BY THE ENGLISH CORRESPONDENT OF THE LONDON TIMES ON BOARD THE
UNITED STATES TRANSPORT "GUSSIE."
The "regular" of the United States is in many respects the least
equipped foot soldier of my acquaintance. This was my reflection as I
overhauled the kit of a private this morning on board the "Gussie."
There was not a single brush in his knapsack. I counted three in that
of a Spanish foot soldier only a few weeks ago. The American knapsack
is merely a canvas bag cut to the outward proportions of the European
knapsack, but in practical features bearing affinity with the
"rückensack" of the Tyrolean chamois hunters, or pack-sack of the
backwoodsmen of Canada and the Adirondack Mountains. This knapsack of
the American is not intended to be carried on any extended marches,
although the total weight he is ever called upon to carry, including
everything, is only 50 pounds, a good 12 pounds less than what is
carried by the private of Germany. The men of this regiment, in heavy
marching order, carry an overcoat with a cape, a blanket, the half of
a shelter tent, and one wooden tent pole in two sections. The rifle
could be used as a tent pole--so say men I talk with on the subject.
On this expedition overcoats are a superfluity, and it is absurd that
troops should be sent to the tropics in summer wearing exactly the
same uniform they would be using throughout the winter on the
frontiers of Canada. This war will, no doubt, produce a change after
English models. At present the situation here is prevented from being
painful because no marching has yet been attempted, and the commanding
officers permit the most generous construction in the definition of
what is a suitable uniform.
On the trip of this ship to Cuba, no officer or man has ever worn a
tunic excepting at guard mounting inspection. The 50 men who went
ashore near Cabañas on May 12 and pitched into some 500 Spaniards left
their coats behind and fought in their blue flannel shirts. Of the
officers, some wore a sword, some did not, though all carried a
revolver. No orders were issued on the subject--it was left to
individual taste, I have experienced hotter days at German maneuvers
than on the coast of Cuba during the days we happened to be there, yet
I have never noticed any disposition in the army of William II. to
relax the severity of service even temporarily. My German friends
sincerely believe that the black stock and the hot tunic are what has
made Prussia a strong nation, and to disturb that superstition would
be a thankless task.
In the way of clothing the American private carries a complete change
of under-drawers, under-shirt, socks, laced boots and uniform
trousers. My particular private was carrying a double allowance of
socks, handkerchiefs, and underwear. He had a toothbrush and comb.
That is the heavy marching order knapsack. For light marching, which
is the usual manner, the man begins by spreading on the ground his
half-tent, which is about the size of a traveling rug. On this he
spreads his blanket, rolls it up tightly into a long narrow sausage,
having first distributed along its length a pair of socks, a change of
underwear, and the two sticks of his one tent pole. Then he brings the
ends of this canvas roll together, not closely, as in the German army,
but more like the ends of a horse-shoe, held by a rope which at the
same time stops the ends of the roll tightly. When this horse shoe is
slung over the man's shoulder, it does not press uncomfortably upon
his chest. The total weight is distributed in the most convenient
manner for marching.
The packing of the man's things is strictly according to regulation,
excepting only the single pocket in his knapsack, where he may carry
what he chooses, as he chooses. His light canvas haversack is much
like the English one, and his round, rather flat water flask is
covered with canvas. It is made of tin, and the one I inspected was
rusty inside. It would be better if of aluminum. In the haversack is a
pannikin with a hinged handle that may be used as a saucepan. Over
this fits a tin plate, and when the two are covering one another the
handle of the pannikin fits over both by way of handle. It is an
excellent arrangement, but should be of aluminum instead of a metal
liable to rust. The most valuable part of this haversack is a big tin
cup that can be used for a great variety of purposes, including
cooking coffee. It is hung loose at the strap of the haversack. Of
course each man has knife, fork and spoon, each in a leather case.
The cartridge belt contains 100 rounds, which are distributed all the
way around the waist, there being a double row of them. The belt is
remarkably light, being woven all in one operation. It is of cotton
and partly some material which prevents shrinking or loosening. The
belts have stood admirably the test put upon them for the last six
days, when it has rained every day, on top of the ordinary heavy
moisture usual at sea in the tropics. The test is the more interesting
from their having been previously in a very dry country. Officers and
men alike unite in praise of this cartridge belt. The particular
private whom I was inspecting said he now carried 100 as easily as he
formerly carried 50. This belt rests loosely on the hips, without any
straps over the shoulders. It is eminently businesslike in appearance.
The hat is the gray felt of South Africa, Australia, and every other
part of the world where comfort and cost are consulted. No boots are
blacked on expeditions of this kind. The men who form in line for
guard duty have their tunics well brushed, but that may be due to
extraneous assistance.
For fighting purposes, then, the United States private has nothing to
keep clean excepting his rifle and bayonet. He carries no contrivances
for polishing buttons, boots, or the dozen of bits of accouterment
deemed essential to a good soldier in Europe. In Spain, for instance,
the private, though he may have nothing in his haversack, will,
nevertheless, carry a clumsy outfit of tools for making his uniform
look imposing.
