Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-06
The Small CALDER Rife.

The Small CnIiber Rife.
An interesting paper on the surgical sig
| nificance Of the new small caliber rifle was
racently read before the Eighth Cavalry
| Lyceum at Fort Meade, s. D., by First
Lieut.. Henry R. Stiles, assistant surgeon,
| U. s. A. Lieut.. Stiles spoke follows
with mantled bullet, ricochet hits are
| especially to be fea ed. Contact with any
hard substance is sure to split the mantle
| act much like the hollow-pont express bull
| let Bogdanik, writing Of a street riot in
| Biala, describes the wounds produced by
| the Mannlicher bullets, ricocheting from the
| pavements and house walls. more fright
| full than any yet known in the history of
/ military surgery. Protective works Of all
| kinds will lose much of their value when OPP
posed to the new ball. Brick or stone walls,
| field. trenches, earthworks. are pierced at
close range, and fire concentrated on par
| ticuar points will produce regular breaches.
! The fragments and splinters torn from the
walls by the bullets Will act as so many
| more projectiles, and with the deformed
| bullets and the pieces of the ruptured man.
| ties. will turn what was hoped to be de-
4 Tense into a means of destruction.
| Taking all these facts into consideration,
| the question as to the efficiency of the new
| gun may / think. be answered in it's favor.
| especially when 1T is considered that ger
| man-silver mantled bullet Is to be used.
| But in some respects the new ball is
| humane. Men wounded with the undeform-
| ed ball have better chance. not alone for
| life but for life of usefulness. Properly
| treated, its wounds heal perfectly and with
surprising quickness. The ball rarely lodges
| in the body under 100 yards. unless 1t has
lost velocity in some way. 1t need rarely be
| p-obed for. nor need attempts at extra elton
be made. Thus, one great source of wound
| infection will be done away with. The ball
| may he regarded as a non-infected foreign
| body when 1t does lodge, and in the MAORI
| ty of cases will be encapsulated In the It's
4 a,,I civ her
| through the part hit in perfectly straight
line. None Of the tissues of the body are
hard enough to defect the uninjured bullet.
Hence, knowing our anatomy, 1t will be
possible to tell just what structures have
been pierced ard to treat the case accord
ingly. This fact will be of special value in
deciding as to treatment in wounds of the
abdomen. Bones and joints are less crushed
and torn and the necessity for reforming
operations will rarely arise. Useful joints
will be the rule where, with the old ball,
the injury would have demanded amputa-
ton or resection 1t is however, less hu-
name than has been claimed. 1t will kill
and wound more men than the old in a
given time and under similar circumstances.
When Ii loses It's mantle by impact 1t
causes wounds of a more frightful charac c.
ter than any produced by the old bullet.
But the majority Of the injuries that 1t pro-
duces at all ranges offer to the surgeon an
| extremely favorable field for his labors,
while materially tightening them
First Lieutenant Elected.
At a well-attended meeting of the men,
bers of company D, second battalion, held
on Thursday evening, First Sergt. Clifford
| II. James was unanimously elected first
| lieutenant. The new lieutenant began his
military career about six years ago as a
| charter member of the Morton Cadets when
| that organization was an independent
company. Resigning from the Mortons, he
| entered company ID, second battalion, d. G..
| N. G., under Capt Raymond and shortly
| thereafter was transferred. to company G.,
| fourth battalion. From there he shifted to
| company B, fourth battalion, for a few
mon this and then returned to company c..
| Upon the organization of the present COM
pany D. second battalion, under Capt.
but was soon appointed sergeant and then
first sergeant He is very popular among
| the members of the company.
Won by Private WiSginton.
The monthly individual competitive drill
of company A. second battalion. was held
on Thursday evening last In the drill hall
of the Center Market Armory. About thir-
ty members Of the organization engaged in
the competition. Capt Edwards and First
Lieut.. Meyer acting as Judges. After a
short contest Private Wigginton was de-
prize a gold medal, until the next drill
The medal has been won twice by Private
Wigginton and twice by Corp. Smith, and
as 1t Is to become the property of the MEM
Der winning 1t three times, the outcome of
the competition next month is awaited with
interest
Notes.
Col. E. De Forest Of the twenty-third
Brooklyn regiment, who Is well-known in
Washington, won the governors cup at a
match which was shot on the New York
state rife ranges at Creedmore on Wednes-
day last. There were twenty competitors.
each man firing five shots on the 200, 3OO
800 and 6OO-yard ranges. Sergt. John Cor
RE Of the twelfth regiment who Is also
well known in this city. and who carried
of the cup last year, was compelled to take
third place In the shoot the other day. Col
De Forest scored a total Of 80 out Of q