| SPAIN'S FIGHTING MEN". §
___ ___
[ As , ,
Sk Types of the Soldiers Our Army of Invasion *
■ is Encountering.
Sj;
* )R
m | OMINALLY th e
iIV I arm y °' Spain is
\ fl \l divided i these
V 1 'S classes: A per
ytinanent army of
9315 officers and
70,829 men, an ac
tive reserve of 184,-
M \mls4 JSi men, and a
W second or seden-
V tary reserve, which
"' u ou January 1,1898,
was estimated at 1,083,595 men.
All Spaniards between the ages of
nineteen and forty-live are numbered
in the second reserve, and are liable
to be called upon for active service at
any time they inay be needed. All of
them are supposed to have served at
least three years in the first, or active
reserve, which corresponds to our
militia. Every boy, upon attaining
(he age of nineteen, must enter either
the permanent army or the first re
serve, and serve three years. About
100,000 come within the provisions
of that law annually, so that there is
a constant change from the permanent
army to the first reserve. Then, after
sis years, when t lie citizen has reached
the age of twenty-five, he goes into
the second reserve, and is subject to
military duty only in'time of war and
after conscription. It may be said,
therefore, that 250,000 men are con
stantly under aims in Spain and its
colonies. The first reserves are used
for coast guards, customs inspectors,
and for police duty in the rural dis
tricts, and are likely to be detailed for
service in the guards civil, which cor
responds to our city police and the
gendarmes in France.
Voluntary service is accepted r.t
eighteen years of age, but the pay is
9o small, only twenty cents a day, that
eery few Spaniards ever think of en
listing until they are compelled to do
so. By the payment of 8300 any per
son may purchase exemption from
military duty.
The 210,000 soldiers who have been
srAxisn outpost in ovba.
sent to Cuba during the las* three
pears have been drawn mostly from
the first reserve, although the per
manent army has furnished the larger
(>art of the skilled artillerists who have 1
Deen handling the big guns upon the j
fortifications.
While it is impossible to get accnr- I
fate statistics, the military journals at
Madrid have published statements
showing that ten Generals, Gls field
and stall'officers, 6222 regimental of
ficers, and 180,435 soldiers have been
sent to Cuba up to November 1, 1897.
Since then reinforcements have been
received twice, 12,000 at one time and
10,000 at another.
Up to March 1, 1898, 1 General, 7
field officers, 53 regimental officers
and 1314 men had been killed in bat
tle during the present insurrection,
•ntrits
T*he it
SKETCHES OF SPANISH SOLDIER LIFE IN CUBA.
■which began in April, 1895, and 1
General, 6 field officers, 55 regimental
•fficers and 704 men nave died of
wounds received in battle, making
casualties 2 Generals, 13 field officers,
108 regimental officers, and 2018 men.
Upward of 40,000 men had returned
to Spain. The same statistics showed
that 318 officers and 13,390 men have
died of yellow fever and 127 officers
and 4065 men of other diseases,
making the total mortality on the
Spanish side during the insurrection
66,638 officers and men.
On March 1, 1898, there were sup
posed to be 96,287 Spanish soldiers
under armj, with 52.000 volunteers.
■which are the militia of Cuba, or a
total of 148,000. Of these, when the
last official reports were made, 28,000
were in the hospitals, leaving an ef
feotivo fighting force on paper of 120,-
000 men.
These statistics are made up from
the official reports sent to the War
Department in Madrid and published
by the recognized organs of the Min
ister of War, which correspond to the
Army and Navy Journal and the
Army and Navy Register of the
SPANISH COAST BATTERY IN CUBA FIRING ON THE AMERICAN FLEET.
United States, and are accepted by
General Miles and Secretary Alger as
official.
