said, "a mus
tache and trousers are held sufficient
evidence of manhood. But to enter our
ranks a man must first be passed by
Dr. Death, and with merciless certainty
he tells the unfit to fall out. So we are
trained men, yet those who have been
through our training have usually been
more or less damaged. Having been
out In the weather we are not pleasing
to the medical eye, for our most alert
hunters, needing four eyes in their busi-
ness. have taken TO spectacles; our
scouts are apt to be gone at the knees;
orr fighters have been variously pune
tured with small arms ammunition; our
rough riders have their tnsides shaken
into a Encouragement. with the thirst
department on top. So the scars of the
veteran. the proofs of endurance, make
MANY of them medically unfit"
Mr. Pocock himself, though still first
class fighting man, belongs to the latter
category. While chasing Louis Riel. the
famous French-C Canadian outlaw, he had
the toes OF his right foot frozen off.
It was about ten years ago that some
idea of enlisting the LEGION that never
was listed" occurred to him. At that
time he had temporarily abandoned his
fayorite pastime of hunting for trouble
on the outskirts or civilization and was
sojourning in London.
at was sharing rooms" he said. with
a publisher and chap who had lately
started an insurrection in China In the
hone Of getting himself made Emperor,
but was compelled to give up the notion.
when he was caught with shipload Of
arms on the Yangtse.
"All the filibusters in London used to
gather at our rooms to spin yarns and
drink punch. 1t struck me then that
club of adventurers would be good fun
and that it might be extremely useful in
bringing together the sort of men who
could best serve the empire as guides,
scouts and raiders In warfare. Nothing,
however came of 1t and I started hunt
ing trouble again as captain of pack
train in the West. Later as scout in
South Africa, during the Boer war, hap
pened to get punished for feeding grass
to a horse by an officer who didn't know
that the horse was grass-feeding
animal.
..I realized then that we frontiersmen
were being put to wrong uses and my
subsequent experience in the campaign
strengthened that conviction We had
t1rnbled all over each other to take a
hand in the fight. Outnumbering the
Beers. we frontiersmen of the empire, in
stead of beating them at their own game,
frittered away our strength playing at
soldiers and initiating Tommy. It is with
no grudge, but with loving admiration,
that we own up now how well he knew