School Manual of Military Drill and Galisthenics. Compiled by Charles Gammon, Drill Instructor, Imperial Tien, tsin University.
East have unwittingly been preparing thr The makers of recent history in the Fa-
way for the adoption of Mr. Gammon'o pocket book of drill and physical instructions At any rate we hope it is so, for we can assure every patriotic Chinaman, official or otherwise, that there is that within the covers of this little book which could put anew face on the political future of the Chinese Empire. Had such a manual existed half a century ago, and—tremendous assumption—had its teaching been put into practice, the disgraceful history of the past half-year would never have been written, It has been our fortune to read and uso a good many drill books. We give the palm to this as the most sensible of them all. Mr. Gammon disclaims any intention of offering complete system of drill for actual service, but he has done better, he has Ind a foundation upon which a perfect system complete in every particular may be built up.
What China needs is a simple series of movements, and a systematic physical drill. She' wants to have the pestilent notion that athletics are undignified knocked out of her head once for all, and there is no better way of doing this than by beginning with her schools. What is possible however in the Tientsin University will not, we fear, be possible in many other places. It wants a very ima, brain to conceive a picture of a be-sp taded, usually decrepit, village schoolmaster standing in front of a squad of country urchins gravely inculcating the mystery of the goose step, and the first principles of Indian clubs. Simple as the movements are it is as the compiler says advisable when possible, to secure the services of an experienced drill instructor.
For the moment it does not seem likely that the manual, excellent as it is, can appeal to a very large public. There are schools at most of the treaty ports, but few of them have as yet considered it their duty to teach military exercises. - St. John's College at Jessfield is an honourable exception to the rule, Possibly with such an admirable guide as Mr. Gammon this may now be sfrered, end the future may see British and American teachers in China more impressed with the necessity of the sound body which such exercises ensure. We repeat that this is particularly important in a country where soldiering and physical culture are at so low an ebb.
With nothing but praise therefore for the general ides, get up, and arrangement of the work under review, we proceed to give our readers a short sketch of its contents. There is first of all a chapter on Organisation which might of course be varied according to circumstances. Definitions and general rules are followed by "Individual Instruction," or as an English Red Book would put' it, Squad Drill,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.