The Washington herald., 1915-09-26

special London cOrreSpOnoent OF the
New York Herald. for three years Sun-
day Editor Of the New York Sun. and
formerly Editor Of the Cosmopolitan
Magazine.
VYY HEN your train rolls into a
" station in the northwest prov
inces of Canada your eye will
nearly always be attracted by a bright
red spot in the crowd waiting on the
platform. 1t is the scarlet jacket of a
northwest mounted policeman.
| He is always on the job. generally
alone, but sometimes in pairs, never
more than pairs. and, believe me,
those pairs will beat four of a kind
of the ordinary or garden variety of
policeman.
| The field of operations of the north.
west mounted police covers an enor-
nous territory. several times as big
as Europe. and includes the entire
provinces of Alberta. Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, Hudson Bay and Yukon. II
| 1t took in twice as much / havn't a
doubt that those troopers would ef-
| fectively patrol it. They are wonders:
the best organized and most .eompe-
tent force of military police in the
world. A few years ago there were
three other organizations in the same
class-the Mexican "Rurales," the
constabulary. Today the rurales are
practically noneXistent. while the
guardia civil and the Irish consta bu-
| larry have lost much Of their old -time
prestige. so that the northwestern
mounted police stand pre-eminent and
unrivaled.
:. Maj. Fitz Horrigan is the chief in
| spector of the force. He looks the
part. Also he acts it. for he issvigor-
IL
eous. His headquarters are at CAL
gary. and it was there that we lunch
ed together and he told me of the in
ner life of this remarkable body of
men of whom he has charge.
When Col. Roosevelt came through
here little while ago." said Maj
HorriSan. .'he told me that he was dis
appointed to find our men dressed in
red coats, that they should wear
khaki. which was the uniform for a
soldier in service, and SO on quite ex-
tensively: He was emphatic about it,
too.
When he had said it all, I told him
that I agreed with him perfectly, that
| our men always dress in khaki when
In active service-that is, when out on
patrol, and that only in towns or when
| on parade do they wear the scarlet
/ tunic which Is their distinctive uni
! form. There is good reason for
| wearing the red coat in towns, as in
| crowd it is easily distinSuisha BILE,
while nowadays, when SO many civil
| ians out here wear khaki clothes, 1t
is hard to tell a man in uniform from
one who is not. We want our men to
be conspicuous and easily picked out
They are not plain-clothes detectives
but military police. and they don't sail
; under false colors. Col. Roosevelt was
quite satisfied with this explanation"
How many men have you in the
force?" l asked.
Fourteen hundred now. Formerly
We had only 1000. but since the war
began the force has been increased.
OF course, in the old days when we
had Indian troubles to straighten out
it was still larger"
What nationality are the majority
of the troopers?"
The greater part are English-born,
but all nations are represented. It's
only a mans fitness we look into, not
where he was born. Naturally, our
recruits are mainly young men of an
adventurous turn of mind. The life
is not an especially hard one, If you
don't count being many hours in the
saddle a hardship, but the work does
call for a cool head, good judgment,
and quick decision. OF course, the
mounted policeman must be brave.
That goes without saying. as it does
in the case of any soldier. The life
is one continual adventure. and it is
the love of adventure that keeps our
ranks always full and with a waiting
list"
rs the pay good?"
Yes, l think so. everything consid-
cred. They start at a dollar a day.
That steadily increases with the length
of service and then there is a very
generous pension allowance. The
trooper has practically no expense, as
everything is found. and their mounts
are superb. There is not a better
mounted body of cavalry in the world.
Grating Is unknown"
Are they, as a rule. rather tough
lot Of men. who are living under assumed
names and left their last homes between
two days? Something like the French
Foreign Legion in African"
NO; they are not. I believe there to
be only a few cases where men are hid
ing their identity. We know pretty well
nearly all about who our troopers are
and what their past life was. They are
healthy young fellows. full of animal
spirits. who crave an outdoor life and the
excitement Of adventure which they could
not get at home. The majority are well
bred and well educated: many of them
are younger sons of titled families IN
England. Only a few days ago Lady
- arrived here in Calgary from Lon
don. She came to see her two sons, who
are in our force. 1t was a question
whether they should re-enlist with us or
60 to the mother country and join Kitch-
ener's army She called on me, and
was only too glad to tell her everything.
Lady - decided that her sons should
stay here"
Have many Of your men left the force
to join the army at the 'front.'"
They would If they could have done
so. but they are not allowed to-"
.'Why?'
Because IL we let some go we would
have to let ALL and our force would be
disastrously depleted. The training they
get with us fits them for quick promo
ton in the army. and they all ache to
get there. Several have deserted to go
overseas. and in each case they have left
letters saying that they are coming back
to US when the war Is over. Mike Leary.
who was given the Victoria Cross for
capturing single-handed a trench full of
Germans. was formerly a mounted police
man. That shows what kind of stun our
boys are made off,
Are there many remittance men in
your force?
Some, not many. AS a rule. they are
not the sort Of men that would care for
our work and. to be truthful. we don't
very much care for them. They are apt