The Spanish reports, however, are
not to be relied upon. Their army is
largely mythical. Nobody knows how
many poor fellows have died in the
field resisting insurgents, and the
ravages of disease are still more diffi
cult V> ascertain; first, because Span
ish statistics in all branches of the
Government are notoriously incom
plete and inaccurate; aud, second,
because it is for the pecuniary inter
est of the officers to conceal the mor
tality of their men. There is no regu
lar pay department. The soldiers
receive their miserable stipend of three
or four silver dollars a month from
their regimental officers. The col
onel of the regiment sends in a requi
sition at the beginning of every month
for compensation for so many men,
and he makes the pay roll as long as
possible. When the money comes he
divides it among the captains of com
panies, and the captains divide it
among the men. It isonecf the eas
iest and most popular methods of
robbing the Government for tie offi
cers to double the number of men on
duty and divide the money that is
forwarded for their pay. It is a fa
vorite saying in Cuba that when an
officer makes a report of a battle he
represents that most of his troops
have been shot while gallantly charg
ing the enemy, but they all come
alive again before lie makes up his
pay roll. It is well known that sinco
the blockade began General Blanco
has impressed in the army every able
bodied citizen within reach of his
conscript office, aud the insurgent
sympathizers have enlisted in great
numbers with the expectation of being
able to serve their cause more effec
tively inside than outside of the
trenches. This class of people, how
ever, are not to be depended upon by
either side.
The abundance of the physical re
sources of Spain aud the Boldierlike
qualities of the men, even when they
have received brief military training,
have been a surprise to many.
Pre-eminent are the Albarderos,
who take their name from the halberd,
a picturesque old weapon they cn.rry,
no longer of any fighting (offensive or
defensive) value, but used as an arm
of ceremony, composed largely of the
aristocracy and includiug picked men
from the whole army. This force is
organized in two companies, with a
total of forty officers and 250 men, as
the personal guard of the King and
for interior service in the palace. A
Colonel is appointed as C'aptain, a
Lieutenant-Colonel as First Lieuten
ant, and so the grades continue, a
First Lieutenant serving as "caporal."
All officers of the Spanish army are
eligible for the Albardero Corps, one
half of the vacancies being filled by
candidates selected for their special
Qualifications and the remainder by
promotion on seniority within the
corps. The men (privates) must be
sergeants of good character and the
best qualifications. In other words,
it is a battalion without a private sol
dier in the ranks.
The group of hussars at Madrid is
a representative body. The Spanish
cavalry includes two hussar regiments,
designated as the Princesa and the
Pavia, which are regarded by their
officers as the most distinguished of
the mounted regiments. The cavalry
officers enter through the college at
Valladolid by competition, and after a
course of three years are appointed
to their regiments as Second Lieuten
ants.
The artillery of the Spanish army,
like that of tne English royal artillery,
includes the horse, field, mountain
and garrison branches, and the gun
factories and other establishments are
in relation with it. It has charge of
stores of guns, arms, ammunition and
"material," aud is provided with field
ranges, gunnery schools, a scientific
and practical museum and other nec
essary adjuncts. The actual forma:
tion of the artillery is thirteen regi
ments of the field branch, each of
four six-gun batteries, a regiment of
horse artillery and three belonging to
the mountain branch, all these having
the same number of batteries and
guns as the field artillery. There
are additionally ten battalions of
garrison gunners and four companies
of artificers. At the present time the
Spanish army has guns of two kinds
—the lvrupp and the placencia, of
bronze or steel, with 3.5 inch and 3.1
inch caliber.
The officers of the force enter
through the college at Segovia, the
admission being by competitive exam
ination between civilian candidates
and young officers from other corps.
The studies cover a pericd of six
years, and promotion is always by sen
iority, but on reaching the fourth year
~
THE TROCHA.
of their educational course these ar
tillery cadetj become second lieuten
ants aad are promoted to the full lieu
tenancy on appointment to the corps
at the close or their scholastic term at
Segovia. The arrangements for the
training and maintenance of the effec
tive condition of the artillery seem to
be excellent. That they know the art
of war there is no doubt; that they can
practice it successfully is a question
for discussion.
The general impression of the men
both in the Spanish army and navy ia
that they have good fighting qualities,
though they are not capable of any ex
tended exertion and can n ever compare
favorably with the Anglo-Saxon ele
ment. Bnt while the tile has always
received commendation it is the con
census of unprejudiced opinion that
they are "badly officered." Many ex
planations can be ofi'ered, but there is
much luxurious ease about the don's
life, and even in the army he will not
forget the first consideration for his
personal benofit even if discipline
must suffer. The best soldiers, the
flower of the Spanish army,have been
sent to the Philippines, those rushed
out to Cuba having largely been con
scripts and rude youths taken from
the farms to shatter their health in the
fever laden districts of the "Ever
Faithful Isle."
