HEN COOP MADE COLLAPSIBLE
A-Shaped Affair That Can p f, .
Up and Stored Away Cr r.rri-i
for Use Anywhere.
The average chicken co;v. - ..ri
a soap box or some oxh ; c
is not always convenient i
around and use in differen ,
A-shaped coop is little L
Nsijfe wjsi
HE rapidity and perfection of
working arrangements with''
which there was recently " car-"
ried out the mobilization of one
fourth of the American standing
army on the Mexican , frontier
proved a revelation to all but
the very limited number of peo
ple who have been in a position
to keep in touch with the mili
tary progress of the nation du
ring the past few years. Inci
dentally, this object lesson under
virtual war conditions has an
swered not a few of the criticisms recently made
against Uncle Sam's military establishment in
speeches in congress. Indeed, this hasty rendez
vous in Texas discounted to a great extent, as
nothing could, the chief bug-a-boo of the recent
alarmist utterances, namely the alleged handicap
sustained in having our fighting forces scattered
t2j
f
5S
r
INS.
ft In
I
all over the country at widely seDarated mili
tary posts.
Extreme mobility, which in the case of the
American army has been so strikingly put to
.the test by the double quick advance on the
Rio Grande, is the one attribute above all
others for which our military experts have
been working ever since the Spanish-American
war. The United States needs a mobile
armed force as does no other nation on the
globe. Indeed, it Is absolutely imperative.
The explanation is found, of course, In the
immense extent of the republic and our far
flung coast 'line. To protect so extensive a
territory needs an armed force that can move
with extreme rapidity from place to place. The
fact that broad oceans separate us from the
nations that, in the event of trouble, would
prove our most formidable foes presumably
insures U3 reasonable warning of attempted
invasion but even with this leeway it needs
quick-moving soldiery to rush at short notice
to any threatened point of attack.
The circumstance that the rushing of troops
to our southern boundary left the Atlantic
coast virtually unprotected is being made an
argument for 'a larger regular army by the
advocates of such an organization. However,
our military expertshave not waited upon a
Jarger army to perfect a state of military pre
paredness. ,
But whatever the merits of this question of
a large standing army the military experts
have not waited upon Its solution. They have
gone right ahead, bending every energy to
make a force of considerably less than 100,000
men equal in emergency to a body of soldiery
several times as numerous. To that end Uncle
Sam's soldiery, with due acknowledgement of
the modern tendency of specialization, have
been rendered as versatile as possible in the
arts of warfare. And, best of all, there has
been cultivated the "fire alarm" propensity to
. cut and run for,'a scene of trouble at the
shortest warning. In their part of the pre
parations, too, the administrative officials in
every branch of the army have kept constant
ly in mind this aim and purpose.
Of all the preparations for war which have
gono forward under a clear sky perhaps the
most wonderful have had to do with the trans
portation arrangements. Our military experts
have awakened tn fha tar ,o k tTu.j
w -w ma), luc umieu
States is the greatest railroad country in the
world and that even in the event of the most
serious conflict , it Is unlikely that many of
these communicative lines would be seriously
interfered with. Why not then, make these
annihilatora of time and space a military as
set. Indeed it is Imperative to do so if the
army Is to be rendered a mobile force, for no
other utility can serve as the twentieth cen
tury substitute for the forced marches of oth
er days. Consequently, whereas European na
tions,, with their circumscribed areas and per
fect highways have been experimenting with
military automobiles and other innovations our
war department officials have been wrestling
with ' the problems of the make-up and han
dling of troop trains, and designing special
kitchen cars and hospital cars and the like.
