THE THE SOLDIER : HIS- LODGING. TIM comprehensive, Report on
the Sanitary Condition of the British. Army preSents us with it tolerably- complete view of the soldier in what may be called hii domestic relations. It depicts re- Ministry of Justice. Whatever may be the precise amount of the influence exercised on the health of the soldier by his lodging, it must be great for
THE LIVINGSTONE DINNER. good or for evil. The Sanitary Commissioners regard his lodging TICE public dinner given to Dr. Livingstone on Saturday was a as one of the most decidedly evil influences which undermine and brilliant success, and it will serve many useful purposes. Almost destroy the soldier's constitution. The lodging of the soldier by an impromptu, struck out only ten days before the company as- night and by day is, with rare exceptions, one room. It may be sembled, it was, as Sir Roderick Murchison called it, a " coup de a room below the basement, it may be over stables, it may be in voyageur" which sends off the African traveller with a pocket- a higher story. In some cases the site is healthy, in others de- pistol of the best spirits for his support, and enabled him and the cidedly unhealthy. The soldier does not occupy his room alone. public of his country to know each other better, to their own mu- He may have thirty or forty companions, he may have ten or tual advantage. Although as many as three hundred persons twenty. The quantity of air allowed him by regulation is 00 were Collected by a necessarily hasty form of public invitation, the cubic feet. He may have more, but most likely he will assembly was as suitable for its purposes as if it had been care- have less, even so low as 147 cubic feet. This one room fully picked. There were Lords Spiritual and. Temporal, Members is the epitome of the whole barrack. Life in one room is the of the House of Commons, scientific men, commercial men, clergy- same as life in all. In it, then, the soldier lives when he is in- men—the representatives of all parts of the body politic. Al- doors. It is his bed-place, his dressing-room, his breakfast-par- though thus mixed, the company was one of the most harmonious lour, his dining-room, his drawing-room. Here he and that has ever gathered round the dinner-table. It might be re- all his comrades may be congregated at once. In the day garded as a great family dinner-party, collected to celebrate an this crowded mode of existence may be made tolerable, though occasion personally interesting to all present. Mixed as the party not healthy. But just imagine what it is at night ! The was and numerous, there was not a single " hitch" throughout windows are shut ; there is no ventilation ; sometimes the beds
the whole evening. almost touch each other ; the mass of horizontal humanity goes
Even little trifles contributed to the completeness of the ovation. on for hours breathing an exhausted and stinking atmosphere. The Duke of Sutherland sent his piper to assist in the music ; all Sergeant Brown says that the air in the men's rooms in the morn- the airs played by the band, the Greuadier Guards, were Scottish, ing is "very thick and nasty." "If I went out of my own in deference to the nationality of the traveller and of the chain. room, sometimes I could not bear it till I had ordered the. win- man. The Queen assisted in the ceremonies of the day, by sum- dews to be opened to make a draught. I have often retired to moiling Dr. Livingstone to a farewell interview before the dinner ; the passage and called the orderly-man to open the windows." and when Sir Roderick Murchison alluded to " the grace and Colour-Sergeant Reynolds says that there is a good deal of cough- kindness with which she had selected this day for wishing God ing and spitting in the morning. Nor is this " shocking " atmo- speed to Livingstone," the allusion elicited far more than the sphere solely the effect of the packing of many pairs of lungs usual fervour of acknowledgment to the loyal toast. Among the into a comparative black hole ; there are abominations in the toasts proposed was " the Legislature which has furnished the room which powerfully add to the smell. The same kind of nui- means and the Government which has proposed the measures to sance which is the most disgusting point in the furniture of the carry out the Livingstone expedition" . and in giving this toast Neapolitan prisons is rendered bearable to British soldiers by the chairman explained one circumstance which has occasioned habit. " The result is," says the Report, " that the soldier sleeps some chagrin to Dr. Livingstone's admirers. It is now under- in a fetid and unwholesome atmosphere, the habitual breathing stood that the consulship, which our correspondent Mr. Macgregor of which, though producing for the most part no direct imme- Laird, in his letter last week, put on a level with the gaugershi.P diate effects, probably lays the seeds of that pulmonary disease of Burns, has not been offered to the distinguished explorer as a which is so fatal in the British Army." reward, but that it has only been amongst the means which have One way of estimating the kind of lodging thought good been " placed at his disposal." No doubt, this explanation is in enough for the soldier by the military administrators of former part valid: the official character of consul, and even the salary days is by comparison. Colonel Jebb says, his convicts get more attached to the post, are among the convenient instruments coin- air than soldiers. The material comforts of convicts are better mended by Livingstone in his future dealings, whether with the provided for. But "any man who has to go round when the natives or with the foreign states whose subjects he may encoun- men are in bed can speak most painfully to the `foul state of the ter in that wild region. And here again the dinner has called atmosphere in any. barrack-room ; it is quite unbearable." Dr. forth practical advantages ; for the opinions expressed by the Balfour says that "the soldier's barrack-room at present has not Swedish and the Portuguese Ministers will contribute to produce the least pretension to the comforts of an ordinary dwelling- a sort of public opinion in the diplomacy of foreign states, greatly house ; and, what is infinitely more disgraceful, there is not the
