ny respects the least
equipped foot soldier of my acquaintance. This was my reflection as I
overhauled the kit of a private this morning on board the "Gussie."
There was not a single brush in his knapsack. I counted three in that
of a Spanish foot soldier only a few weeks ago. The American knapsack
is merely a canvas bag cut to the outward proportions of the European
knapsack, but in practical features bearing affinity with the
"rueckensack" of the Tyrolean chamois hunters, or pack-sack of the
backwoodsmen of Canada and the Adirondack Mountains. This knapsack of
the American is not intended to be carried on any extended marches,
although the total weight he is ever called upon to carry, including
everything, is only 50 pounds, a good 12 pounds less than what is
carried by the private of Germany. The men of this regiment, in heavy
marching order, carry an overcoat with a cape, a blanket, the half of
a shelter tent, and one wooden tent pole in two sections. The rifle
could be used as a tent pole--so say men I talk with on the subject.
On this expedition overcoats are a superfluity, and it is absurd that
troops should be sent to the tropics in summer wearing exactly the
same uniform they would be using throughout the winter on the
frontiers of Canada. This war will, no doubt, produce a change after
English models. At present the situation here is prevented from being
painful because no marching has yet been attempted, and the commanding
officers permit the most generous construction in the definition of
what is a suitable uniform.

On the trip of this ship to Cuba, no officer or man has ever worn a
tunic excepting at guard mounting inspection. The 50 men who went
ashore near Cabanas on May 12 and pitched into some 500 Spaniards left
their coats behind and fought in their blue flannel shirts. Of the
officers, some wore a sword, some did not, though all carried a
revolver. No orders were issued on the subject--it was left to
individual taste, I have experienced hotter days at German maneuvers
than on the coast of Cuba during the days we happened to be there, yet
I have never noticed any disposition in the army of William II. to
relax the severity of service even temporarily. My German friends
sincerely believe that the black stock and the hot tunic are what has
made Prussia a strong nation, and to disturb that superstition would
be a thankless task.

In the way of clothing the American private carries a complete change
of