The first try-out of the plans that have been
in the making these past dozen years has come
in the case of the recent hurried advance to
"Texas. ' . j-.-w. '
,,If a chance visitor could have been in Wash
ington tln -the early days of the Spanish war
and then again .when1 he recent hurry call to
'the' Gulf: coast was given 'be could not fail to
be impressed with the contrast, the turmoil
and confusion of 1&08; with the well-oiled pre
cision of rth5 present execution of prearranged
plans. " That 20,000 men-could be moved a dis
tance of thousands of-miles along a score of
different arteris ot traffic ithout- apparently
7 Uz) SJ
K O
d e ranging
in the
s 1 1 g h test
degree the
o r d i n ary
routine at
the war de
p artment
h eadquar
t e r s in
Washington
is a tribute,
first of all,
of course,
to the re
o rg anized
army with its general staff or beard of direc
tors, but in even greater degree is it evidence
of the value of that comparatively new insti-ti-.tion,
the U. S. Army War College. The newspaper-reading
public has been told repeatedly
these past few years that It is the special prov
ince of the officers detailed to duty in the great
red brick huildlng, overlooking the Potomac
in Washington, to have on hand and tokeep
constantly up to date detailed plans of cam
paign for use in the event of war with any
other nation. However, the present instance
affords the country at large its first real ex
amplification of the practical value of the in
formation that is kept under such close guard
iij the plan vault and the map rooms of the
War College.
It was shown by the rapidity with which or
ders were formulated and issued for this sud
den movement of the largest body of troops
that has bee?i handled at any one time since
the SpaniKh war that the War College has de
pendable information as to just what can be
expected of the railroads in an emergency.
This showed, too, the wisdom of Uncle Sam's
policy of keeping his war plans up to the min
ute by revising them every time there is a
change of railroad schedules for, in this in
stance, most of the troops traveled by regular
trains Instead of by special trains and tfte lat
ter would presumably be resorted to only in
the case of extreme emergency.
Another feature of the plans for the army in
action for which the big trek to Texas has
proven a most beneficial dress rehearsal is that
which contemplates reliance upon .the tele
graph system of the country In the movement
of troops. The use of the network of wires
covering the continent, in the event of war,
lias frscn the subject of study on the part of
the military experts that has gone hand in
hand with the Investigation as to how the rail
road arrangements could be made to promote
the mobility of the military force. This work
ed out just as anticipated the day orders were
Issued for the advance to Texas and there
poured into the department a continual stream
of telegrams that kept the officials advised in
detail as to the movement of every body of
troops headd for the rendezvous in the Lone
Star State.
It may be a trifle early to talk about the les
sons to b- drawn from this taste of war but
one Is already apparent It emphasizes that
the field artillery yet has a very important
place in our military paraphernalia. There has
been a disposition on the part of some people,
of late years, to regard any considerable
amount of field artilery as not the most useful
equipment for the American army. Such advo
cates took the view that Uncle Sam ought to
put ms money into heavy coast defense guns
4e?ZZ&y sat
tain condi-
tions. And
Incidently it
c onveyed
V the hint
that the
m o u n tain
batteries, in
which guns
and ammu
nition are
"packed" on
mule back
might prove as Invaluable in the mountains of
Mexico as they have under spmewhat similar
conditions in the Philippines.
Similarly the conditions existing at the scene
of-the present campaign are such as to empha
size the fact that there is yet a very important
sphere for the cavalry in .the army.
It as though the crisis in this unexpected quar
ter were a providential answer to the argu
ments of those persons in and cut of official
life who have been urging in recent years
that the foot-soldier shotld be practically the
whole thing in our military , complement. It
must be apparent to everybody who is even
casqally conversant with geographical condi
tions that if Uncle Sam Is to keep peace "From
the Canal to Canada" he will have need of a
considerable cavalry force and a force pro
vided with the best possible class of mounts.
There are mountainous localities In the region
to the south of us where only cavalry could
operate successfully. Neither automobiles nor
yet aeroplanes would serve as a substitute.
And incidentally it may be noted that conditions
on the Mexican border have afforded an op
portunity much earlier than was anticipated to
test the practical military value of the airship.
