The Washington herald., 1913-04-01
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

OF the British army officers mess One
| is when a ball or other entertainment
il given in the mess; the other the night
on which. once year. the married ladies
of the regiment are invited to dinner by
the bachelor officers. In regiments which
annually celebrate some event in their
history this is often made ladies night
| in mess, but otherwise New Years Eve
| is a favorite occasion for dining the
ladies. Christmas is little observed in an
| army mess. even outside of Scottish regi-
| ments. where, of course, the New Year,
| is the great event So. far as possible
Christmas Day is made holiday for
the mess servant. and so, with the ex-
ception of the unfortunate orderly dog
tofficer of the day., the officers go out to
Christmas dinner with married comrades
! or civilian friends.
On New Years Eve, however, every
| available officer is present to welcome
| the ladies. They may be accompanied by
! their husbands, but II SO, the latter also
are guests Of the bachelors. To make
things as CHEEKY ard informal as posi-
BILE, the usual rules Of social precedence
are reversed. In the ordinary way the
| senior host would take in the Senior
lady, but on this occasion ii is the
|
| the colonel's wife assuming the colonel
! to be married). while the senior bachelor
escorts the youngest married lady to the
| trophy-laden mess table. youngest" does
not mean point of age Chere might be
heartburnings on this point, but refers
to the ladies' standing in the regiment.
which is measured by their husbands
| rank and seniority.
The topsy-turvy arrangement described
ul
Commanding officer may be "formida-
| ble," and the youngest subaltern
c'boots," as he is called) bashful and
| tongue-tied, while a grizzled and con-
| firmed bachelor of a field officer may find
| 1t hard to amuse a subaltern's girl
bride. Usually, however there Is no alb
sence OF Jollity. always provided that the
regiment is happy" one. though there
Is on record one awful ladies' night"
when OF the seven ladies present only
two were on speaking terms.
Dinner pursues it's appointed course, or
rather courses-in this case more nu-
merous than usual-owing to the intro
duction of various dainties, dear, or sup
posed to be dear, to the feminine palate.
Champagne flows, and the band plays
stimulating dance music outside.
The Kings health is duly toasted and
drunk and, by time-honored custom, the
bandmaster is invited, to take a seat at
the table and to have a glass of wine
and cigar. Then comes the unusual
event In a. mess of pcstprandial speech
making. The senior bachelor has to pro-
pose the health Of the fair guests, a task
which calls for considerable tact, or he
may easily put his foot in it, badly.
The toast is supposed to be responded
to by the youngest married lady.
Usually. however. she delegates this duty
10 boots, and il that young gentle
man does not make an ass Of himself he
must he 4 youth Of singular and I'M
pleasant self possession. Then every
body begins making speeches, some
times simultaneously and time flies.
Meanwhile the men have been gathering
outside the mess
The stroke of twelve sees the usual
handshaking, the band playing AUD
Lang Syne," for all it is worth and
everybody, inside and outside the mess.
chanting it. Again. If it is a HAPPY"
regiment, there will be calls and cheers
from the men for this or that lady, this
or that officer. more speeches, and a
general good time. Often the usually
sacred mess is invaded by daring spirits
from the ranks. who seize and carry
popular officers round the mess or the
harrack square. One New Years Eve
a colonel was carried more or less head
downwards round the ante-room by four
of the vary hardest cases" in the regi-
ment. However, as everything comes to
an end, ladies between / and a IN.
take their departure, having enjoyed an
experience denied to most of their sex.
number Of reasons have been ad-
vanced to account for the shortage of
commissioned officers in the British
army, but the real fact is that they
are underpaid. Although it is no
longer possible to purchase commits
sion, the expenditures attached to
rank in the army are almost beyond
the man who does not possess private
means. The private soldier who, on
account of gallant services rendered,
is offered commission finds such ele-
walton only a questionable blessing,
as it is rather difficult for him to
maintain his new rank on an made
quate pay.
L have compiled figures giving the
present scale of pay in the British
army, which bear out my contention.
A lieutenant colonel receives from ISIS
to fl as cd per day; major. 13s I'd TO
1Ss Cd; captain. lis I'd to 1Js: lieu
tenant, IS cd to 9s 10d; second lieu
tenant, SIS Sd to IS Sd tan adjutant. in
addition to pay as captain or lieuten-
ant, receives IS % 10 IS o0D, quarter
master, ?s to los Cd; regimental SER
geant major, SIS to IS: master gunner.
As Sd 20 IS; quartermaster sergeant,
IS I'd to As Cd: company sergeant ma
jor, So to As 4d; sergeant, IS 4d to IS
4d; corporal, Is Sd to IS Sd; private,
Is TO Is Cd: the higher rates in each
case being for the mounted troops. In
the case OF the last six ranks men
toned. proficiency pay is issued at
rates varying from Sd to Sd per day.
Staff officers draw a consolidated rate
Of yearly pay, inclusive of allowances
such as lodging. forage. &C., which varies
from $3.50 to a commander-in- chief
down to $500 for staff lieutenant not
in quarters.
The lot Of the staff officer is not such
hard one, but the rate of payment
made to junior officers leaves plenty Of
room for improvement. A private in the
army. too. is not overwhelmed with
wealth. All soldiers, on enlistment, are
provided with free outfit of new uni
form, clothing, and other kit. After the
uniform and outfit which is handed to a
man when he enlists is worn out, all
future articles of clothing must be paid
for by him. An allowance, however, for
the upkeep Of uniform, varying accord
ing to the branch of the service, is cred
tied to each man quarterly in advance
from the fourth quarter-day after enlist
ment.
In addition for the allowance for uni
form, articles of kit, calculated from the
date Of completing six months service
at the rate of twopence a day, is credited