HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1914-10-15, Page 6WOBIEILATION OF HORSES
BIG TASK OP THE EARLY
ARMY MOVEMENTS.
The horses Came Out of Farmers'
Fields and Stables of the
Aristocrats.
In the mobilization of an army
such as the ones now fighting in
Europe the general reader thinks
only of the task of drawing the re-
servists from the civil occupations
into which, after their period of
compulsory service with the colors,
they have settled down, and return-
ing them to. the brigade or corps to
which they are attached. That is
a gigantic task of infinite detail, but
there is one matter of prime impor-
tance to which the public seenns not
to have had its attention Balled.
That matter is the mobilization of
horses,
Every fit horse is needed for the
European armies, as is every fit
man. In France, .and presumably
also in Germany, there was kept Al
register of horses capable of mili-
tary service, with a rating as to
whether of use to the cavalry, ar-
eillery or quartermaster, subsis-
tenee or sanitary service. The re-
cord of each horse showed the sex,
.age. weight, height, color, confor-
mation, width of breast between the
points of the shoulder, ciroiunfer-
ence of sur oingie, circumference of
eannonbone and distance from the
rawest point of the girth to the
ground,
The register showed the name of
the owner and the nature of the
work performed by the herse and
the location of the stable. If the
owner said the horse he must report
that Pact to the proper military au-
thority and the new owners' name
was entered on the horse index. If
the stable of the horse was changed,
that fact was made
A Manor of Record.
Track was kept of that horse, so
that he might be mobilized with the
least loss of time. Mobilization of
the horses and their shipment to
concentration or mobilization cen-
tres should take more time than the
mobilization of men, end in the mase
of the French array in this war it
did.
Countless thousands of the homes
now drawing th,e guns and caissons
of the French field artillery were a
few days ago drawing plows and
carts, The French field artillery
during peace duty kept on hand
only about one-fifth of the number
of horses required for war. When
the field artillery went from a peace
footing toga war footing only one of
the six horses in the gun team and
one in the caisson team were bro-
ken and hardened to artillery ,har-
ness and work.
Thee voteran horse was made the
near -wheeler, the wheel team usual-
ly doing a little more than its share
of .the work in starting the ear-
riege, its full share in pulling it,
and doing .all the work of checking
the carriage en down grades not
eteesri enough to justify the use of
the brake. It Is the near horse in
the teres pairs, the wheel, :swing
and lead, which oarrie's the driver,
though on the march the driver is
periadienhly shifted to the off-_
hoesi.. on his pair..
Tlw rear -wheeler en the French
artillery is expeeted to pull about
000 lbs, carry on bis bark 230 lbs.,
!hold back with his mate at •a, trob
5.20 lbs„ and Jokiest !autos' move-
VOMESSISMitimmORgarlantatimq
FASHIONABLE RUE.DE STATION
LOWAIN'5 Al2ISTOCRATIC THOR--''
':OUCF,2E,IN DTALRUJN5
rents of the wheelers and leader
at turns.
About three years ego. under th
direction of the French Minister
War, there was carried out
A. Severe Test,
covering two weeks, of the value o
the small but strong and cemeae
horse for artillery use. The Gov
ernment bought forty-five small an.
stocky Breton horses and fifteen
the small Ardennes horses ,putting
them in a batterw with sixty old
artillery horses. Most of the Bre-
ton animals were mares and four-
teen of .them had colts. These horses
under trial were from fourteen
hands 2X, inches to fifteen hands
high. A hand is four inches. The m
battery arched oompletely loaded
and equipped for war.
The test followed this programme :
On the first clay the march was 15N
miles; second day, 15% miles;
third day, 18% miles; bivouac that
night; fourth day, Mee miles; sixth
day, 21% miles, resuming the march
that night: All these marches were
at the regulation gaits, walk and
trot, not exceeding five miles an
hour, On the seventh day the bat-
tery rested.
On the eighth, ninth, tenth and
eleventh days the marches 'and
manoeuvres were on the theory that
the battery was a part of a fighting
three, taking up positions, changing
to new ones, firing and retreating.
The battery would move forward at
a teat past infantry to come into ac-
tion. It would sometimes trot 5%
miles broken by half a mile at a
walk, and after the days fighting it
would march to a bivouac shout
four miles distant, the caissons be-
ing drawn by four horses only.