The servicabillty of the sky craft for scouting
operations ought to be pretty well attested ere
the troops return to their home stations.
No better theater of war, real or mimic, than
the southwest could be chosen for demon
strating the progress made during the past few
yearsboth in the methods and equipment of
the U. S. ? Signal corps. The general public,
with its craving for the spectacular, has heard
most regarding the introduction of the aero
plane as a utensil of warfare but as a matter
of fact the Signal Corps has recently intro
duced Innovations far nore " important from a
military standpoint than the aerial scouts, and
these communicative utilltiesand novelties for
day and night signaling would obviously prove
especially valuable in rough country, where
there are few existing telephone or telegraph
wires and ' where he erection of such lines
would be difficult and expensive. The Signal
Corps Is fully abreast of the times (and of the
military establishment of any other; nation): in
its experiments with wireless telegraphy and
wireless telephony and it ,has developed some
very ingenious expedients for the use of rap-
Juiy moving rorces in the field, as for instance.
si yu Biauon on wneeis and the apparatus
which enables a mounted trooper to lay or reel
in a telephone wire automatically while his
horse is at fuli gallop, the rider meanwhile con
tinuing telephone conversation over this elastic
wire. ,
It is expected that when the Joint operations
ture upon battleships of the heavies V class, ford argument one way or another as to what
comnlBtei; ZCZ T .Dn W,wm n. that this fore, the 0I-
past that this body of sea soldiers who are pre
sumably no longer needed on our warships as
they were in the days when most of the sailors
were foreigners, should be transferred to the
army. Some time ago all the marines were ta
ken off the-cwarships, but later by order of con
gress they had to be restored. Now that hun
dreds of the marines are scheduled to partici
pate In extensive land operations, either inde
pendently or in conjunction with the soldiery of
the regular army it is hoped that evidence will
be forthcoming as to whether or not they would
render better service if actually enrolled on the
army roster.
The "team TVork" of the army and navy which
is a consi3t2t policy with Uncle Sam is being
followed along with mother op-to-date ideAs in the
operations on tEe Gulf coast. Co-operation be
tween military and naval forces is, of course, an
axiom with all the great powers of the world,
but many of the European nations which have
no very exffcnsive sea coasts have not given the
. attention to this that has been bestowed in the
United States. It will be remembered that in
most recent war games on the 'Atlantic coast
there was joint responsibility between the two
arms of the service. Howevef many persons had
little expectation that such concerted action
would be advisable when planning operations not
in reference to a foe from overseas, but rela
tive to possible disturbance in aieighbor repub
lic on our own continent. In this respect the
present activity has proven something of a rev
elation. But it has been realized that not only
can the warships render a service by a patrol of
the Gulf .coast but are also a factor in that they
can land for shore service thousands-of seamen,
trained by regular small arms practice for serv
ice as infantrymen and light artillerymen.
One of .the marvels of the recent quick work
in the southwest is found in the very creditable
manner in which the commissary department
has met the responsibilities suddenly thrust up
on it Here again there has been most gratify
ing contrast to the conditions of the Spanish
war period, but it must be remembered that
Uncle Sam has made very tangible progress
these past few years in the very vital problems
of subsisting troops in the field. The army has
made most, advantageous use of fireless cooking
by means of fireless cookers on wheels, designed
to cook the food while the military force to
which the equipment is attached is on the march
and to have the meal, piping hot and ready to !
serve the minute the force halts for the noon- i
day respite or to pitch camp at night i
There has been plenty of work too for the on.
gineer corps of the army in this "Texas cam
paign" for there have, been big camps to lay
out and to lay out such sites in various sizes up
to a divisional camp covering 00 acres wens
an immense amount of work for the surveying
corps and the map makers in the field. The en
gineers are also likely to find some opportunity
for their searchlight work. including that with
their new nnrtalilo o& mkiukt. . .
