§ MR. HUSSEY VIVIANasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether mounted officers are permitted and encouraged to dismount when under fire whenever their duty can be performed with equal efficiency on foot; and, whether, in view of the deadly character of the Boer's fire, it would not be advisable to issue orders that officers shall cease to wear sashes and other badges easily distinguished at a distance; and, whe- 730 ther their steel scabbards cannot be darkened so as to prevent their glancing in the sun?
§ MR. CHILDERSSir, in reply to my hon. Friend, I have to say that the Commander-in-Chief is about to issue a General Order with regard to mounted officers dismounting in action. The officers now on active service in South Africa do not wear their sashes, and it is now the custom to "dull" swords and scabbards.