The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1916-04-20


standing army.
Men Must Be Prepared.
The main point. as army men view
II. is that this ride OF Colonel Dodd and
his 400 troopers shows what real pre-
paredness means for the individual.
and IL is further urged by the men OF
the service that this physical condt-
tion which is necessary to make men
indure under all conditions cannot be
attained by National Guardsmen or by
volunteer forces until they have bsen
given months OF daily training after
the same manner that II is given to |
'he men who follow the nag as regu- |
lars.
Apparently the effect will be here !
after to impress upon the country that
real preparedness consists IN prepared
ness of men. il takes continued serv-
ice to keep men hard and fit for work
which may come Unexpectedly. The
sixty y-four-year-old colonel who made
his fifty-five miles in seventeen hours
and then fought for FIVE hours has
been an active soldier for forty-four
years. this time including his service as
a cadet at West Point. Dodd is one Of
the few officers of high rank in the
American army who never has had
swivel chair" service except for q
period Of time which is negligible.
Regular ls Always Fit.
II is learned from officers who have
made a study Of the whole prepared
ness situation that It is their belief
that II congress should authorize Q
regular army Of 25OOOO men, which
would mean an army all told Of about
35O,0 900 men, the people could rest
content that this country would be
safe from foreign invasion. 1t is not
at all likely, judging from what one
hears from congress, that such force
will be authorized for a good many
years to come, but admission is made
by the lawmakers that the mainte-
nance of an army of this size would
cost less than to support more elab-
crate soldier-raising scheme which In
wolves simply a partial preparation for
service OF men whose main pursuits
are found in civil life.
The army men say, and they point
to Dodd's achievement to sustain 1t.
that the regular of all branches Is Mt
for instant service in the field. He is
trained daily in all military branches
and the physical exercise which he
gets, the regularity of his hours and
his substantial and good food keep him
ready for emergencies. This naturally
enough is not true of the civilian SOL
dier who gets a month or so Of train
ing every year and has the rest of the
i time to do what he likes with him
self.
Brave Army Post Women.
An army post after the troops have
been ordered into the field is perhaps
one of the best places in the
world at which to find a text
for peace propaganda. The chances
are. however, that the women and
children of an army post would
object to having their manifest anxi-
cites made the subject of discourses.
Army women and children say
, "good-by" to husbands and fathers
, tears afterward it is more than pos
sible that resentment would come il
, any use were made of them in what
might seem to be an attempt to turn
the militant ones from their duty.
The cavalry the other day was or
I dered from Fort Myer, which is just
! across the Potomac from Washing
I ton, to the Mexican border with the
: possibility, perhaps even the proba
, bility. that the service tour might be
: cavalrymen already had taken up the
J chase Of the Mexican bandits. The
! quarters at Fort Myer still are occu
| pied by the families of the fighters.
> When women of an army post thus
3 are left behind with all the anxietiet
( and uncertainties connected with the
t case they make a great showing o
courage. Bridge parties, teas ant
8 kindred social affairs still are the or
s der, but many a wrong card is played
|
t by some ordinarily expert womal
8 bridge player when she sits at tabl
+ with her thoughts on the border II
: stead Of on the game.
t The condition of things at For
Q Myer today is duplicated at man
], other posts in the United States. Tn
= men have gone and the women an
n children have stayed. The newsps
y pers are read eagerly enough by tn
o ordinary civilian in order to get new
y from Funston, or Pershing, or DodC
but the army women take the mornin
and the evening paper the instant tina
l. they can get 1t and read the heaC
d lines, with something that Is not ia
l. removed from dread.
+ In Washington and at Fort Mye
l. there is not evident in army circle
u the dreadful anxiety that was so man
IL fest during the Spanish war. The ca
s ualties in '9S on the battlefield wer
u not very great, although conside
l. able number of officers were killed c
wounded. The gripping anxieties {
el the Spanish war itself were due
IS large part to the exposure to drea
8 disease which was the lot of the arm
70 man. Men came back from that SER
'r ice who had never heard a bullet whi
n tie, and yet had met worse foe, feve
n Many an army officer was compelle
to retire from the service because {
e disease which had fixed itself upo
g. him in the insanitary camps Of on
le section of the United States and {
n Cuba.
r There is little worry among th
lr women of the army today because {
g. the danger from disease. Typhoid an
At yellow fever, the chief disease foe