The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-10-30

nve rounds deliberately. The erect this lime was
very great There were sos hits upon tue TARGET, In
closes the bullets and according to the reckoning or
the committee, sixtynine cavalry or seveat IN
fantry would have been disabled The same gun sue
tweve-pouuder. was now firel for the fourth group
with snrapnct. at go yards. for rapidly and accu-
racy During the two minutes allowed SIX rounds
were nred. giving l27 hits; thlrty-tw0 cavalry or
thlrtYc ght Infantry disabled. Among the hits were
tWvnty-one Fragments
The fourth group was from the Dine-pounder
brorze gun, range GOO yards, i've rounds deber-
atey. with shrapnel There were seventy -eght hits,
sixteen OF thehi being with fragments OF the she'll
silered as disabled.
The KIN aud last group from the guns was fired
p ,yv Tue aweWspounder oreechoader AZ GOO yards
rive ROUNDS were discharged de lDerately; the tOCdl
lumber or his was l6i, counting thirty.two rag
mehts iofty-three cavalry or htv Infantry dsab d.
WIN nave been observed that all the practice up
10 lhis lne has boen made at known ranges, but
pom guns ana nitraeur viii hereafter be tried at
unknown dstances-that il 10 say, distances esti-
mated py e eye OF The oleer In charge Of the pieces
~ Is gcheraliy supposed That the guns will in this
vsc oa nave ,e a.avantag because, In the rst place.
~ uoes ilot matter mucn whether shrdpnel bursts
thrty or seventy yaris short OF tho target In the
SECOND place the range can oe cted IN the
o 90 ,ne S sSns ~ observing where the burst
no cnect visible by tho nring parry ualess
nv, me oe e5us stracs In the third place,
tnaa lhat OF tae guns TOR tne same rangc--a proof
lnat the path OF The bullets n more curved and
therefore more likely 10 pass over or strike short OF
the target without hitting 1t II tie range Is moor
rectly estimated. We have said An a vIous nrtI
cle tnat IN hitfallleur eau hlrlly be put .nto con-
petition wlh Held pieces wcgning three times as
inucn requiring three times as MANY horses 10 draw
tneui, anu twice as many men TO work the IL. Nor
Gun we see tiat their peculiar value is likely to be
brought out clearly by the proposed eXpcrinelts OF
lhe committee. The competing infantry Commenced
sheir MorA on Wednesday, out oaly 10y firing qu.eGy
anu deiiberatey from positions chosen by them.
serves, the men beng perfectly cool unatgued and
undisturoedb by the presence OF any danger their
own persons.
II we might venture to propose one very practical
experiment IL wodid be tni5:-Let the mltraleur
and the men pc placed together the mitralleur
having PAIR or well-bred horse artillery vince .els
harnessed TO the Timber. Let the word be given TO
take up position NJ a distance OF 700 yards aud
holu II against an advancing enemy, By tring us
rapidly as possible. We shall then discover how far
the nerves Of men affect their SHOOTING when they
airve breAthless after long run. IL - Of course
taken Tor grained tlat sufficient men are carried on
the mitraeur carriage 10 work 1t wHea It's position
Is taken Mp On Wednesday dive lirst cia1s snpts
from the Scots Fuser Guards ana their muskeIry
instructor, SIX rifles Ia all, placed opposite the
target at range for the first group OF SEots OF 800
yards. Ihe sergeant was on the rignt and
the men were separated from him and
from each other by intervals or some
ten or fifteen yards They all placed them.
selves in the hythe kneeing position for
sAirnishers, except the sergeant Who seated him.
sell com crtably on tae ground. lie made a. mrAt
be expected, the best shooting, whe the nia on the
lett was rs couspicuousy the W0r5 shot. The Fusl-
Her GUARDS appear not TO nave received the new In
iaatry accoutremens, FOR they wore the old pattern
cartridge pouch, which looked ike portnlalieau
with very sunny opening III. Soldiers settle tnese
matters however, on the leld whether IL be battle
or experiment. IL was seen III once that the mea
thrust tle cartridges gwen them 1nto tlisr trousers
pockets Knowing that teY would nave little chance
OF firing QUICKLY II they had 10 open the pcrtmlnteau
every time they wanted irssll cartridge. Ihe arms
used were oniders. They were told To preparethem-
selves Tor firing, ard then after a SNORT interval
the word was gwen to load We remarked that
the breecn apparatus oil one rlnc worked siny, and
there was something evidently not qnie right about
the man on the ieft. On the who'e, the nrlng must
be considered very credltabls, though IL will pro-
baby be when the Henry -AlarinI
In the trsJ group at 50o yards sergeant fired no
less than eighteen well aimed shots at ms enl OF inc
target. Counting IRON him towards She lett az they
knelt facins tine Target, No. fired thirteen rouldS
No. 8, seventeen; No. A. thirteen; No. 8. fourteen
ana No. only eight rounds-toal, ell hty three bu-
lets sent at the TARGET; OF these slxtytnree struck
the marx, ana gave score OF thirty-six cavalry or
twentyninc Infantry disabled. For the second group
the men we're marched 100 yards TO The rear, 30 n.t
their range was 400 yards, and curlousiy enough,
better practice was made tnan at 800 yards. Inc
number oil shots fred by eacn guardsnan, counting
from the right, were-serseant, nineteen; then the
men In succession fourteen. cghleen four cen, SIX
teen ana tarteen-total, ninety-iour rounds. There
were seventy hits and Iorty-tnree cavalry
thirty.eight Infantry disabled.
Group four fired from q range OF COO yards.
~ with great deliberations. sent cigheen Due sail
Ing tow ards the target. Then came fourteen,
In tier order. Total seventy-sevea-with result
OF sixty-thrce hits and twenty-four cavalry or
twenty,seyen In infantry disabled, IL rs generally
for good work with the Snder, but the
next group showed that fair practice ut least can
be made at longer ranges. Group five was at 500
yards The sergeant hred his eighteen rounds as
regularly as clock work. and throughout the prac-
tce his end OF the target theargcst proper
ton or bullets. The numbers fired by the others,
counting from the right, were sixteen eighteen,
seventeen, seventeen, sixteen. Total l02 ROUNDS Tne
score was Iorty-elght htS-nearly half the bullets
fired, and twentyseven cavalry or seventeen infantry
disabled. IL cannot but be observed that these men
could on no possible emergency have nre1 q voiley
OF more inan i've bue.s at any one moment, no
matter how ugly rush were made against them,
while the mltraeur can lre thirty-sevcn barrels in
second. The men, II latlgued or nervous, would
not shoot SO WELL the mltrai.leur has no nerves.
he men could not be conveyed rapidly to q disputed
polnt the mitraieur Is specially lit Tor such work.
me men, even guardsinen, cannot easily carry
armor; light bulle .-prool manet arranged on the
mtraieur would cover perfectly the man laying It,
Win very little trouble and ingenuity the timber
mlgnt carry sh tiers arranged as To make the
horses safe from the enemy's rlfemen IT, as they
ought, the horses remained with their backs the
mitrallenr, which Is light enough to be run up to
the Timber when required to move. Besides, it Is
easy 10 back pair OF horses with such light two
wheeled carriage as the timber OF mir2llleur may
be.
MISCELLANEOUS FOREIGN
ITEMS,