NEGROES AT THE FRONT.

Taihape Daily Times, 30 August 1918, Page 5

NEGROES AT THE FRONT.

Under arms to-day in the American' Army are 186.000 negroes. If the maal power of the -United States is wholly put into the field, on the same scalo as in Europe 900,000 black soldiers will appear in ' Prance and Flanders* What sort of fighting stock can be expected to come of a savage and slave ancestry? Every student of the American Civil War knows the answer* Some of the best troops in that terrible struggle were blacks. Since then the traditions of the negro soldier have been worthily maintained by the famous 9th and 10th Black Regimentsof Cavalry and the 24th and 25ta 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 the white. This is indicated by the records of medical examination for tho National Army. Among the first 2,500,000 men between 21 and 31 years of age who were summoned for examination, 25 out of every 100 whites werepassed as physically perfect, 32 out of every 100 negroes. It is not in th© 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 quently made. And, in addition, 255 negroes are serving as doctors and dentists, which implies that they hold diplomas from colleges. A military "expert has written concerning the hlstorib four negro regiments of the 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 expreiences of the negro troops in Prance resulted in two negro privates on sentry duty winning the coveted Croix de Guerre.