The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-07-07

sunshine.
One great idea is to accustom these
men to hauling and pulling; for while
| Alpine troops are on the march it is
, obvious they canot take any pack
animals with them, much less COM
missariat wagons. Each man is
heavily hurdene4 with rife. bayonet.
/ two or three hundred pounds OF ball
+ cartridges, several days rations. a
T steel pointed alpenstocE, some silken
or hemp rupes, snowshoes or ski,
! blankets and other items, which in
+ themselves make UP serious load
20 be carr. i up great mountains by
maths which TO the uninil.aral look
only fit for goats.
And yet, on top Of all this equip
ment, the italian soldier mountain
I cer is required on occasion to take
! over parts of machine Guns, portable
telephones. camp utensils and other
articles. Down below, in Aosta. pack
mules We're loaded up in trains with
the barrels of mountain howitzcrs:
also with their wheels. separately, and
, certain shelter tents, picks and shov-
els and other implements. These
! hardy beasts are led as high as pos
s.ble II tal,a them. but the troops
themselves venture UP Wild icy preci-
pieces Of the Alps Were not even 4
mule could fad foo,ho!d.
At certain point. therefore, the
pack uules are unIaale and led
down again TO tosta, after thcir loads
have been distributed among the
hardy troops. who Shoulder their
added burdens with smile. grip the
ashen shaft OF their alprn5tocils, and
scramble Up the precipices ana al
most perpendicular crags The best
way they can. Sometimes the most
daring among them viii reach point
of vantage, and then lower a rope, up
which his fellows are to climb one
by one.
These soldier mountaineers are the
most wonderful rope climbers | have
ever seen in action. 1t is no small
matter for man to climb up a rope
at all in the ordinary way; then what
must it be when he is loaded with
iicaii! oiAt. pouuuS weight OIL equip
ment? Down at the barracks in the
town all recruits go through regular
exercises in rope climbing, bearing
the whole of their equpage
The idea Of the whole training is
that one day it may be necessary to
meet an enemy equally daring and
skilful among these wild Alpine soil
tUdes For the French also have AL
pine troops. and one may see these
INDUCING in similar strange tactics
on the colossal Mont Blanc itself. 1t
is fact that lightly equipped French
infantrTmen, led by young officers.
have gained the very summit Of the
Alps. which. as every one knows. is
nearly 16,0H0 feet high and is clothed
in eternal snow.
All these soldier mountaineers are
crack shots; and it is difficult to see
how one of the forts held by them
amidt the great granite bOulders and
terrible Dinnacles and spires of the
Great St. Bernard could ever be
forced by AN enemy in the face Of
these troops, who would act as
scouts, crawling up precipicas. and
planting themselves on Wild and
seemingly inaccessible spots, whence
they would pour an invisible fire
which nothing could withstand. These
Alpine troops, when scouting or re-
connoitering in the mountains, use
curious kind Of rifle rest, formed by
three alpenstocks and one Of the pill
lows they use at night when they
sleep in the snow For, strange as it
may seem, these men when bivou-
acking at great attitudes do not
trouble to put UP tents, but merely
dig out caverns in the vast snow
drifts, and line these with water
proof sheets and blankets. and there
sleep amid dreary Alpine desolatiOns
as comfortably as though they were
down on earth in a comfortable city
bed.
The life of the men is magnificent
ly healthy and eXhilarating, as may
be seen by the bright eyes, rosy
cheeks, and clear compilations of
party of scouts that come Slissading
like lightning down the slopes Of
frozen snow on their long curving
Ski, guided and supported by the al
pinestock. The troops also carry
Arctic siedges for the transport of
their wounded" and sometimes
realistic demonstrations are given,
when one or several men will lie at
full length on these sledges and be
oil eaioJ ylaaipY
and snoWtield.
Afterthought.