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518 ___________ THE LEADER, [No. 427, Ma...
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SANITARY CONDITION OF THE AE,MY. III. "T...
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The Crystal Palace Fr.owEit-.snow.—The f...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Central Asia And British India. We Belie...
If Herat has been sacrificed , " are we asking for a new Avar to redeem it ? Such , a war is not ., and never has been , necessary . It is not the policy of Great Britain to march Jier armies into the depths of Central Asia , or to expend the strength of her squadrons in the Persian waters . The question must be considered from a purely defensive point of view . What we have to effect is a combination ¦ which will take from Russia , Persia , and the Affghan chiefs , the power of constantly . irritating , a . ndof ultimately breaking open our frontier . The ' character of their ambition cannot for a moment be doubted ;
The Persians , whether through the blunders of our diplomacy or from whatever" other cause , have been completely alienated ; manj of the Affghans would gladly follow the Rohillas into the valleys of India ; and , as for Hussia , what to her are the arid tracts that intervene between her empire and the British , unless as stages of approximation to the boundaries of our richer possessions ! What to her are the plains to the south of the Heavenly Mountains , where so many battalions of her ' army have . perished ' amid glaciers , bare plateaus , and valleys , adorned only with sand , reeds , garlic , and yellow jujubeunless sections
flowers , as of a long vista opening upon China ! It is this principle that , in the sight of Russian statesmen , would confer a value upon a thousand miles of rock and shifting sand , if they would conduct her to the borders of our Indian Empire . We have then , upon our westward frontier , an important line of territory to defend , and what should our attitude be ? That of a general encamped with an active and dangerous enemy in his front . "We must strengthen our frontier force ; we must take care that it shall be one always prepared
for action . Bj stationing an outpost at Ghetta , by placing discreet officers with honorary rank at Kandahar and Herat , we may fortify our line of defences . The details of a similar scheme have been thoroughly explained by Brigadier Jacobs in one of his masterly Memoirs on the north-western frontier . With Ghetta garrisoned by the Sinde Ii-regular Horse , by Belooch Irregular Cavalry and Infantry , by Jacob ' s Rifles , with competent artillery , the entire resources of Beloochistan would be at British disposal , and the frontier would be impregnable .
518 ___________ The Leader, [No. 427, Ma...
518 ___________ THE LEADER , [ No . 427 , May 29 , 188 ^
Sanitary Condition Of The Ae,My. Iii. "T...
SANITARY CONDITION OF THE AE , MY . III . "The low rate of mortality in the navy , in . which service the men , though necessar ily berthed in a very confined space , undergo an immense amount of exercise , calling the greatest variety of muscle into play , and pass a large proportion both of day and night . in the open air , . appears to favour the opinion we have here expressed . We recommend that inquiry should be made into the French system of gymnastic exercises with a view to . the adoption of some similar practice in the British army , that facilities and encouragement be given for all athletic uuicaaiiu viiuu Liiu niuii i tiiucrcnc
^ , uu umpiuycxon kinds of labour when possible . " It has often surprised us that officers of the army , who are probably , as a rule , a class of men who more than any other cultivate atjilctic exercises and sports , who arc some of our best steeple-chasers and ' cross-country riders , our fastest and most-lasting foot-racers and leapers , —that they do not , as ji matter of custom , take more interest in promoting similar exercises among the men . We may have a , partiality for such pastimes , perhaps , and must confess the pleasure with which we always read accounts of these manly contests of strength , and endurance
and activity between officers and men , that occasionally come off . The feeling for these games is thoroughly English , and whether it bo that the metis sana prefers the corpux sanum , or not , certain it is that we generally lincl the victors arc the best of officers or men—fine , manly , generous , open-hearted fellows , ready aud equal to any thing . Our conviction is , that the morsil nnd physical health of her Majesty ' s subjects everywhere would be immensely improved by the systematic cultivation of nmnly sports and noble arts .