The report of the board conduct-
ing the test—nine artillery and cav-
alry ofacers, one veterinary and ane
civilian—made a report which was
published in the Revue d'Artillerie
and a translation dthe report was
published in the Field Artillery
Journal. The report said:
"The weather was for the most
part bad, with much lain night and
day. The nights were generally
cold.
The Roads Were Hilly,
s
e
of
f
t
e.1
and the grounds over which the bat-
tery moved to take up positions was
wet and heavy. While the battery
remained in position, say one hour
at a time, the horses were exposed
to very cold winds. •Except on one
day, the noon feed was not preced-
ed by watering.
"During the second period a con-
tinued trot of five miles was taken
up each day, followed by one or
two miles se a walk on rough roads.
The changes of position were made,
requiring marehes of from two to
three miles over heavy ground
where pulling was difficult."
With all this work the smala
horses gained in weight and the test
was declared a emcees in showing
the service Lability of small horses
when they had the proper relation
of massmettle, height and build.
The artillery of most of continental
Europe is being drawn over roads
to -day by horses which would bring
a smile to the lips of Canadian of5.-
cers, if they did not, bring bo their
lips something more severe than a
smile.
One of she lessons from this is
that a battery may named, well and
shoot well. without being able to put
up a snappy drill.
In the preface of ibis w.ar, when
a horse was taken from his French
owner by the military authorities
the -owner was given .a r'eeeipt for
the animal at its government ap-
praised value. This receipt is eon-
vertible into a non-interest-bearing
government bond redeemable en the
restoration of peace.
In France were a number of ras-
ing stables, and these fine animals
were taken over in the great
umbilizetion. There were Ameriean
rating stables in Germany, Austria
and Russia, and ;presumably these
fast horses are nowrin the military
service of those nations under offi-
oers' saddles. - In England the news
has been told of horse owners of
valuable stock "volunteering" their
horses to the English government,
and the fine coach horses of Alfred
V
A SQUADRON OF GE IE`N CALVARYpASSING BYTnRUINS
.Of 1.OWAIN'SCE[.EBRATIrD UNIVERSITY
G. Vanderbilt, which have taken
prizes in many horse shows and
hauled coaches in the coaching
marathons, are probably to -day in
artillery harness.
e•
BRITAIN EARED OF SPIES
t
WRITER TELLS OF TRICKS
OF' THE GERMANS.
Secret A.gents of the Kaiser have
Been Scattered Over Eng-
land for Years.
William le Queux, the popular
novelist, who has studied interna-
tional politics and written novels
dealing •with intrigues and battlers
of nations, praises the British Cabi-
net for their prompt action in hand-
ling the war situation, and also ad-
mires 'the military for its prompt
mobilization of the troops. He says:
"Even more satisfactory, 1 think,
is the way in which; this country is
now being cleared of German spies.
Of one thing you may be quite cer-
tain—that this war will result in
the Secret Service Department
adopting such measuree in future
that the German spy .who values his
skin will be too frieghtened to live
among us for the purpose of prying
into our military and naval sec-
rets."
On this phase of the wear Mr. Le
Queux knows exactly what he is
talking about. There is no men who
possesses a more intimate know-
ledge of the secret services of con-
tinental powers. For several years
he has worked quietly and assidu-
ously, gathering first hand informa-
tion concerning German spies, and
the knowledge he has gained of their
methods and the discoveries he has
made have proved 6f the greatest
value to our Foreign Omee.
"Curiously enough," continued
Mr. Le Queux, "the public for some
time refused to believe in the per-
fect organization of the German es-
pionage system in this country. To-
day they are beginning to realize
what a menace to. us German spies
actually were. In 1908, while re-
connoitring with two milibary ex-
perts between the Tyne and the
Thames, work which occupied 12
months, for the purpose of writing
my forecast, 'The Invasion,' 1 dis-
covered extraordinary activity
among German seeret agents. They
seemed to be everywhere, collect-
ing details of telegraphic communi-
cation, telephones, fodder, horses,
the location of banks, post -offices,
food steres, etc.
A Secret. Department.
"It was ih consequence of my dis-
eoveries that Colonel Mark Lock-
wood asked a question in the House
of Commons regarding German
spies in this eounbry, a •question
which was met with laughter. Eight
days ,later' ( pleeed before the au -
glorifies 200 documents weich left
no cloubt as to the exact si&aation.