Now, as to discipline in the American army I cannot speak at present,
for the war is yet too young. It may, however, be worth noting that in
this particular regiment, while most complete liberty was allowed the
men all the twelve days of the rail journey from San Francisco to
Tampa, not a single case of drunkenness or any other breach of
discipline was reported. Among the 105 men on this boat there has not
in the past seven days been a single case of sickness of any kind or
any occasion for punishing. The firing discipline during the three
times we have been under fire has been excellent; the obedience of
soldiers to their officers has been as prompt and intelligent as
anything I have seen in Europe; and as to coolness under fire and
accuracy of aim, what I have seen is most satisfactory. The men
evidently regard their officers as soldiers of equal courage and
superior technical knowledge. To the Yankee private "West Pointer"
means what to the soldier of Prussia is conveyed by noble rank. In my
intimate intercourse with officers and men aboard this ship I cannot
recall an instance of an officer addressing a private otherwise than
is usual when a gentleman issues an order. I have never heard an
officer or noncommissioned officer curse a man. During the engagement
of Cabañas the orders were issued as quietly as at any other time, and
the men went about their work as steadily as bluejackets on a
man-o'-war.
All this I note, because this is the first occasion that United States
troops have been in action since the civil war, and because I have
more than once heard European officers question the possibility of
making an army out of elements different from those to which they were
accustomed. I have heard Germans insist that unless the officer
appears in uniform he cannot command the respect of his men. On this
ship it would be frequently difficult to tell officers from men when
the tunic is laid aside and shoulder straps are not seen. There are
numberless points of resemblance between Tommy Atkins and the Yankee
private; and the Sandhurst man has no difficulty in understanding the
West Pointer. But to do this we must go a little beneath the surface
and see things, not on the parade ground, but in actual war. For dress
occasions the American uniform is far and away the ugliest and most
useless of all the uniforms I know. The helmets and cocked hats are of
the pattern affected by theatrical managers, the decorations tawdry,
the swords absurd, the whole appearance indicative of a taste
unmilitary and inartistic. The parade uniform has been designed by a
lot of unsoldierly politicians and tailors about Washington. Their
notion of military glory is confused with memories of St. Patrick's
Day processions and Masonic installations. They have made the patient
United States army a victim of their vulgar designs, and to-day at
every European army maneuver one can pick out the American military
attache by merely pointing to the most unsoldierly uniform on the
field. On the battlefield, however, there are no political tailors,
and the Washington dress regulations are ruthlessly disregarded.
* * * * *
STEERING GEAR OF NORTH GERMAN LLOYD STEAMERS "COBLENTZ," "MAINZ,"
AND "TRIER."
The steering gear illustrated below, which has been fitted to a number
of vessels in this country as well as on the three North German Lloyd
steamers above named, is designed, primarily, to effect the
distribution of the leverage more in proportion to the resistance of
the rudder than exists in ordinary gears. The latter, as a rule, exert
a uniform and decreasing, instead of an increasing, purchase on the
rudder, in moving it from midgear to hard over. This important object
is attained in the gear under notice chiefly through the arrangement
of the quadrant and the spring buffers, which form an essential part
of it, and of the tiller crosshead. The quadrant--which, as may be
gathered from our illustration, has its main body formed of wrought
steel, flanged and riveted, making an exceptionally strong
design--works on its own center. It travels through 51 degrees in
moving the tiller crosshead through 40 degrees, and in doing so
increases the leverage over the rudder to an extent which is
equivalent to a gain of 60 per cent. upon midgear position.
[Illustration: HAND GEAR HARD OVER.]
[Illustration: HAND GEAR AMIDSHIPS.
CROOM & ARTHUR'S STEERING GEAR.]
Being carried on its own center, and not, as is usual, on the rudder
stock, and with its rim supported on rollers, the quadrant does not
impose upon the rudder pintles any of its own weight, thus diminishing
the wear on these parts. This arrangement also keeps the quadrant
always in good gear with its pinion, thereby allowing the teeth of
both to be strengthened by shrouding, and rendering them exempt from
the effects of sinking and slogger of the rudder stock as the pintles
wear. The rack and pinions are of cast steel, as is also the tiller
crosshead. The spring buffers, which, as has been said, form an
essential part of the quadrant, are fitted with steel rollers at the
point of contact with the crosshead, thereby reducing the friction to
a minimum. The springs, by their compression, absorb any shock coming
on the rudder, and greatly reduce the vibration when struck by a sea.
They are made adjustable, and can be either steel or rubber.
Our illustrations show the arrangement of the gear as worked by hand
at the rudder head, but of course gears are made having a steam
steering engine as the major portion of the arrangement--the two
cylinders being placed directly over the quadrant--thus securing the
well known advantages attaching to a direct rudder head steering
engine as compared with the engine situated amidship, with all the
friction of parts, liability to breakage, etc., thereby entailed.
Whether with engine amidship or directly over the rudderhead, ample
provision is made for putting the hand power into gear by means of a
friction clutch within the standard upon which the hand wheels are
mounted. The clutch is of large diameter and lined with hard wood,
power and ready facility being provided by the hand lever--seen at the
top of standard--and the screw which it operates, for shifting to in
and out of gear.
The patentees and makers of this type of gear are Messrs. Croom &
Arthur, Victoria Dock, Leith, who, in addition to fitting it to the
three North German Lloyd steamers named in the title--which are each
of 3,200 tons, having an 8-inch rudder-stock--have applied it to the
Hamburg and Australian liner Meissen of 5,200 tons and 10-inch rudder
stock, and to the steamer Carisbrook of 1,724 tons, owned in Leith. On
the latter vessel, which was the first fitted with it, the gear has
been working for over two years, giving, we are told, entire
satisfaction to the owners, who say the spring buffers undoubtedly
reduce the vibration when the rudder is struck by a sea, and the
arrangement of quadrant and tiller appears to give increase of power.
Of the installation of this gear on board the three North German Lloyd
vessels, the agents of that company say: "It has been working to our
entire satisfaction. This system, on the whole, proves to have
answered its purpose." Considering the advantages claimed for the
gear, this is satisfactory testimony. We are indebted to The London
Engineer for the cuts and description.
* * * * *