| Show I AMEBICAN SOLDIER < What really strikes the foreigner in our unpreparedfor waris not so much the quality as the small extent of it Some portions of our army have challenged the admiration of foreign military men by its excellence Thus Captain dArville of the French embassy em-bassy at Washington speaking of the engineer corps landing service and its completeness says I had no sort of appreciation of the completeness of these American officers landing equipment until Isaw a part of it Figure yourself a poutremer sea bridge or pontoon of over half an English mile long compact enough to bear up a train of six field guns Do you know any service in Europe that has ever ventured upon such a daring experiment I do not But it is successful suc-cessful In gunnery they excel in accuracy ac-curacy anyartillery have ever seen High praise this and well deserved If the land operations the war take on any considerable dimensions there will be many surprises for foreign military mil-itary critics of the American army One pf the rreai errors they make in estimating esti-mating the American soldier is that they think he does not realize the difficulties diffi-culties to be overcome nor the danger that Confronts him he realizes both but they neither discourage nor overawe over-awe him It is his appreciation of facts that has always made him so successful success-ful in the field If he Ijas a mountain to climb he prepares himself to climb a mountain and npt a mole hill The difference betwten the American and the European may be ijlustrated by it reference to the differnce between American and European railroads In Europe a roadbed costs three or four times as much as in America and it is an axiom with European railroad men I that unless the roadbed is perfect there I can be neither speed nor safety and they almost shudder when they behold American roadbed ret In America the roadbeds answer their purpose as well as in Europe and travel on American Amer-ican roads is as speedy and safe as on European roads The difference Is largely one of standards the American believing that it is not necessary to go beyond he practically safe and useful And this explains why he has more reliance re-liance on a hurried preparation war or anything else than the European has His nature is more mobile his talents more versatile his selfreliance greater |
