The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1917-07-10
Least Difficulty Found Was OBJ
tanning Men in Early Days
of the War.
PROBLEMS QUICKLY SOLVED
System 10 Finally Established After
Early Biundering and the Present
Day Efficiency of the Troope
in France Is Testimony to
the Thoroughness of
Their Training.


New York.-We received from the
office of the general staff an interest
ing article on the Organization and
Training of the New Armies of Great
Britain" which tells us that the British
| army that went out to Mons in the
early days of August, 1914, was proba-
bly, the best trained army that has ever
left England, the Army and Navy Jour-
nal states. Nearly all the officers were
men who took a keen interest in their
profession and who availed themselves
Of every opportunity to increase their
military knowledge and experience.
The training of part of the expedition
airy force at AldershOt, under the COM
manders who themselves led it into ac-
I ton, was training such as never had
been seen in England. Owing to the
stress of circumstances the training of
! the new armies during the first period
was less complete than that Of the ar
mics organized later in the second
period, but both armies were character
lied by the spirit which puts life into
the instruction in military duties.
The practical training in small wars
had taught the British soldier the ines
Unable value of never knowing when
he is beaten, the Russians saying that
the English never win more than one
victory in a war-but that is the last.
This and a strong regimental feeling
which has always been characteristic
of the British army have been pre-
served in the armies now in the field.
Men at First Responded Quickly.
This regimental feeling tends to
make officers and men one happy fam
ily proud of themselves, Jointly anx-
ious to make their regiment glory to
the British army. 1t cultivates a spirit
of self-reliance, loyalty and kindness,
all based upon the strong sense of dis
cipiine and community of interest. 1t
is a broadminded and tolerant method
which insists on smartness and on duty
and discipline anu high courage and
courtesy, but not on hate.
The men who came into the army as
recruits were the kind who were ready
to respond to the British methods of
training a volunteer army. The least
difficulty found was in obtaining the
men in the early days of the war. Re-
cruitS came faster than they could be
taken care of and supplied with proper
equipment. Some 100000 troops were |
housed in hired buildings and other |
temporary quarters, but within a year
huts to hold three-quarters of a million
men, with water andslight laid on, had |
been built, besides various enormous
depots for stores, remounts, etc. These
huts seemed to spring up in every part
of the country; one great bare moor
land in the midiands, uninhabited
since the dawn of history, had been
covered with new roads, railways,
pumping establishments, power sta
tons and huts for some 10000 indiyid-
ualS.
Soldiers Quarters and Food.
Within year the problem of quar-
tering the troops in the chief training
centers had been solved. The previous
accommodations were
the cause of bad discipline and sloven-
~ training. Fortunately a satisfactory :
system for feeding the troops On war
basis had been elaborated two years
before the war. A description of this
method is given. At the beginning GER
tain articles of food, especially meat,
we're so excessive that great waste re-
suited, also owing much to the ignOr-
ance of the soldiers detailed for cook
ng duties, who served the excellent
'ood provided in a slovenly unappetiz-
ng way, and improvement followed the
of schools in instruction
u cookery and the admonitiOn to COM
handing officers to lay stress on the
variety in the cooking of the food, on
cleanliness and on economy. ,
Clothing the recruits was another ..
lifficulty experienced at the beginning. ;
important parts of the equipment such
Is army boots were for a long time sad ;
v deficient. The enlargement of old :
,lants, the erection of new plants and
in the methods of manufac-
ure was a slow and laborious process.
When the war started, England seemed
O have been as badly off in matters of
applies as we. They had less than
100000 rifles, only half of them the
Attest pattern. The weekly output of p
ifles in the United Kingdom was under
700, which could be increased some
What by night shifts, but which at the !.
est was infinitesimal compared with
he needs of the new army. Unfortu-
ately the rife though needed in larger
Quantities than any other weapon for :
n army, requires longer time than s
ny other before its manufacture with
ew plants can be started, owing large
? to the number Of gauges of extreme :
ccuracy required in the process: con. :,
equently the recruits had to wait ;,
)ng. .
BY January, 1915, the first new army