Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1885-10-24 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

COM. menced his career by the murder of eighty-six of KS relatives, and has continued it in bloodahed. debauchery, and reckless oppression. The application made by the Chief Commissioner of British Burmah for 8000 additional troops before despatching an ultimatum to King Theebaw's Government at Mandalay will, if acceded to, as is considered very probable, largely augment the strength of tha British forces on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, and bring these up to over 12,000 officers and men. The military establishment at present under the orders of the local government, though considered sufficiently strong for ordinary purposes, would prove too small to maintain the regular garrisons at their normal strength, and also wage war even with such a potentate as the King of Burmah, consisting all it does of only three batteries of Royal Artillery and two battalions of European Infantry, with three battalions of natives from the Madras Army. At Toungoo there is stationed the Bth Battery of the let Brigade London Division Royal Artillery, under Major W. H. F. Smell; at Thayetmyo No. 5 Battalion Ist Brigade Southern Division, under Major F. M. E. Vibart ; and at Rangoon No. (3 Battery of the same brigade, under Major F. M. Robinson. The two battalions of European Infantry are the 2nd Brigade of Prince Albert's Somersetshire Light Infantry, cons. manded by Colonel Leet, V.C., and the 2nd Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers (Colonel R. W. C. Winsloe). These troops with the three Madras native regiments, which are composed of very efficient soldiers, are stationed mostly at the two places already mentioned, and at Rangoon, really the commercial capital of the Peninsula ; but their numbers are to some extent reduced by the necessity of supplying detachments for Moulmein and the Andaman Islands, where there are important Indian penal establishments. Of local forces there are, however, two batteries of artillery volunteers, and an eight-company battalion of rifles at Rangoon, while the Burmah State Railways maintain a four-company battalion, the whole of the volunteers being under the command of Major J. R. M'Cullagh, of the Royal Engineers. The regular troops in the dependency are usually supplied from the Madras establishment, and should the whole of the 8000 asked for be drawn from the Madras Presidency they would have to be chiefly made up of native troops, as the European forces subject to the Right Hon. M. E. G. Duff, Use Governor, and including those now in Burmah, are the 12th Lancers and 14th Hussars, two batteries of Horse Artillery, eight of Field Artillery, one heavy and one mountain battery, and four garrison battalions, the K Company Royal Engineers and eight battalions of infantry. The six beyond those already on the spot being the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, at Cananore ; Bedford. shire Regiment, at Bellary ; South Wales Borderers, at Fort St. George, Madras; Hampshire and Middlesex Regiments, at Secunderabad ; and Royal Munster Fusiliers, at Kamptee. Under the circumstances it is not improbable that the supplementary force may be drawn from the large military forces of Bengal.  AN