the auto-telegraph car or telephone and te tomobile trkl aid I ITJ
eluded they are likely to have more or less prac
tice In bridge build!-- And finally the opera
tions of 20,000 soldifls in the field cannot fail
to afford its share of work for the hospital corps
the more so by reason or the effect upon the
health of many of the officers : and men of so
sudden a change from a cold to a warm climate
And the best part of air this practical try-dlit
of our military preparedness ; Is that not only
will the rank and file get experience but the
higher officers of the. service from n
Wood, -down, .will personally direct or 'observe
Z. U
i
F.o 2
Parts Are Hinged
liier.
an ordinary box. The acccr
sketch shows a collapsible A-. J
coop that can be folded and stored
away or carried and set up for uSe
anywhere, says a writer in tin- popu
lar Mechanics. The main iranvis
made in four parts and joined togeth
er with hinges as shown in Fig. i.
The frame can be covered v w;r9
netting, or boards on the ton iart
with netting on the ends. The hinged
frames provide a way to open either
end. A small hook and eye should be
provided at each end to Lola the
parts in place.
CARING FOR YOUNG GOSLINGS
Should Be Left in Nest or .ncubsr
Twenty-Four Hours After Hatch
ing Keep Them Dry.
Goslings should be left in the rest
or incubator for twenty-four hours
after hatching, then fed with ligh
bread soaked in milk and ycur.
tender grass cut up fine and mixed
with it. If they will net eat it, open,
their mouths and pour it in with a
spoon. It is often hard to teach them
to eat, and many are lost if left to
learn alone, or are put out with their
mothers until they can eat. Scatter
blades of shjqrt grass among them
and they will on'arn toick it -jp.
Two or three feeds will usually teach
them and save you many dollars. Aft
er they learn to eat this, feed unsift
ed cornmeal and bran.
Keep the mother indoors until the
dew is off the ground, after . which
confine her to a small pasture. If
possible, as she will tire the young
goslings by walking too far. Do not
let them get chilled or get caught
out in a heavy rain, for they are
much more easily drowned than
chickens. Exposure to cold, damp
weather and wet coops will give them
rheumatism. Plenty of grass and
water are necessary, with a little
grain, until the time for fattening ar
rives in the fall.
CONFINING GEESE IN A YARD
Yoke Made Out of Common Shingle
Slipped Over Head of Bird Will Pre
vent Crawling Through Fence.
I have had more or less trouble
with my geese crawling through
fences. Sometimes they get out of
the yard that I want to keeD them in,
then again they get Into the garden
wnen I want to keen them out. says
a writer in Farm and Home. To rem
edy this I made a yoke out of a
Goose Yoke.
shingle for each goose and slipped
this down over its head. This makes
it impossible for them to crawl
through an ordinary fence. The
piece of shingle is about five inches
wide by ten inches long and does not
weigh very much. It does the geese
no harm and Is apparently not in their
way.
yuiuir.cicij. oreriooKea in,contemiJuiuottiof lha rflrrnf th ,.- wa. , .-" , " ra Buutuiy mrect : or observe
.w "Pie.neia .anmery under cer- cles. Manr new. a, " T " . uu lessons u
-.- . i. i .,; IT' mm, w WWWVUUVU AVI
years voived.
Turkey Production In United States.
The census of 1900 shows that with
a little over 5,000,000 farms in the
United States, not much over 6,500,
000 turkeys were produced. Among
the states Texas leads, having pro
duced almost 650,000 turkeys. Fol
lowing Texas came Missouri, Illinois,
Iowa and Indiana In the order named.
It may be remarked that Rhode Is
land produced 5,000 -turkeys and of
such good quality that the returns
were nearly double the amount o:
other states.
Origin of Black Java.
The modern Black Java is in de
scription and appearance a Black Ply
mouth Rock, and is said to have come
largely from ihe black culls which
were produced quite numerously in the
pearly- dajrs of the Barred Rock. The
early Black Javas were Black Cochins,
thj birds going by both names.
t