HEROES ON HALE-PENNY A DAY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 22, 19 March 1915, Page 3 (Supplement)

HEROES ON HALE-PENNY A DAY.

THE LIFE OF A FRENCH CONSCRIPT.

Whatever may he" said against conscription, it cannot be denied that it is an admirable means of making a nation of men as well as of soldiers. Indeed, you will scarcely find a man in France or any other conscript country who will not admit that he is better physically and morally for the military training which he has been obliged to undergo in his youth, whether he liked it or not. In Fiance the first of October is the day on which, every year, more than a quarter of a million youths who have reached the age of twenty are summoned by law to the colours and begin a compulsory service to the tricolour flag which doe's not cease until they reach their forty-fifth, birthday. This small army of annual conscripts includes every social grade—peasants from Brittam, fisher-lads from the coast, and artisans from Lille rubbing shoulders with the sons of senators and generals and scions of the old noblesse. And for two years they will all, from duke's son to cook's son, be equals in the strictest sense of the word, all alike "passing rich'' on a halfpenny a day, with a periodical allowance of tobacco in return for their services to the Republic. Let us follow the career of one of these annual conscripts during his two > ears' training; and let us suppose that lie has elected to serve in the infantry—for. as a rule, the new recruit may choose which arm of the service he prefers. On the first of October he says good-bve to civilian life and presents himself at his station where a corporal takes charge of him and initiates him into his new iife. ALL EQUAL. He is first taken to the store where he is completely equipped with hoots and uniform —a complete military outfit which must be passed as correct by his captain. A lied is then allotted to him very different probably from the olio he is accustomed to, but clean and sufficiently comfortable; and if he finds the adjoining heds occupied by a peasant and a gamin from a Paris slum — well, they arc all equal now, and he accepts the strange fellowship witli good grace. Thus installed, his training begins on the morrow. One of the first things he has to learn is to march properly, an achievement by no means as easy as it might seem. He must learn the pas-de-flexion, the curious and ungainly method of marching peculiar to the French. This bent knee, slouching method carries men along with a swing; the step is shorter than that of our own soldiers, but the rate is quicker: and the men swing along, to all appearances tireless, at such a pace that they easily cover some thirty miles a day on manoeuvres —and this although they carry large and heavy packs at which a British infantryman would look aghast. Within two or three months our eonsciipt has become a marching expert, and is amazed at the distances he can cover without fatigue. While he is learning to march he is also learning to shoot and to use the bayonet, and his limbs are becoming supple and his muscle strong with daily exercise in the gymnasium. His shoot-ing-training is very thorough; he is taught everything that is to be learned about his rifle—how to hold it, clean it, press the trigger, how to load it and how to adjust the sights. At a miniature range he first learns the mystery of aiming straight at a large white target, across the middle of which a thick black line is drawn horizontally and be must become an expert at hitting this line near its centre before he is allowed to proceed to the long range practice. ON THE ROAD. And this is by no means all his training. There are the business of barrackroom life, the cleaning of his equipment, fatigue duty, trench-digging—all the hundred and one things which are necessary to make a soldier jn these days of scientific warfare. Nor must we forget the route-marches with the battalion, which he learns to enjoy best of all his work. On these marches the infantry swing along, a far-reaching column heralded bv the band, the men marching at ease and chatting and smoking as they cover the dusty miles, their rifles swung anvhow. their' formation broken up so that friend may march with friend. Suddenly someone starts p. song; a squad takes it up and it spreads through the company, until every man is singing lustily. As the miles arc reeled off song succeeds song, ceasing only as the battalion approaches a town. Then the column falls as if by magic into rigid older, and with shoulders squared and erect'heads it marches through as one man, stepping out martially to the music of the hand. , . So much tor the physical training; the morn! training is equally thorough. One of the first lessons a conscript must learn is unselfishness. It is, for instance, an unwritten law in the French army that no man must drink alone. If he is seen to enter llic canteen alone, he must prepare for a had time from his comrades"; for fa ire Suisse, as such a selfish act is called, is a grave offence. He is lucky indeed if he escapes with no worse punishment than a blanket-toss-ing by his mom-mates which will knock I lie "last ounce" of breath out of his body. MAKING GENTLEMEN.

If lie reports this indignity to ins sergeant, the probability is that the sergeant will laugh at him for his pains: while his "sneaking,*' in aggravation of his selfishness, will certainly lead to its appropriate punishment. Thus he soon learns many useful lessons—to he generous and loyal to his fellows, to treat nil alike as his equals and friends, to be manlv and modest, and to he obedient to his seniors, qualities which serve him well in later life, and which make even the commonest French soldier a gentleman in heart and conduct. The canteen plays a considerable pari in the life of the conscript. Here he can get both food and drink of a combined quality and cheapness that you will scarcely find elsewhere. For threehalfpence, for example, he can make an excellent petit dejeuner on coffee and rolls: and four fivepence he can drink a /mttle of quite decent wine! If he is in an extravagant mood a franc will purchase a bottle of wine, which is the stable drink of the French army, such as you will not match in Kngland for three times the sum. Rut our conscript's appetite is well cared for liy the Government, and he hicks nothing from his early-morning cup of coffee which is brought round to the bar-rack-room and his liberal allowance of soup at Id o'clock to the last meal which sends him replete lo Irs bed. In the canteen, too. our conscript spends inanv of bis happiest hours off diltv; for it is there that his fellows gather, no! only to drink, but to meet their friends for gossip and recreation. Here he can make sure of meeting men who have come from his own town or village, or whom lie knows well and with whom he can pass many a pleasant hour. But the most enjoyable feature of the canteen life is ils singing: for the French army is especially rich in

vocal talent: and the hours pass gaily in a succession of songs and rousing choruses.

Thus the time passes, profitably and happily for the budding soldier, who soon learns to love his work, to he proud of the army he has joined and the unit ho serves. His training is making a man and a patriot of him; and when at last it is ended and he is a fully-fledged soldier of France, he will at least say,

"it litis been rather a hard business, this conscript period, hut France asked it, and, ma foi, I am a man now."