The Hartford republican., 1914-11-06
SlDEL|GHTS
ON The WAR
Soldier Today Is Pack
Horse and Laborer.
French Tell Of Aviator's Exploit
Russian Cossack Cap
tured General.

roDe went to the war imagining that
il was TO he an affair of bloodstir-
ring charges, chin red line of he
roes," reviews to inspiring music
and the pomp and glory that have
been associated with battle, it is
likely that they have long since been
disillusioned.
Aside from the danger, the hard
ships and the suffering, the soldier
of today is one of the hardest work
ed men the world has ever known.
While machinery in other fields
has lessened the labor of the indi-
vidual, the machines that have been
devised for war serve no other pur-
pose than killing the individuals
more rapidly and at longer dis
tance.
The soldiers who are fighting in
Europe today are working harder
than any soldiers in history.
They are combinations of pack
horses and daily laborers.
A large part of their time is spent
marching as rapidly as they can un-
der their heavy kits, no matter how
rough the road.
When not marching they supend
most Of their time digging trenches.
Already thousands of miles of tren-
ches have been dug by the soldiers
in France and Belgium. In addition
TO the more elaborate line of defen
ses- which are constructed for
stand OF any length the soldiers dig
temporary shelters wherever they
stop.
People who have glimpsed the
battlefields of France and Belgium
say the country resembles a hugh
rabbit warren because of the multi
plicity of trenches.
so much digging has to be done
that the pick and shovel seem more
appropriate than the sword and the
gun as the symbols of war.
When he is not marching or dig
ging the private spends his time
shooting at an enemy he cannot
see or being shot by an invisible
foe.
Occasionally he gets a bite to eat.
and once in a while he sleeps. In
the battles that have ragged for days
many oi the soldiers have fought
until they were so completely eX-
haudtel that they fell down and
slept Oh the shrapnelswept, bullet
ridden field.
A Pack Animal.
In the retreat to Paris says a
writer in the Worlds Work. one
French regiment went twenty to
twenty-five miles day in full
marching order and fought between
times.
This means that every man turns
himself into a pack animal Every
infantryman is loaded with fifty or
SIXTY pounds of kit, including his
rifle, intrencbing tool, extra clothes,
cooking equipment, etc. A healthy
man unincumbered can walk four
miles an hour. 1t is good gait. But
a soldier loaded with a third of his
own weight and moving in large
bodies does very well if he averages
@~o and half miles an hour. Where
roads are narrow or bad the men
in frort delay those behind. and
almost always there is dust or mud
80 contend with. The dust of thous- |
ands OF shuffling feet of men and
horses, .aR be a binding, choking
cloud that adds much hardship to a |
march; and in mud the weight and !
balance of Il pack makes marching |
:. constant strain.
The field service regulations Of the !
German army say:
"MaiC ching constitutes the greater |
part OF the work performed by |
troops in war. The success of every |!
operation depends on the unfailing |
execution OF marches"
The French military authorities |
are said TO train their soldiers in ,
marching more than any other ma
lion. They feel that this not only /
enables the men to get over ground T.
more rapidly, but develops the power .
OF endurance for the battlefield to !
the utmost.
The Qualifications of soldier |
may justly ho rated in this order:
First Ability TO march.
Secoud--Ahility 10 pack. /
Third-A Ability to dig.
Fourth Ability 10 fight
Stury of a Cossack Who Carried of |
A General.
A Pttrograd special TO the Lon
don Post tells the following story |
of how a Cossack abducted an Aus