As regards " su . it . ablo employment , " tho want of winch , in the army , is repeatedly testified , Colonel Lindsay , who has given much attention to the requirements of the soldier ' s life , especially in ( garters , thus graphically describes his dsiily course— " Perhaps no living individual . sullcr , s more than he from ennui , lie lias no employment save his drill and his duties : those aro of a most monotonous and uninteresting description , so much so , that you cannot increase 1 he amount without wearying him ,
and disgusting him . All"he has to do is under restraint ; he is not like a working man , or an artisan ; a working man digs , and his mind is his . own ; an artisan is interested in the work on which he is engaged ; but a soldier has to give you all his attention , and he has nothing to show for the work done , " In the Foot Guards "he gets tip at six . There is no drill before breakfast ; he makes up his bed and cleans his things ; he gets his breakfast at seven . He turns out for drill at half-past seven or eight ; his drill may last an hour and a half . If it be guard day there is no drill , except for defaulters The men for duty are paraded at ten o ' clock : that
finishes his day's drill altogether . There is evening parade , which takes half an hour ; and then his time is his own till tattoo , which is at nine in winter and at ten in summer . " Colonel Lindsay goes still further into the subject of recreation for the soldier . He thinks we should give him pursuits inside the barracks instead of driving him outside ; that where there are opportunities taken of employing the men you decrease dissipation , and if you give them amusement they take an interest in it / There is always less crime , and their health is improved , for , as the Colonel significantly remarks , " the illness in
London and that we get in the country , where we are able to give them some amusement , are so very different . " . It happens that , at the Wellington Barracks , the experiment was watched of allowing the men to use a large room , just finished , for a schoolroom , fifty feet by thirty feet in dimensions ; the men nocked to it till it became crammed ; they took their books and newspapers there ; they brought their games at draughts and chess , & c ., and altogether thoroughly enjoyed the recreation so evidently beneficial and every way desirable . General Lawrence says , in answer to a question from the President , that the means of recreation in the army are miserably defective ; at " Aldershot , for 15 , 000
men , only four ¦ ball- courts , and one racket-court , for 600 officers , are to be constructed ; In Canada , the General says he reported the want of ball-courts for the men at Quebec , Kingston , and Montreal , but never succeeded in obtaining one . The Government provides a schoolmaster in all barracks , and all recruits must attend school until dismissed drill ; latel y , too , it has been ordered that all men shall , until dismissed , ( it to read and write . This is good so far , but it is not quite the sort of thing a soldier enjoys , and of course none go who can escape it . There arc also libraries in barracks
in all garrison towns , and some regiments have one of their own purchased by subscription ., as in the Coldstreams , which has 350 subscribers out of a strength of 750 , and the Rifles ( 2 nd batt . ) 25 G out of 700 ; but most regiments , being often moved , are glad to avoid the expense of having to move a library . It would be no great expense or derangement ' of routine , surely , if libraries were provided in all stations , under the management of the schoolmaster . The subscribers to regimental libraries at Aldershot arc estimated at 20 per cent ., which is a very fair number . But it is disheartening to sec the
miserable indifference shown by " the authorities " to these libraries . In the first place , " newspapers are not recognized by the regulations of the service , " so that , as a natural result , tlie soldier , who relishes his paper just as much as any body , is driven to the public-house , where he finds the double attraction of the beer aud the news provided by persons who certainly cannot be said to have his welfare at heart . Then if the regiment should be so fortunate us to have a library , which is not , like most of them , a mere closet for books ; tolerably effectual measures arc taken to prevent its being- of too much use , by
limiting the light to " two dip candles , so that practically the soldiors do not use it as a reading-room , " unless , as at Aldershot , they purchase an addition to the " two dips . " At Aklcrahot the library huts ave winked at , allowed on sufferance , just as if they were gambling-booths . The bai'rack-masl cr trembles lest it should bo known he had done such a tiling as give over a hut for a library , ho docs it as a great favour , and it must be kept ' quiet ; or if the commanding officer disdains asking , but still wishes to give his men the library , ho is forced to the
alternative of tuking a hut from the men and " packing his regiment a littlo closer in order to spare that hut . " A ¦ question from Mr . Sidney Herbert suggests that this is a disadvnnl , » go ,-to which tho witness , General Lawrence , replies , tlmt he does " not tliink the men suffer from it , but it- is certainly taken out of the quarters allowed . The soldier pays for this luxury 3 d . a month , but the Government food i ' or tho mind is much chonnor ( Id . ) , only ho cril'I , ace to cat it . Wo arc glad to learn that lectures were delivered
during the winter at Aldershot upon scientific -mA natural history subjects as well as military scienoi A very moderate dose of the ologies we shmni think would be advisable . for soldiers . Soldiels \ by no means deficient in the power of anmsinj themselves ; his little joke he relishes immensely and even this tendency has its practical utility- ? n hard service ; your laughing Irishman is well u-orthlns salt m the trenches , and with sulky men whosp " pipes have been put out , " we all know you can do nothing . We lemember more than once to haVc seen a crowded ' aiid enthusiastic audience , iu . barrack-room turned into . an . arena by making a stage of the table-tops , listening with thorou « li en joyment to one of their comrades reciting speeches from . Shakspcarc or long pieces from Scott
Our conviction is that the moral element in the soldier is not fairly turned to account . lic j s treated and allowed to consider himself as bcgotien of the scum of society : lie feels , and that keenly too sometimes , that he is valued too much as iboii for powder . But those who know him best , wh 0 have witnessed his endurance , his resources add'his pluck , when drawji out by the real necessities of a Campaign , will agree with us in claiming for \ iim some of the best qualifies of the national character . .
