the opinion that the marine guard is one of the great essentials of a man-of-war, it may be questioned whether they are, as a general rule, popular with the rank and file of the navy. This is no doubt in part due to the fact that in olden times, when the navy was recruited by means of the press gang and mutinies were consequently frequent, the marines were used by the naval commanders for the suppression of all insubordination and sedition on board. In the great mutinies of the Nore, at Spithead and Bantry bay, in the early part of the last century, it was largely owing to the loyalty and to the gallantry of the marines on board the three fleets that the mutineers were reduced to subjection and the ships saved from destruction, and before the close of the year parliament had publicly thanked the marines for their devotion and their steadfastness in connection with the affair. It is due in a measure to this that the jollies have ever since been looked upon by the jack tars as constituting a species of police over them and the presence of the marines on board as a sort of imputation upon their loyalty. This impression has been kept alive to a certain extent by the fact that the marines are frequently employed, even to this day, in duties of what might be described as a police character. And of course it does not help matters that while they are compelled to assist to man boats for shore operations and to form the crews for the heavy guns, they are exempt from most of the hard work that falls to the share of the sailor. In fact, beyond guard mounting and drilling they have but little else to do, and are under the immediate orders of one of their own officers.

The size of the detachment of marines on board a man-ofwar varies according to the size and rating of the latter, and while in the case of some vessels it is as large as 100 men, with three officers, in smaller ships it will not exceed twenty or thirty men under the command of a subaltern. The latter is in turn subject to the orders of the captain of the ship, ranks as a wardroom officer and, like his men, is subject to the naval discipline act when afloat, but becomes subject to the military rules and regulations when on land. In fact, his amphibious character is most strikingly displayed by the circumstance

that his name appears both in the army list and in that of the

navy.

I may add, that while there is marine infantry and artillery, there is no marine cavalry. Indeed, the marine, in spite of his being primarily a soldier, has the reputation of being as little at home on horseback as the sailor, and the term horse marine is employed more to indicate ignorance of matters equine than proficiency in that particular branch of sport.

On shore duty the marines conform to army regulations and are expected to combine to a considerable extent the functions of the infantryman, engineer, signalman and light artilleryman. In order to permit this versatility of operations the working equipment of a detachment of marines detailed for shore service embraces Krag rifles, Colt automatic, Gatling, or some other type of rapid fire guns, picks and shovels for throwing up entrenchments, and apparatus for signaling by night or day. On shipboard the marines have nothing to do with navigating the vessel, but man the secondary batteries, act as sharp shooters in the military masts, and in the event of a conflict at close quarters are depended upon to repel the attacks of boarders. The United States marines range from eighteen to thirty five years of age and have an average height of five feet six inches. The men enlist for a period of five years and receive from $13 to $22 per month, in addition, of course, to food, clothing, medicines and, in short, every necessity. The privates of the marine corps are not sent to sea until after they have been thoroughly drilled in their various duties at one or another of the training schools maintained at Washington, Annapolis, Brooklyn, Norfolk, Boston, Portsmouth, and League Island. The work of these institutions includes the drills of the soldier, company and battalion, skirmishing, target practice, and bayonet exercise, as well as all military duties and ceremonies. The marines wear khaki when occasion warrants, but are possessed of a full dress uniform, which is possibly the most conspicuous worn in any branch of the United States military service. The caps and coats are of dark blue; the trousers and overcoats of light blue, trimmings being of scarlet. The marine, when on board ship, is assigned the regular blue jacket ration, which is accounted

as equivalent to thirty cents, but, when on shore, receives the army ration, which is rated at seventeen cents per man per day. When landed from war vessels it is, of course, essential that the marines travel in light marching order, and accordingly they do not make use of the regulation army tents, but use instead the Sibley tents. One of these tepee-like shelters will accommodate sixteen men, sleeping with their heads together at the center pole and their bodies reaching out in all directions like the spokes of a wheel.

While the marine is supposed to know something of the sea he is not presumed to be a good seaman, and is never called upon to help coal the ship or perform other tasks which rank as the especial duties of the enlisted men of the navy. For the most part the work of marines afloat is made up of such light tasks as guard or sentry duty and service as mail orderlies or official messengers between ship and shore. The marines are entitled to much of the credit for the superior marksmanship which has been the most striking feature of this country's naval progress since the Spanish war. merly the responsible position of gun pointer was open only to seamen, but now there is an opportunity for any enlisted man on a warship to win the extra pay and prizes which attach to this coveted post, a gun pointership being a rating rather than a position. Not only are numerous marines serving as gun pointers, but there are on the prominent American naval vessels not a few guns which are manned entirely by these soldiers of the sea.

For

One of the most important but little emphasized functions of the United States marine corps is found in its influence against mutiny on the vessels of the American navy. The necessity for such a safeguard will be better appreciated when it is taken into consideration that in seeking men for the rapidly growing navy the enlistments sometimes show twenty foreigners to one American; and it is hoping for too much to expect a set of foreign sailors to be true to the flag under all circumstances. The marines, on the other hand, are almost without exception American born, and the detachment on a ship constitutes a body separate and distinct in interests and sympathies from the crew proper.

Officers of the marine corps are on the same footing as to rank and privileges as similar grades in the army. Of late a movement has been inaugurated to give them a higher degree of technical knowledge, and applicants for an officer's position in the corps must spend a year or more in the Annapolis school for the instruction of commissioned officers of marines. The increasing governmental appreciation of the value of the marine corps as a branch of the military establishment is found in the fact that whereas, a few years ago, the ranking officer of marine could have no higher rank than colonel, Gen. Elliott, the new commandant, has the rank of brigadier general and has fully 8,000 men under his direction. Of this full strength several hundred are boys, ranging from fourteen to twenty one years of age, who have been enrolled as buglers and drummers, and two of whom are attached to every United States war vessel carrying marines.

Vol.9-25

WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION.

BY CHARLES C. FITZMORRIS.

[Charles C. Fitzmorris, journalist; was born May 1, 1884, at Fort Wayne, Ind.; educated at the public schools; became a member of the staff of the Chicago American in 1902; has been staff correspondent for that paper and is author of many articles for newspapers and magazines.]

Maxim, the inventor of the Maxim rapid fire gun, Maximite, a terrible explosive, and other vehicles of destruction, replied to a criticism that his genius might be better employed than in devising new weapons for war, by saying that inventors of terrible weapons were the most effective peacemakers. In explanation he added that when warfare means annihilation to both combatants, universal peace will follow, never to be interrupted by strife. The Russian-Japanese war, with its awful carnage on both sides, and a knowledge of the more terrible and modern engines of war would seem to indicate that the time is ripe for the appearance of the dove of peace, bringing the olive branch to all the nations of the globe.

The genius of those whose efforts are directed to the development of the machinery of war has left no known place to which warfare may not be extended in its most terrible form. The land is guarded by cannon that have range of almost twenty four miles. Battleships, torpedo boats and other forms of marine craft carry war to all the oceans, while the depths of the sea are patrolled by submarine boats and serve to conceal mines that destroy whatever they touch.

The essential of all the arms of war, with hardly an exception, is ammunition. Gunpowder in its early form has been supplanted by newer explosives of far greater power. Of the developments in this line probably the most important has been the invention of smokeless powder. The quality that is implied by its name is not its chief qualification. In the old forms of powder about forty per cent of the charge remained as solid matter, interfering with the next charge, preventing rapid firing and of course making impossible the development of all the energy of the powder. Added to all these faults the old form of powder produced a great cloud of