AMERICA'S NEGRO REGIMENTS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 7, Issue 414, 1 October 1918, Page 4

AMERICA'S NEGRO REGIMENTS.

Under arms to day in the American Army are 186,000 negroes. If the man-power of the United States is wholly put into the field on the same scale as in Europe, 900,000 ! lack soldiers will appear in France and Flanders. What sort of fighting stock can be expected to come of a ravage ami slave ancestry ? Every s-n'lerit of the American Civil War k'n'rfd the answer. Some of the 'st troops in that terrible struggle worn blacks. Since then the traditi >ns of the negro soldiers have been worthily maintained by the famous 9ih and 10th Black Regiments of Cavalry and tho 24th and 25th Regiments of Infantry. From the selected stock that survived the most terrible ordeal of the slave-raiding days on the African coast a negro race has sprung with a physical stamina apparently more hardy than that of the white This is indicated by the records of medical examinati in for the National Army. Among first. 2,.500,000 men between 21 and 31 years of age who were summoned for examination, 25 out of every 100 whites were passed as physically perfect and 32 out of every 100 negroes. It is not in the ranks alone that the negro fighter is found. There are 650 commissioned officers, all men of college education, among them, commanding coloured troops, and fresh promotions are frequently made. And, in addition, 225 negroes are serving as doctors and dentists, which imp!ies that they hold diplomas from colleges. A military expert has written concerning the historic four nogro regiments of tho American Army: "They are notably steady under fire, patient to endure hardship, cheerful and good-natured at all times ; and they can fight " One of the first experiences of the negro troops in France resulted in two negro privates on sentry duty winning the coveted Croix de Guerre.