Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1857-07-24
From tho National 1ntelligoncer.
rnrget Practice.

From tho National 1ntelItgouCen
target Practice.
A correspondent OF. the Union gives q
very interesting account OF the late annu-
al examination of the Naval Academy. |
Annapolis. On the frst day the drill off
GERS, in the presence of the F" Board OF
Visitors" and many others. put the bat
talon through series of infantry man@u-
vres. Next in order came the great gun
exercises then the light artillery drill.
On the second day the latter were resum-
ed as follows:
cat ten a. NJ, the students were mus
tered in the fort. awaiting the order for
target firing. AS soon as the signal was
given they blazed away in downright
earnest with solid shot. grape and she'll.
The targets were placed at the distances
OF eleven hundred and fifteen hundred
yards from the battery. and each gun
was fred as soon as it was sighted. You
will, no doubt, be surprised when tell
you that every shot would have struck q
small sized vessel. With the aid of the
tangent sight and steady eye, a heavy
80 FOUNDER can be aimed and fred as ac
ccurately as a musket. A few years ago
the practice ship of the Academy was
cruising in the British Channel, and met
with the school ship of the English navy.
A few of our youngsters went on board
the latter during the target exercise, and
were invited to take shot with the Brit
ish metal. One of them accepted the in
visation. and, to the establishment of the
whole ships companys smashed target az
ter target. The same youngster riddled o
figure Of a mans size at the distance of
two hundred yards with the balls of a
boat howitzer. He will assusedly make
his mark in the first sea fight, to which
he will be summoned. II is quite suffi-
cent, however. to be able TO hit fishing
smack oftener than to miss it.. Nothing
could induce me 10 anchor in such craft
under to. days FIRE. The shell firing was
excellent, each shell bursting at the pro-
per time, with the telling force Gifts de-:
structiye power. Upon entering ships
side one Of these shells knocked the wood
work into .sPlinters. which are of them
selves, weapons 'of'destrnotion. Com'r.
Dahlgren. in his interesting book on
'Sheh and Shell guns, says: r-
mer moored at about $50 yards distant.
one of them passed through the very light
upper works Of the vessel, and. bound
ing several times on the waterr lodg.
ed, in the target. Ewhite oak thirty in
ches thick, )distance 1900 yards the eS-
plosion followed almost instantly. On ex-
animation, the shell appeared 10 have
entered about 90 inches into the sound
wood on the extreme right, and the ex
plosion radiating from its bed, which was
very. distinctly indicated. forced out and
broke off three other pieces Of timber, 12
by 10 inches square and shattered the
middle timbers literally; in all, about 81
cubic feet OF sound wood were displaced"
This portion of the programme was con.
cluded with some brisk grape practice.
After this came boat-sailing and fencing.
"The 'howitzer' exercise was the last
on the programme, and it possessed an in
terest that was considerably enhanced
by the late events in China. Its results
may be briefly noted, as reported by the
officer in charge:
LANDED one of Dahlgren' s boat howit-
GERS. weight 40 lbs. in min. A sec. from
fire to FIRE. The gun was fred at the
order trail, which was given two boats
length from the shore, and Hedge was
dropped over the stern at the same time.
The gun was shifted from its boat to its
field carriage, landed. loaded and fred
in the above time. The same manoeuyre
was executed in So seconds, and it has
been done in the short space of 80 se>
conds. The target was at the distance Of
$50 yards the firing was done with she'll
and shraPnell. The charge was 10 ounces.
The shells, with three fuses attached. ex.
Ploded at the target the shrapnell with
two and half fuses, exploded from so
to 100 yards in front ofit.'
with such weapon. handled in the
above masterly manner. a single boats
crew would be a match against a host oil
Cinnamon. Those grada of the Ma.
val Acseemy who are now in the Chinese
waters have taught the Celestials a les.
son in hoSitzer firing they will not soon
forget. They may learn still more before
they admit the barbarians within the
walls Of Pekin."