Without any delay theyquietly es-
tablished a eonfidential department
to investigate the matter, and b
rogister all suspected of being Ger-
man agents, 1
"This department was placed un-
der the' direction of a clever and
ingenious official, who gathered
around him a number of gentlemen
who, without r•emun'erati.en, made
inquiries in all directions. This was
done so quietly that even the police
did not know of the existence of
the department, many of the mem-
bers of the staff being actually un-
known to one another. Spies were
watched not only in England, but
also on the Continent, and so cle-
verly was the department organized
that in some cases documents,
plans, and reports which were ta-
ken over to Ostend, the favorite
rendezvous, by German agents, to
be handed over to the 'fixed post'
the man who collects them and
sends them to the, secret authority—
were secured by our agents and ac-
tually returned to England again.
"It was very quickly apparent
that Germany had thrown en enor-
mous number of secret agents, upon
our shores. I estimated the number
at 2,000, and events have since
proved that I was right."
Spies as Musicians.
Mr. Le Queux bras played no small
part in these investigations, and
has come across many interesting
and dramatic incidents. Five years
ago a very excellent German band
appeared in London, and played its
plaintive tunes in various parts el
the metropolis. Six months later,
during which time the members of
the bared were successful in making
a complete survey of the water
mains of London, paying particular
attention to those supplying the east
end and the reservoirs at Hampton
and other places, the itinerant musi-
cians went to Manchester, Liver-
pool, Leeds, and Newcastle, mak-
ing similar investigations.
"It was at the latter town that I
accidentally 'came across these musi-
cians," said Mr. Le Queux, "and
found that each member was a Ger-
man officer, They must have sus-
pected something, however, for they
disappeared the following day.
"In another case, in a smrall vil-
lage in Rutland, evidence was ob-
tained not so long ago that a party
of Germans had taken a furnished
hours and were manufacturing
bombe to he used in the sudden raid
which Germany intended t0 make
on these shores."
The Onsweep of Islam.
It is a striking fact that, there are
five million more Moslems than
Christians in the British Empire.
One-seventh of the whole human
race is Moslem. The really eignifi-
cant feet is that the proportion is
not rat a standstill; it is increasing
yearly. There are 00,000,000 Mo-
hammeodans in India, said the num-
ber is steadily growing. During the
last deoacle the Moslem population
of India increased by only two per
Dent. Many more natives ere be-
coming Mohammedans every year
them are turning to Christianity,
There are 24,000,000 Mohammedans
in Java, ..Mo11atneedanism is abso-
lutely dominant in Persia. To -day
newly all the sacred places named.
in the Bible. aro under Melamine -
dell rule. These are bub a few 111-
staucca out.of many, showing the
onswc,ep of Tslem.--Ohristian Her-
ald.
DESTRUCTION a(' LARGE
O i1 RIEQAM5 SPARC haat. DE V1LL
1':IIEY MUST G0 BAl ii]UJPT.
Millions in German Ships 'Melting
Like Snow.
The American representative of
one of the principal German steam-
ship companies spoke without re-
servation the other day about the
desperate situation in which con-
cerns like the one he is connected
with are placed. "I see no. escape
from bankruptcy unless we are able
to seal our vessels to America," he
said. "My line hiss 70 •steamers, all
freighters. We are not turning a
wheel. Our ships ars scattered all
over the world—South Africa, Aus-
tralia, South America, North Amer-
ica, Europe. Four of our boats
were seized at Antwerp. We have
three. 'ships in America, one in Bal-
timore, one here, one in Boston.
"Do you appreciate the amount of
money our 70 ships represent? Pos-
sibly you can get a better idea when
T. tell you the crews average 75 Poo• a
vessel and that,.therefore, we have
5,000 men on our hands. They have
to be fed and paid. By the irony od
fate, many of our Grows are made
up of British subjects—Laecars. We
contracted for their services far a
certain number of years and then
are obliged, to :return thein to India.
"In instances where cur 'shispe
have been arnssibed by ,the British,
the captain and each anem•ber of the
crew has to report to the authori-
ties once a day.
"We have reduced expenses in
every possible way. Practically the
only coal we burn ds en the making
of steam for the donkey engine. The
men are kept busy painting, scrap-
ping and furbishing generally, But
bottoms are getting foul, and with
all the oiling and all the care that
is given, a boat will deteriorate if'
left idle. It is heartbreaking to see
such tremendous waste and to be
unable to do anybhing •tor check it,
"Bad as is our "eiituation, thexe
are other German companies with
larger fiesta Cham ours whose pond-
Con is worse. Our vessole axe
freighters. Theirs are in the 'pee-
senger service. Our yessels cost
little in oompariscn with some of
their great liners.