The peasant boys that Spain has
driven across the Atlantic Ocean are
representatives of her most ignorant
class, and their own utter lack of
knowledge of hygienic conditions helps
the lurking disease to find ready and
hapless victims. Some of them nat
urally become imbued with the mili
tary spirit and make passably effective
soldiers, but the majority have no lik
ing for their enforced profession of
arms, and, controlled by a home-sick
feeling, ill clad and half paid, per
haps not for months, they very fre
quently welcome death as a relief to
their desperate euvironment. Uhe
home guard of Havana, called Guarda
Civiles, native born and consequently
inured to the climate, is the promi
nent armed force of Cuba. They have
been thoroughly drilled, are vicious
fighters and thoroughly hated by the
iusurgents, who recognize them as the
dreaded genuine enemies of all liberty
loving progress.
In fact, the loyalty of the Gnarda
Civiles to the Spanish crow>, is one of
the inexplicable condition* in Cuba.
Their own kindred and relatives in
many cases are in the ranks of {.he
revolutionary forces, but they seem
animated by a ferocity that in as
wicked as inexplicable. All the Cap
tains-General have depended upon
them principally for support, and the
civiles have returned their apprecia
tion of this confidence by their bru
talities and demoniac actions when
ever an opportunity occurred for mas
sacre and unjustifiable killing.
They are not well "set up," do not
present the martial bearing of a Brit
ish or an American soldier and invito
the contempt of the Anglo-Saxon by
their lack of many military character
istics. Still, it does not require much
strength to pull a trigger, and by
practice they may become ns good
marksmen as any habitant of a more
northern latitude.
A MONUMENT FOR LAFAYETTE.
Movement on Foot to Erect a Memorial
Over Ilia Grave In Pari*.
In a deserted corner of the ceme
tery of the Convent of Little Picpus,
in Paris, lie the remains of the French
man who was America's best friend in
the time of her sorest need—Lafayette.
His grave is decorated only by a plain
slab, and seems as deserted as was
Victor Hugo's immortal hero, Jean
Valjean, when he fled into these
grounds with his little Cosette in his
arms to escape the persecutions of In
spector Javert.
A movement is now on foot to erect
a fitting monument to this brave
Frenchman who sacrificed his all for
us. It is purposed that it shall be
paid for by the school children of the
United States, in contributions of
small amounts and that it shall be un
veiled as the great event of United
States clay in the Paris Exposition in
1900.
When first built the tomb was two
or three feet above the ground; now
the foundation stones have crumbled
and the top has fallen almost to the
earth. Rain and time have dealt cru
elly with it.
President McKiulej has consented
to be the honorary chairman of the
commission in charge of the raising of
THE GRAVE OF LAFAYETTE IN PARIS.
the funds, the construction of the monu
ment and its transportation and erec
tion in Paris, and himself assisted to
draw the resolution which has already
unanimously passed the Senate of the
United States providing for an hon
orary commission and an noting com
mission to take charge of the work.
Few I>le of Old Age.
It is estimated by competent foreign
authority that only 1)00 persons out of
1,000,000 die from old age, wllile
1200 succumb to gout, 18,400 to
measles, 2700 to apoplexy, 7000 to
erysipelas, 7500 to consumption, 48,-
000 to scarlet fevor, 25,000 to whoop
ing cough, 30,000 to typhoid and
typhus, and 25,000 to rheumatism.
The averages vary according to local
ity, but these ore considered accurate
as regards the population of the globe
as a whole.
Our Army's Only Colored Offlcer.
Only three colored young men have
ever graduated from the United Statea
Military School at West Point—Lieu
tenants Flipper, Alexander and Young.
LIEUTENANT CHARLES YOUNG.
Lieutenant Alexander died about two
years ago and Flipper is not now in the
service. Charles Young graduated in
1894, and is now First Lieutenant of
the Ninth United States Cavalry. He
is a Kentuckian and a very large man.
A Definition by n War Student.
Chimmie—"Wot kind of a ting ia
dis gorilla-warfare?"
Billy—"Aw, dat'a de Spanish style
where dey makes monkeys of dor
salves."—J u dee. -
\ FARM AND GARDEN.!
Use of Dry Paris Green.
Paris green has become such an
important item to the farmer that any
improvement in the method of apply
ing itf cannot fail to be interesting.
By a simple device it is blown through
a bellows,falling upon the plant while
covered with dew. In this condition
it adheres to the leaves and stalks and
is thought to be much more effective
than when applied in a liquid state.
Milking Three Times a Day.
T t is better during these long days
to m.:'' the cows three times a day,
once nt. r sunrise and again at sunset
and then at midday, milking clean
each time. This will cause the cow to
give more both ot milk and butter fats.
