FRANCE. 243 



realized wlien consideration is given to the fact that annually 

 there are disbursed for horses and mules for the French army 

 about 15,000,000 francs. 



Remount Companies. — There are eight remount com- 

 panies, all composed of selected cavalrymen, but they are 

 not counted in with the fighting strength of the cavalry. 

 The strength of each company varies, according to location. 

 A company is commanded by a captain with a variable num- 

 ber of lieutenants. Four of them are divided among the 

 various depots, one serves for all the military schools and 

 three are assigned to Algeria and Tunis. Their principal 

 duties consist in caring for the animals at the depots and 

 conducting them to the regiments or batteries. The com- 

 pany which does duty at all the schools is essentially made 

 up of stablemen and grooms, but the administrative control 

 of the company remains with the company commander, 

 through his lieutenants or other detachment commanders, 

 subject to the ultimate direction of the general officer com- 

 manding the remount service. At depots, the depot com- 

 mander controls the companies or detachments of the 

 remount. Officers as well as men all come chiefly from 

 the cavalry and are selected. 



Mode of Purchase. — Annually, the minister of war fixes 

 the total number of animals to be purchased and designates 

 the commands which are to be supplied, as well as the dates 

 and sources of delivery. According to this allotment the' 

 animals are bought by the boards and sent to the depots or 

 delivered directly to the commands. The former is the reg- 

 ular method, the latter being used only when considerable 

 saving of expense would ensue. 



Before starting out on a trip which will require the visiting 

 of several points, the board sends notice of its route and the 

 dates when it may be expected at each locality to the ' ' pr^- 

 fets" or mayors, who post notices to that efi^ect so as to give 

 as much publicity as possible. 



The method of making the purchase is described at length 

 on page 250, "Mode of Operation of Horse Boards in Algeria." 



Specifications. — The official specifications governing the 

 boards in their purchases relate only to the age and height 

 of the horses; for the most part the whole matter is left to 

 the judgment of the members of the board. These officers 

 are very carefully selected horsemen and they are supposed 