"Fortunes are melting .as fast as
snow melte else imduebry, the ef-
fort, the prudence of years—that
w,hieh has been achieved by hard,
hard' struggle -is beii•ng wiped .out.
"Tlhereas a tragedy ,t„ a wax such
as this that is not considered now
because of the magnitude of the
other things that .are happening,
blit it is one that is terrible in it-
self. Ib le the tragedy of blighted
careers—of the wrookege of our
hopes and our liife's. work. Few
can Appreciates its ' miseries."
Impossible.
Insurance Agent---ltwoes you who
set the house on fire with your al-
cohol lamp:
Tenane-Me l Not on your life.
First thing, 1 heven'.t got a ]amp',
and second, I'm a life-long member
of the Temperance .League.
British Nurses.
Tho British Rede Crass Soeleb
y
can turn out 55,000 mases, male
and Inmate; into the field In nearly
2,000 detachments.
NOT SINCE CRIMEAN WAR.
Britain Returns to Continent of
Europe Alter 50 Years.
Never before in her 'history hiss
Great Britain been obliged to land
50 many troops an the Con'tinest
of Europe as she has in this present
war, says the Boston Globe. Yet,
the 350,000 or 450,000 troops which
ehe is said to have already landed
in France and Belgium seem insig-
nificant in comparleen with the
armies of Germany, Russia., France
and Austria,
But thins' is the greatest war in all
history as her se .the number of the
combatants is concerned. In this
war men talk as •Looecly and glibly
of 1,000,000 men as they would have
talked about 100,000 mem fifty years
ago,
It is sixty years since British
troops fought on the Continent of
Europa. In the Crimean War, and
it is 100 years since, they were last
seen in Western Europe, at the bat-
tle of Waterloo•. Prier to that Ling-
Iish troops had fought in most of
the big weans, but nearly always as
an ally, except dturing the 190 years
of Strife for the French crown,
which began in 1338.
In fact, there has not since been
a century im which British troops
have not fougiht on the Continent,
and always to cheek eom:e monarch
or nation that endeavored to rule
the land as England rules the sea.
At one time ib was against Spain,
then France, then Spain again,
then France, until Napoleon came
to the front, and after he had been
crushed and Russia began to be am-
bitious then Great Britain was
foufid on the side of France to curb
the Tsar.
So
ib has been, Great Britain al-
ways against the force that wanted
to run things in Europe,
Yet there never has been a time
up to the ,present when England
has had 100,000 men on the Conti-
nent in any war. Under 3ilarlbor-
ough she did not have more than
30,000 man and at Waterloo Wel-
lington had under him only about
40,000 British troops, In the Cri-
mean War the total British force
did not exoeed 45,000 men.
There is no other nation, how-
ever, that has ever moved so many
troops oveaisea as Great Britain or
to suds long distances. During the
Boer War she sent about 1,000,000
men from Southampton to Table
Bay, in Soutar Africa, a distance of
approximately 10,000 miles. By
ocean lanes and across, the Seven
Seas she hoe been moving troops for
more than, one hundred years --+to
the uttermost- corners of the
world. Shia hiss dove it in meravele
and square riggers, and she was the.
first to do it when steam beteano
the power on the sea. The trans-
portation of troops by water became
a science with England long ego.
Yee, etrange ±0 Say, this nation,
ivhidh has been fighting practically
ever since the Romans left the is-
land, has never had an army in the
sense that the other nations of Eu-
rope leave hard' armies. Shc, is •tiro
only •nation over there that has de-
pended on vodunte:ers. Conecrip-
bion has always been repugnant to
the British, and although at times
1t burs seemed as if the volunteer
idea was obsolete in face of what
•.the other mations oe Europe were.
cluing Great Britain nevertheless
has (slung to bee to adi.tio-at
There seems to be no doubt now
that England will put 1,000,000 men
In the field, and more if required,
for the has great re eouroes 10 her
colonies ,beide from what she can do
at h.oin-e. Evean. now the hash in the
fiaid many mare men then Germans
who have btnett gunpowder,"
There is this to he raid for the
v'olunte'er soldier- he is a "good
fighting man" sheer ee gets started,
That has been proved ,time and -Limo
again e,1l over the world by the-Eng-
lisir and flue Arnerdscan volunteers.
