The L'Anse sentinel., 1908-04-11

,4Fur . gensratioo the Preach MINE
isttry ,of War. hae iptermittsntly threat
eHed the "dr0m-the pride. the symbol
Of glory, the s6iace' and the epitome Of
the French army. Threatened lives
live long apd the. drum: Is not dead
yet The latest threat is omfnous, be-
cause ft lie Indirect. The minister Of
war explains that the law u 1905 re-
ducing the 'c6nscrint's term OF serv-
ice to two years makes "it more. than
ever. necessary that. 'the whole steFm
should be giveis to military. training
proper, and consequently young drum
mers will not be placed In the hands
of the drum majors till q. 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 APP
parently believes that the drum will
remain in only few regiments where
enthusiasts, make It q point OF regi-
mental honor and tradition. And he
desires this result quite. honestly. be-
cause he does not think that even
the veneration OF the French people
for the drum. which has throbbed
through and above all the turmoil Of
their history. jlistifies its retention at
the cost of making thousands OF man
simply drummers instead of soldiers.
Gibbon in his account OF the cap
ture of Constantinople remarks that
the mechanical operation OF sounds
In qutckening the circulation Of the
blood and the spirits has more effect
on the human machine than all the
eioquence of reason and of honor. The
side-drum Is not an instrument OF
music. but marker OF rhythm. But
the kettle-drum is 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-
liable sights OF q military procession
In London Is the traditional flourish
OF Life Guards drummer as 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 foot soldiers 5
drum. which has been associated with
his triumphs and agonies through
generations.
It 10 easy for al. ofiicial'to to say that
bug,e-calls are much easier to dis
tinguish than drum-calls; that learn
ing to play the drum properly is an
unconsciOnable waste OF time: aud
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 argumeet. On the other hand,
there are the exhilSrating 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 it 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 mufYied mOurner for the dead !:
that it was the table fot sparse meals
in bivouacs and the place Of judgment
at dr,im-head courts. The intellectual
may say with Bordereau that the drum
blisters his ears. or the cynic with
Gen. Gallifet that drums at all even IS
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 drum ?"