She should also be fed extra, so as to
enable her to do this without becom
ing thin in flesh. The extra milk will
more than pay the extra feed, and the
cow and her progeny will be better for
it In future years.
Tomatoes on Farm land.
A good crop of tomatoes can be
grown on auy land that is rich enough
for potatoes. The idea that the to
mato plant needs a great amount of
nitrogenous manure to make it pro
ductive is a mistake. Such manure is
more apt to produce excessive leaf and
stalk growth and the rotting o'f more
or iess of the fruit. Some mineral
fertilizer is needed. Potash aud phos
phate are required to perfect the
numerous seeds, and it is always the
lack of one or both of these that causes
the fruit to rot before it can ripen.
I>i m«* ii 11 Work Pay* 15est.
It is a common complaint among
farmers that farming does not pay.
They are in competition with farmers
in all countries in most agricultural
products, aud as these foreign farmers
are content to work at almost nominal
wages, unless the American farmer
can produce a larger yield per acre,
aud thus make his crop cost less per
bushel, or by the pound, he cannot
expect to make good profits. The fann
er who succeeds best is usually one
who is not afraid to tackle the most
difficult and puttering work. To the
farmer used to growing potatoes
the growing of strawberries seems
very small business. Yet we
can tell him that many strawberry
growers have made more bushels of
strawberries per acre than most potato
growers get of po'tatoes. Aud cheap
as strawberries often are, they are
even then much higher than are pota
toes, aud will yield more profit per
acre.
Storm Hoime* for Distant Fields.
Summer storms often come up
quickly. If the farm is a large one it
is usually impossible for men at work
in distant fields to run to the house or
barn for shelter. A tree does not,ex
cept for a very few minutes, afford any
protection, as the steady drip from its
leaves is nearly or quite as bad as be
ing out in the storm. Years ago we
knew a fanner whose farm was long
aud narrow, with the house and build
ings on the public highway at one end.
Near the other he built what he called
a storm houso, 14x14, with a good
roof aud large enough door so that the
teams could be run under it in time of
sudden shower. It was also a shelter
for tools at night. Such a storm house
did not cost very much,and was much
better than getting men and teams
wet, or to save themselves from this
by taking shelter under trees, which
in thunderstorms is about the most
dangerous shelter that any one can
seek. —American Cultivator.
Market the Old liens.
During the hot months all old hens
that is those past one year, should be
fattened aud seat to market. If they
are not it is pretty safe to say they
will not begin to lay before late in
winter, or perhaps not till spring, and
besides hens usually bring a good
price during those mouths. Aside
from the fact that old hens are not
layers, the young stock needs the
room they occupy, and it is surely
poor policy to keep those which do
not pay a profit and allow the pullets,
which we rely on for winter eggs, to
suffer for want of room.
Begin two weeks before sending to
market to feed all they will eat and
give all the milk they will drink. In
that time they should be just fat
enough to sell well,and heavy enough
to pay well for the extra food given
them. Do not delay too long, as they
will begin to moult during the latter
part of August aud certainly a half
naked hen is au unsightly object togo
to market.
Intensive Funning.
Inteusive farming will not be prac
ticed on large farms where land is
cheap and plentiful. Only when Up
country is more thickly populated will
improved systems be adopted. in
Europe every square foot of land is
ntilized to the best advantage, just as
is done in this country by market gar
deners near large cities. The propen
sity to grow all crops at the least
expense for labor is the cause of our
present system of farming and leads
us to grow only thirteen bushels of
wheat per acre, ou au average, while
the European farmers average more
than twice as much. Eveu with corn,
which is a natural plant, tho average
yield is only one-half the amount it
should be. Au increase of but three
bushels more per acre for the whol.»
country of wheat would give ns twice
as much for export as we now have for
1897, or 100,000,000 bushels. Inten
sive fanning also applies to better
management of stock. The pastures
would be small,if used at all,ami they
would be kept up to the hiirhast. de
gree of fertility, while a larger num
ber of forage crops would be grown,
and every ounce of manure would be
carefully saved. There are many por
tions of New Jersey where the farms
consist of only five or ten acres o)
land, and of a samly nature, thus re
quiring frequent use of manure and
fertilizer, but on which the owners
are more prosperous than many farm
ers with ten times as much land that
is naturally better. All depends on
the kind of crops grown and the man
agement. The crops that give the
largest profits are the kinils that re
quire the most labor and other ex
pense to grow them.—Home and
Farm.