The question arises in the evidence whether : soldiers could not be profitably employed'in ' doing the repairs of the barracks , and even of following those trades to which they have been educated " . The answers are somewhat undecided , and no doubt the subject involves' considerable difficulties of arrangement . A good deal of tailoring ' goes' on now ill barracks , not very conducive , it is true ,, to the health of the men employed at it , but this might be rectified ; and we see no reason why the boots should not be made , or at least mended , in the same manner . Those men who were disposed to be industrious might , if they had the proper tools and workshops , be employed usefully to the corps and profitabl y to themselves . The barrack damages for broken , windows alone is often a serious- loss to i \\ e
men , and much of this kind of repair might be clone . But , besides this , a fund liuglit tpe raised from the profits of any work done , which , after giving a fair share io the immediate workers , would enable the corps to mark their esteem for a comrade leaving them , or to relieve sonic of the cases of charity to which not .-unfrcquently the men are called upon . to . contribute . In leaving this part of the general subject , we have now only to express our hope that an
improvement , so obviously calculated to raise the status of the soldier , conveyed in the . recommendation of ( . lie Commission , " that every barrack should contain workshops ; that day-rooms' be constructed in sonic of the principal barracks / and , if found advantageous , extended to all barracks ; that nil barrackrooms , day-rooms , and guard-rooms be suuicionlly warmed and lighted , whatever may be the number of men occupying them , and that gas be used for lighting whenever it is obtainable , " will be speedily adopted .
The Crystal Palace Fr.Oweit-.Snow.—The F...
The Crystal Palace Fr . owEit-. snow . —The first flower-sliow of the season at tho Crystal Palace took place last Saturday . The display of the bright diiltlren of tho season , " roigning in the prido of May , " of the dark-leaved green-house plants , and of the rich-blooded , blushing , and odorous fruit , built xip in banks ami terraces of gorgeous yet tender beauty round tho statues in tho central transept and far down , the naves , under tho y l ° of tho pellucid walla and roof , produced an eiVect of unsurpassed splendour and magnificence . Truly , " Solomon in all his glory" could not surpass the radiance of the sight . The weather was fine , tho building crowded , and tho delight of the spectators at its utmost . Tho least good part of the show was that devoted to the fruit .
Tun British Musisum . —Tlio British Museum 1 ms recently become possessed of Rome not unimportant manuscripts , knowii for tlio last few months as tho "liontinck Papora . " They llll three or four largo diosts , and the prico ftvr which they have been purchased is iindur 20 Of . They have been obtained from llm family residence of some- members of tho Bontiiick family at Varel , near Oldenburg , and may be said to extend over a period not far short of a century , commencing « 'ilJi the opening of tho reign of William III ., when tin- ' ' "'st Earl of Portland eamo into this country , nnd was raised to the peerage . It seems that tho portion of the laniily rciniihring iu Germany kept up a constant correspondence- with persons about tl » o Court of London , and " > ° many letters are full of curious news and minute particulars . Ono oftlio oldest documents ia King Williams patent to tho ( lrat Karl of Portland , dated tho IHh ft April , Ui 8 J . " —AthvHwim .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 29, 1858, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29051858/page/14/
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