DORN BY THE SOUNDIE SEA
MTS OF NEWS FROM TI113
OIAitI'1'IME PR VIll' CES,
Items of Interest From Places
Lapped by Waves of the '
Atlantic.
Alexander Cairns as been a
cab -driver in St, John for fifty-five
years.
A skunk farm, with three hun-
dred animals upon i t, has' been es-
tablished at Little Harbor, N.'S.
The Halifax Licensed Vietbualers'
Association has oon bributed .$1,000
to the Patriotic Relief Fund.
Sackville, N.B,, is to have a new
music -hall which wil'1 cast $10,000
to build.
Ten thousand dollars is the goal
of the committee in charge of the
Patriotic Fund at Fredericton,
New Glasgow is establishing a
farmer's market. A manager is be-
ing engaged to look after its affairs.
There will he no professional
hockey league in the maritime pro-
vinces this winter, say sporting au-
thorities.
The manufacture of "!bees" beer
among the Indians of New 'Bruns-
wick has been forbidden by the
Government.
Nearly a thousand men have en-
listed in St. John's, Newfoundland.
The eastern island is equipping all
its troops.
The discount on American money
in New Ba•unewick has been reduced
from two per cent. to one and a
hall per cent.
Sydney, N.,S., has seen 500 of its
men enroll for active service. A
new infantry battalion is to be or-
ganized there.
The number of soldiers who left
St. John, N.B„ with the troops,
was 500. They were all inoculated
with anti -typhoid toxin.
J. F. Robertson, of St. John, N.
B., gave $1,000 to the patriotic
fund, and states his wiulhingnees to
make his contribution $5,000.
Captain Alexander McLean, the
"Sea Wolf" of Jack London's no-
vel, a native of Cape Breton, was
buried in Vancouver last week.
One hundred and fifty German
reservists were taken from H.M.S.
Glory at Halifax, and held as pris-
oners of war last week.
Picton County, N.S., is subscrib-
ing $10,000 to the National Pat-
riotic Fund. Thio district is send-
ing hundreds of men to the front.
There was no curtailment in the
number of students enrolling at the
University of New Brunswick,
Fredericton, which opened last
week.
Newfoundland fishermen are suf-
fering small catches of codfish ow-
ing to the scarcity of squid, the
,small fish which axe used for bait.
R. A. Snowball, 'Chatham, N.B..
headed the list of prize winners at
,the St. John Exhibition. His Horses
and cattle were awarded $313 al-
together.
• The contract .has been let to a
Halifax firm to float and repair the
Furness liner Shenandoah, which
was stranded on the Nova Scotian
coast.
The Dominion Textile Co., Limit-
ed, leas reopened its ten cotton
mills in Halifax and other cities of
the east. This means employment
for 7,000 persons.
Under command of Captain C. C.I.
•McLauahan, 57 men have left Carle-
ton county New Brunswick, fur
Halifax, to elo garrison work. They
belong to the 07th regiment.
Alter two dull e axons a silver
harvest is (being gleaned from the
sardine fishing grounds near St.
John, N.B. One St. John fisher-
man macre $2,000 out al, his catches
of two days.
A party of Andrew Carnegie'e
leading assistants from llroddeek.
P.A., and Steubenville, O14u, the
big steel towns, are making New-
foundland their hunting grounds
this year.
Mayor Friths, of ,St. John, N.B .
is submitting e by-law to the City
Council to raise $128,000 on $50:1
bonds so that the small istveato5
may assist. The interest will bo _n
per cent., payable half -yearly.
early.
"I -Ill GOD'S WEAPt bm."
Kaiser's Speech to 'Proops — tier-
man People C1,wu'n.
Gerinan prisoners in 1lussie etetc
that a recent sperms delivered by
the Keiser to the troops was of a
character which the press is forbid-
den to reproduce. The text of it
appears to have hese approximate-
ly as -follows, says t1u Petrograd
correspondent of the ivlornieg
Pesti—Remember that the German
people are the .shown of God. On
me, as German Emperor, the spirit
of God has descended, I am His
weapon, His sword, and Him vice-
regent, Woe to -the disobedient,
death to cowards and unbelievers.
The J.tussian uewcpapers; in rer
producing this extraordinary ut-
terance, justly esinark that it goes
far to prove that the German Be
parer is suffering from tee feenilial-
form of inserety known e, +gauss
graciosa,