How to Ret Kgffa.
The largest production of eggs is
said to be obtained when the hens
have unlimited supply. Investigation
of such claims gave facts in support of
the heavy feeding, but it was not
when corn or wheat was allowed. Ex
periments have been made with hens
in separate yards, in order to deter
mine the influence of the food and its
quantity. In every case where there
was unlimited quantity of food given
it consisted mostly of meat, the op
portunities for using the same at a
small cost being possessed by the
owners of the fowls. Some hens thus
fed laid over 200 eggs in less than a
year. The fowls that were surfeited
with grain, however, not only laid
fewer eggs, but finally began to suc
cumb to disease, while the hens that
were fed on meat kept in good health.
The experiments which exteudel over
two years, are very important as they
show that the best food is the cheap
est. The highest number of eggs laid
by the hens that received all the meat
that they could eat was 21(3 for the
year, while those that received mostly
grain (including a variety) averaged
only 81) eggs for the year. A lot of
hens that were not fed at all in sum
mer, and received a proportion of
meat in winter along with grain, cut
clover, etc., averaged 112 eggs in one
year. Nothing can show belter that
too much grain is a disadvantage than
such an experiment, and it demon
strates fully the stand taken that if
you wish hens to lay you must fee l
meat. It is not necessary,however, t )
surfeit the hens with meat. Give it
as one of the meals during the day.
Green bone cat fine with the meat
makes a fine food indeed. The meat
can be had of butchers at a very low
price if you get the refuse. A great
amount will be found adhering to the
bones. Even if the meat costs a little
more than the grain it will yield a
larger clear profit than grain any
time. —Indiana Farmer.
Poultry Note*.
If your hens wish to sit let them do
so.
Late chicks are surely worth raising
if we give them proper attention.
Cure egg-eating hens by using por
celain nest eggs and darkening the
uests.
Make the liens pick up whole grain
after it is scattered broadcast. Then
each will gfct her share and all will
have to work.
When fowls become egg-bound and
a mass collects in the egg passage, in
ject some linseed oil and remove the
matter. Overfeeding often causes the
trouble, or la:k of lime.
Feed the chicks three times a day
on any thing that they will eat. Leave
no food remain over utter they have
eaten. Uetweeu meals scatter a little
millet seed in litter to scratch. You
can overfeed chicks and kill them.
There is no "sure cure" for roup
any moro than there is a sure cure lor
consumption. When a fowl gets to
that stage that its owner must waste
valuable time endeavoring to cure it,
he Hhould destroy the bird as a mat
ter of economy.
When a flock is fed with the refuse
from the table the heus are capable of
appropriating and saving that which
would otherwise be wasted,a id though
in fact an expense has bem incurred,
as the refuse possesses a certain value
yet the hens provide a market for it
and permit of it being exchanged for
egga. _____
An Odorlf»#i Onion.
The latest product of scie;iti3c pro
pagation is the odoiless onion. Just
how an onion can be odorless and still
remain an onion is not explained. To
most people the odor is all there is to
an onion, an 1 that is enough. The
elimination of tiie charactjristic fea
ture of a vegetable of such long and
strong standing in uatural history
ought to be reckoned among the
proudest m hieveineuts of man. But
an onion deprived of that delicious
tang and the j euetratnig t-cent which
goes with it can baldly be an onion.
The palate which loves onions will 11 ,t
recognize it; calling a whitened, in
nocuous insipid,plated bulb an onion
will not make it one.
No true lover of onions will hail this
new invasion of science. Ho eats his
onion at deal of night, in silence and
solitude. He re.oices in it and sleeps
upon it. The incense of his piaise
tills the room and soothes hfhl to de
licious sleep. He rises in the morn
ing after his sacrifice to pass the day
in purification, to see no one until the
sun hath sunk. It is a luxury and a
worship. Shall he yield all this de
light for an odorless bulb? Let others
do as they will, he will not. An onion
without an odor wotld be ashamed of
itself.—Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal.
Tl»o l*i IHgr* in Kuvope.
The bridge over the Wupperthal at
Muugsien, Germany, which waa
opened to tra.'lic on July 1, 1897, is
l'eet high, 1(530 feet long and ha 3
a central span of 530 feet, it being the
highest European bridge, with the ex
ception of the Garabit viaduct in
s mtlie: u France, which is 405 feei iu
height.