Show WHEN i WAR GOMES I A Brief History of General a Boulanger THE SECOND BONAPARTE A Glance atthe French Army as Cam pared With Germany The Weak Spots in Both I The foremost figure in France if not in all Europe today is Gen Boulanger minister of war of the French republic Yet the current volume Yalpereaus Universal Dictionary of Men and Women published at Paris 1880 has no reference to this particular Boulan ger though devotingcolumns to men ef the name generally known outside their own country The claim for him of premier place in the mind of the old world is largely due of course to the element of imagination as no actual performance has attested his right to it Bismarck who in common acceptation would be accoded the position is a thoroughly known quantity The Bismarck Bis-marck of 1870 will be the Bismarck of 1887 or 1390 With Boulanger it is different erent He is looked to for unknown and undeveloped unlimited capacity capa-city as an organizer and leader It was Qne of the Berlin papers which called Boulanger a second Bonaparte and the whole of Europe took the hint The question is everywhere asked whether he is to be the second Napoleon Napo-leon If he has any love of newspaper notoriety he is certainly being gratified to the fullest extent Biographies of him appear in every sheet His por trait too is becoming as common as that of Bismarck A recent letter from a gentleman in Paris who has a close personal acquaintance with Gen Bou langer says that he is not a Bonaparte in the sense that hewants to be emperor empe-ror for he is far too much of a radical But he is vain fond of authority and might drift into a dictatorship He is thoroughly democratic belonging to the school of Clemenceau and the latter is not only his relative but also on most intimate terms with him and thoroughly in accord having been warm personalfriends from childhood Boulanger he asserts is opposed to going to war with Germany at present and would not do so except in the direst extremity But this is a purely precautionary sentiment He loves his country loves the French people is proud of the French army for which he has already done so much and his secret and burning ambition is to meet Germany at a moment when France will have a fair chance of success He does not think the hourfor action has arrived and is willing to make almost any sacrifice in order to he allowed to perfect the orgonization and equipment equip-ment of the French army He is justin just-in the prime of life and knows that Emperor William Bismarck and Moltke must soon pass off the stage of action Off with the old and on with the new It will then be Frances day i and the proper time to strike The question arises as to whether Germany will allow France and Gen Boulanger to go on preparing for the coveted opportunity op-portunity Boulangers untried qualities as a leader in actual warfare are confidently relied upon by the popular mind at Paris at least and is not Paris still Franceas solving the sole difficulty of la ravanche In numbers discipline and material the French army probably stands at present scarcely second to even the German but where is the man who shall lead these brave soldiers against the enemy Such was the ques tionFrenchmen asked themselves before Boulanger burst upon their visionThey cast their glances over the Rhine ajm see there many a tried commander at the head of Germanys legions On their own side the list is painfully smallCaa robert Chanzy Aurellas de Pal dine Wirapffen and many other brave leaders of the last struggle have passed away MacMahon still remains but his fatal errors in 1870 and above all his reactionary leanings have long since relegated him to the background Faid herbe who at Bapaume inflicted on the Prussians one of the few defeats they experienced during that bloody campaign cam-paign has for years been a helpless invalid There remain therefore but Saussier commander of Paris and commanderinchief of the French army incase of war Negrier the hero of Tonquin and last but not least Gen Boulangerall three comparatively compara-tively untried soldiers Of course great opportunities often make great men and Boulanger may prove a second Napoleon Bonaparte before the end of another FrancoGerman war Gen Boulangers mother was an Eng lish woman who when she married M Boulanger was a beautiful girl scarcely out of her teens At that period M Bonlanger was a solicitor at Rennes But shortly after his marriage he migrated to Nant where the present war minister of France was born and those who remember the mother speak of the striking resemblance which her distinguished son bears to her as she then was Without being actually poor the Boulangers were far from nun and so when young Boulanger was sent to Saint Cyr his parents could only give him very little pocket money Evn when he left Saint Cyr he had no margin mar-gin for extravagance He made ins military debut in the Italian canipaign of 185859 and was both wounded and decorated So severely was he wounded in fact that he was made a professor at Eainl Cyr and the Sunday evening receptions he and his wife gave at their little house near the railway station are still pleasantly remembered bv many of the cadets of those days His young wife was quite an adept in brewi a and grogs a lAnglaise while bl > little daughters Yvonne and JLi were favorites among the guests 2 1870 Gen Boulanger who had rejointa the active army was in garrison af Nantes but was fortunate enough to reach Paris with his regiment just before the gates were finally closedAf the war he went to Tunis and his recent career is too well known to need r petition peti-tion i The army in France has from time immemorial been the nations pride To this sentiment has been added since 1S70 insatiable thirst for revenge and the army though beaten has become rl greater factor than ever in the nations existence Tpe law by which every Frenchman unless incapacitated by bodily infirmities or a few other set I causes is enrolled among the possible defenders of his country was enacted July 271872 By its provisions every unexempted citizen must render military mili-tary service first for five years in the regular army then for four years in the regular reserve then for five years in 1 the territorial army and finally for sir years in the reserve of the territorial army In other words France expects him to be ready at her call during twenty successive years of his life rhe enforcement 4 this law hag enabled France to maintain with ease a larger standing army than her dangerous danger-ous rival over the Rhino for while the German forces on a peace footing do not exceed 427000 men the French have 492143 men constantlyunder arm The most formidable branch of the French army is and eyer was the infantry in-fantry The Frenchman by reason of his low statue light weight agility and muscularity is peculiarly adapted to long marchesperilous climbingbayonet encounters and handtohand combats He is defective in marksmanship but makes up for that in his other good points The entire infantry is armed with the Gras breech loading gun an improvement on the Cnassepot but the government in emulation of the Germans Ger-mans is already taking steps to replace that weapon with a magazine gun The weak spot of the French army is its cavalry although special attention has been paid to it in the last few years The French have never been good riders and to make matters worse they suffer from a dearth of horse As a result their cavalry is inferior nnmer ally i to Germanys good military authorities placing the number of horsemen horse-men the latter country could send into the field at the outbreak of a war at almost double that at Frances disposal At this time the French have actually 452 more mounted pieces than the Germans Ger-mans the full number of guns in the French army being 1856 as against 1404 in the German army Their guns are mostly of the Bauge make that is they are of molten steel and are said to 36 superior in many respects to those of the Krnpp pattern |