The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1916-10-02
Newspaper Enterprise AssocintiOn)
BY CHARLES Il. RUSSELL.

Newspaper Enterprise AssocintfOn)
BY CHARLES Il. RUSSELL.
BERNIE, Switzerland, Oct. L.
A stirring old picture of life in
Switzerland AS 1T USED TO BE
hangs in one of the galleries here.
1t shows village reused at night
by the war alarm. The signal is
burning on the bundspitz, or
alarm station, that overlooks the
valley, and the people are rush
ing from their homes, the men
arming themselves as they come.
That was the war summons,
right enough, in those days. The
moment an invader set foot in
the land the fires flashed from
hill to hill like the fiery cross of
Scotland, and the stern Swiss war
riors came out to fight.
The bundspitzen are still there,
the alarm signal tripod is on
each of them, as every traveller
knows: and the people, you may
say, still sleep on their arms, but
other things have changed.
Gives Alarm, Then
AT 10 minutes past midnight on
August /, 1914, the Swiss govern
ment, for the first time, sent out
the war alarm or fiery cross in it's
modern shape. 1t was an order
by telegraph mobilizing the Swiss
army. and in two hours it had
reached every station in the coun-
try.
At the word, government Off
GERS in every city, town and WILL
age went forth to post up noti-
ces prepared for such an emer-
gency. and to wake the people, in
some cases with the telephones
and in others with the fire
engines.
By 6 o'clock the men began to
issue from their homes, fully uni
formed and fully equipped, each
with his rifle. At half past Z the
ranks in the towns and cities were
: formed, every man know his place
and falling into it automatically.
Before 8 o'clock the trains that
were ready and waiting on the
government railroads began to
move the troops toward the from
,, tier.
In the sparsely settled
rural regions, where the
meeting places were far off,
more time was required, but
by nightfall, 100000 soldiers
were on the border or near.
ing it, and at z O'Clock the
morning of August 2 practi.
cally the entire active army
4 of Switzerland, 4OO,O 900 men,
were i'm its positions guard.
ing the boundary lines. A
few hours before and they
had been working i'm the
fields, factories and stores!
This beat all the records of
lquick mobilization. 1t beat even
the Germans, with all their deserv-
ed fame for efficiency and prepa-
ration. All the other nations of
Europe we're modifying. NONE
lOF THEM Modified so
| SWIFTLY, AND EFFICIENTLY
las THE SWISS.
-Four hundred thousand
men, fully equipped, at their
posts In 80 hours, was the
record for Switzerland!
IL remember rightly, 80
| 900 men i'm 80 days was the
record of the United States
militia when called out by
the Mexican crisis.
| The 100000 trained,
equipped and efficient troops
of Switzerland cost little
more than one-half as much
as the 10000 unframed
| troops Of the United States.
Our system, put to the
test, FILLED US WITH
| CHAGRIN AND DISGUST;
THE SWISS SYSTEM, PUT
| TO THE TEST. WORKED
WITH THE PRECISION OF
| A STEAMSHIPS ENGINES.
| "Ah, yes-militarism," says
lsome American, as wrapped In
selfAsatisfaction as a turtle in his
shell. All, no! Not militarism.
Not in 600 years. There is no
J militarism in Switzerland--not a
particle Of 1t. This is no soil for
such a growth. To put militarism