conducive to the promotion of Livingstone's objects. least attempt made to introduce into it the decencies of civilized
Nevertheless, we cannot avoid remarking, that if the consulship life." Sir John M'Neill says that the paupers, even in Scot- and its salary are not intended to be viewed in the light of re- land, are better lodged than our soldiers. Dr. John Sutherland wards—if Livingstone's rewards are deferred until the termi- says, "I have heard all the reasons usually assigned for the ex- nation of his career—the fact only shows how very differently the travagantly high mortality existing in the Army, and I can see official representatives of the country rate the services of the sol- no reason whatever why, if sanitary measures were applied with dier in the field of blood and those of the labourer in the fields of due intelligence to barracks, most of the excessive mortality in peace. Not for an instant would we underrate the heroism, the the Army might not be swept away." chivalry, the Christianity, or the true peace-winning spirit in Thus we have the soldier worse lodged than the pauper and the which our Indian officers have acted ; but neither Seaton nor convict ; with fewer facilities for personal cleanliness than either ; Ureatlied encountered more arduous marches than those which with hardly any facilities for amusement, and equally few faciii- Livingstone, has accomplished ; Havelock's march through the ties for mental improvement. Some efforts have been made of diabolical province was more hideous in its incidents, but not so late years to furnish physical and mental amusements ; but in prolonged. Danger, toil, disease, procrastination, and every dis- the reading-rooms, libraries, and day-rooms, there is neither suf- heartening influence, have been confronted by Livingstone, with ficient light nor fire. Comfort seems to be the last thing thought confidence in himself, in his Divine support, and in the purpose of of. The lights are " miserable candles." " In cold weather the the victory _that he has attained. Measure the. two kinds of ser-. men are very cold," says Major-General Mansel. The light is vice how you will, and it is impossible to underrate Living- " very poor indeed," says Sergeant Sotheron. " If you go late stone's, morally, physically, politically, or commercially ; yet with in the long winter evenings," says Sir Richard Airey, " you will similar progress gentlemen wearing red coats would have had see one man trying to read with a miserable tallow candle, and their honours, their instalments of distinction, long ago ; while four or five other men huddled round him to listen." Colonel Government actually defends itself by explaining that what it has Jebb makes an apt remark, drawn forth by a consideration of the It is not altogether of the man himself we are thinking. pensable as the basis of all the training by which the moral standard of the Livingstone's own reward lies in his work. This was power- Army may be raised. . . . . The more the condition of the soldier is im- fully brought out by Sir Roderick Murchison. Alluding to the proved, and the more the public become satisfied that he is well cared for in marvels of his journeys, his indomitable courage, and perseve- every respect, the sooner will a better class of recruits present themselves." ranee, his scientific landmarks, his noble moral character in keep- Thus it seems to be established, that better barracks—in fact ing steadfastly to his word as pledged to the poor Africans who barracks instead of pigsties—are required in order that we may stood by him, Sir Roderick insisted that " the brightest feature in preserve the lives of our soldiers and raise the moral standard of Livingtone's character was, that after receiving the laudation and their character. At present it would be far better that the troops praise of his countrymen in every shape and•form of adulation, should be always in the field and never in barracks ; for the he was still precisely the same honest, unsophisticated, and true- health of the Army in the Crimea,. in the spring of 1856,. was .far hearted David Livingstone, as when he issued from the wilds of better than at home. The deaths in twenty-two weeks, including
Africa." deaths by violence, were "-at the rate of but 12.5 per thousand per annum against 17.9 in the Infantry and 20.4 in the Guards
when qua;tered . in England." Look at the mortality of other armies. In' the Prussian Army, the rate is 13.1 per 'thousand ; in the United States Army, 18.8 per thousand ; in the French 'Army, it is 19 per• thousand; in the Bengal Native Army 17.9, 'in
the Madras 20.9, in the Bombay 12.9 per thousand. So that the Bengal Army stood on a par with our Line, and the Madras with our Guards. The rate of mortality in the Crimea in 1856 is ac- tually the lowest in this long list. And why ? Because "no army was ever better cared for, or more sanitary precautions taken in its behalf as regards drainage both of surface and subsoil, cleanliness, ventilation of huts, diet, clothing, than the army be- fore Sebastopol" in the winter and spring of 1855-1856.
The Commissioners make various recommendations respecting barracks. Some of them have been carried out to a slight extent. But the present system, instead of patching, requires recon- structing ; and the recommendations of the Commissioners form a guide for future action. The danger is lest the public, rung got over the shock produced by the fearful tables of mili- tary mortality, should rest content with promises. Sir Richard Airey says that " everything is stopped for want of means." But if the means were granted, great viligance would be required to see that everything is not botched for want of brains.
Previous page
