Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-31
i'm MODERN CHINA
Xl-Military and Naval Progress
By Frederic il HaSkin

lean money. One tael is deducted eacn
month and sent to the magistrate OF
the soldiers home village to be paiu
to the soldiers family. his laulhy
also enjoys certain immunities OF TAX
alton while he is in active serVice
After three years with the regulars the
soldier goes into the first reserves. hs
goes home, draws half pay and is re-
quired to devote two weeks TO urtll
twice a year. Afterward he goes INTO
the second reserves, with still turtner
reduction in pay and fewer require
ments as to drilling. This theory 1A
organization is excellent, and II the SOL
diers are paid regularly and In Iuli
there Is no reason why emma WIN hos
have, in few years, wel-drllieo anu
well-equipped regular army pacKeo Ny
reserve force of Veterans.
The new army recruited and organ
lied in the fashion described, mas
total strength on paper or about 1oV,-
900 men. There is reason to believe tlat
the actual number of men approaches
very nearly to the standard set. Tnen
there is General Mas semi-foreigh
army OF 1000, and the vice-regai nll-
tia of the provinces-an entirely uhcer-
tain quantity. The Manchu Banner
men," composing the ancient imp
WCIe lOul yNeAo obN
their formidable armament or rams ana
bows and arrows. but they are stlll
auartered about over the empire-prac-
tically nothing but pensioners.
The new army Is divided into eight
divisions and twenty unattached prl-
gades, although there is provision for
thirty-six divisions, looking to an ul-
innate strength of forty-hve divisions.
A division when fully recruited mas
strength of 12.375 men, Including Two
brigades OF infantry, one regiment OF
cavalry, one regiment of artillery, ono
battalion of engineers. one transport
battalion, one company hospital corps,
one machine gun section and one bal
! loon section.
In fact, the Chinese army on paper
| Is up-to-date in every respect. HOW
far fact differs from theory Is a much
mooted question, Foreign military OF
ficers who witnessed the maneuvers OF
IL, 900 troops recently were surprised
into unstinted praise of the discipline
and personnel of the army. There Is
not one foreign military officer in China
who SCOTS at the ability of the Chinese
| to organize a formidable army II the
attempt to do so is earnestly made. AT
| the same time, there is none who be-
lieves that the Chinese government VIII
make a serious effort to perfect the
army--at least not at this time.
To the unframed eye Of the civilian
a regiment of Chinese soldiers maneuv-
ering on the parade ground Is as like
a regiment of Japanese as one pea Is
| like another. The presence of the In
evitable queue, of course, is the only
difference perceptible at a distance, as
the taller figures Of the Chinese do not
impress one so much as II the shorter
Japanese were present to emphasize the
contrast. Individually, to the un-
trained eye of the civilian, the six-foot.
well-knit smiling soldier of north
China looks like he could handle a half
dozen little Japanese without difficulty.
But then the Russian is big enough,
and he looks fierce enough. One never
can tell.
The men In the ranks of the Chinese
army wear their "pigtails" carefully
coiled upon top of their heads, under
their military caps. Consequently the
fcaps are quite largo and somewhat
grotesque in shape. The officers, how
ever, wear their queues down theif
backs. According to the regulations
the uniform of the army is black In
winter and "dust-colored" in summer
Translated into practice and English
this means that the winter uniform Is
dark blue and the summer dress Is oi
khaki.
The uniforms, of course, are made
in European styles. At a distance
when one sees a whole regiment OF
even q company on the march. the ef-
feet is very like that of any other body
of troops. But at close range one dis
covers that the uniforms are not only
fearfully and wonderfully made, but
even more fearfully and more wonder
fully put on and worn. The clothing IL
; European in name and general cut
but it is peculiarly Chinese in Its adap'
tations.
The men are armed, for the mos
part, with antiquated Mauser rifles o.
1888, although some commands are
equipped with newer Mausers anc
some have the japanese rife used dur
ing the Russo-Japanese war. On the
whole, the Chinese army of today II
promising as a beginning, but nothing
more. It will be many, many year!
before the Chinese army will be abl'
to realize the hopes of its friends o.
Justify the fears of those who dread th'
''Yellow Peril" in its military manifes
tation.
Tomorrow--In Modern China; xH-Rail
| roads and Rights Recovery.