Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-07-14
MY SWIM TO THE TARGET,

Few, perhaps, among the civilian pop
ulatlon of England have any very GER
tain idea as to the whereabouts of Shoe
buryness; fewer still, perhaps, have been
there. To travel down from Fenchurch
street to the extreme end of London,
Tilbury and Southend Railway is of it
self a journey not to be undertaken
without some definite object in view !;
and when to this is added tramp OF
some two miles along yielding sand and
shingle, or, as an alternative, about four
miles OF unlnteresting road it is easy to
understand that few tourists are to be
found energetic enough to travel so far
merely to see the place and return; for
stay they cannot, there being no hotel
of any description in the little place.
Shoeburyness then, for the benefit of
the uninitiated, may be defined as "a
little noisy place near Southend." AS to
ats physical characteristics, it is hetere-
geneous collection of barracks, batteries
and sandbanks. To the stranger APP
preaching it, it presents most uninvit-
ing aspect, especially should the tide
happen to be out. For then becomes ap-
parent the interminable reaches of sand
that stretch away out to sea for miles in
their unvarying fatness, broken only
here and there by the black form Of q
target or by pegs driven into the yield
ing soil to mark the ranges. Neyerthe-
less it is this very dismal expanse that
gives Shoeburyness its importance in
military eyes, and that makes it what it
ls-the great experimental and practice
station for the British artillery.
Everything is quiet enough there till
O'Clock or thereabouts Then the OBJ
server sees here and there flag run
upon the summit of a battery or case
mate, and the roar of guns begins and
lasts two or three hours, almost without
intermission. Looking out to sea. one
may perceive clouds of smoke rolling
away, far up in the blue sky, like white
balls, as the shells burst in the distance.
and NAV hear the noise of the report
floating lazily back after an apparently
interminable lapse of time. When it is
remembered that of the thousands of
fuses of all kinds turned out of the
WoolWich Arsenal, some per cent.
have to be proved by actual experiment,
one may form some conception of the
appearance Of Shoeburyness on busy
day.
Enough, however, of description for
the present. Even to this remote cor
ner OF England has enterprise penetrated
and when last I was there the founda
ton of a great hotel was being laid.
Soon, no doubt, it will be as great re-
sort for the ubiquitous AIRY as other
portions of Her Majesty's dominions.
/ should not have yentured to intrude
it upon my readers but for an adventure
which happened to me there ON one
occasion, and which went very near to
depriying the British public of this in
teresting recital, and the Royal Regiment
of Artillery of the services of "most
promising young officer" as no doubt the
Times would have recorded.
In the year 1871 was going through
what is technically known as the ''long
course" curriculum of instruction ip
gunnery, theoretical and practical; the
former at Woolwich. and the latter at
Shoeburyness-each part lasting six
months. We had been enjoying our
selves at our seaside residence for three