Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1907-12-26
MAY GIVE UP DRUM
FRENCH MINISTER OF WAR IS
ouTsPokEN.
Thinks Time OF Soldiers Can BE More
Probably Employed Than In Beat.
Ing Stretched sheepskln, But
Public May Differ.

For a generation the French min
isttry of war has internationally threat
ened the drum-the pride, the symbol
Of glory, the solace and the epltome OF
the French army. Threatened lives
live long and the drum is not dead
yet. The latest threat is ominous, be-
cause 1t is indirect. The minister Of
war explains that the law Of 1905 re-
ducing the conscript's term Of sery-
ice to two years makes 1t more than
eve necessary that the whole term
should be given to military training
proper. and consequently young drum.
mers will not be placed In the hands
OF the drum majors till a year after
they have Joined the army. and then
their practice must be conducted out
side the hours Of ordinary drill and
training. The minister OF war ap-
parently believes that the drum will
remain in only q few regiments where
enthusiasts make 1t a point Of regi-
mental honor and tradition. And he
desires this result quite honestly, be-
he does not think that even
the generation Of the French people
for the drum. which has throbbedl
through and above all the turmoil Of
their history. justifies its retention at
the cost Of making thousands of men
simply drummers instead of soldiers.
Gibbon in his account Of the cap
ture Of Constantinople remarks that
the mechanical operation of sounds
in quickening the circulation Of the
blood and the spirits has more effect
on the human machine than all the
e%loQuence Of reason and of honor. The
side-drum is not an instrument Of
music, but a marker Of rhythm. But
the kettle-drum Ia a subtle thing
which has been more and more stud
led and employed since Beethoven vir-
tually promoted 1t to be q solo instru.
ment, and Berlioz wrote In its praise
with enthusiasm. One Of the inim.
table sights of a military procession
In London Ii the traditional flourish
OF a Life Guards drummer az he
plays the kettle-drums at the head Of
the regiment. The very action of the
horse makes 1t seem that he, too, un-
derstands the dignity and the potent
use of the instruments he hears. But
here we speak not Of kettle-drums, but
Of the plain, banging fo~ot-soldier's
drum, which has been associated with
his triumphs and agonies through
generations.
1t is easy for an official to say that
bugle-calls are much . easier to dis
tinguish than drum-calls; that learn.
ing to play the drum properly is an
un~conscionable waste of time; and
that the French army drums are a
Moloch which require the sacrifice of
$4,000 good fighting men. Two divi,
sions Of infantry-it is a tremendous
official argument, On the other hand,
there are the exhilarating drum.taps
which as they come down the street
make the citizen forget argument and
remember only that the skin OF the
French drum passed everywhere over
the plains Of Europe; that 1t was
parched in Spain and shrunk In the
rains Of Pomerania, and was covered
with SNOW In Russia; that 1t was the
furious encourager of gallantry and
the mufled mourner for the dead
that 1t was the table for sparse meals
in bivouacs and the place Of judgment
at drum-head courts. The intellectual
may say with Bordereau that the drum
blisters his ears, or the cynic with
Gen. Gallifet that drums at all events
do not make so much noise as retired
generals. But will the French people
and the French fantassins, part with
their venerated symbol, with
The story OF two hundred years
Writ on the parchment Of a drum