The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-01-11

old blooded Calculations on the Ch,r.,
OF Killing Men.

- P'os'Vo'i"S "dIioh' VIII PRESENTS
hight each other with pin heads, saw.
the San Francisco Call. An orde,
from the Navy Department direct.
that the new magazine gun for tb,
navy shall throw a proiectile of .o34
caliber. Long after the close Of our
war our army and navy carried a
weapon with a bore OF As. rho
guns of the European armys were
about the same cal Der. IT. was
france which discovered that or
tlclency was in inverse ratio to tho
caliber and armed her forces with y
piece or .3l5 bore. England i'm.
proved upon this by adopting a cali.
her OF 1903, and the famous Manser
gun, invented in Belgium. went
still further with a caliber OF .3OI.
Then the United States still further
advanced to a caliber OF 300. Italian
gunners. working on the same lines
devised IA piece with a caliber OF Dag
while Spain was content with one az
10. Now we have cut under them
all with a navy magazine gun with a
bore of .234.
The object of reducing the caliber
PSNhiC 6iSatSl IIIUIdl VELOCITY
a"d greater range and penetration.
1t also enables the soldier to carry
more rounds Of ammunition on his
person. The weight OF a bullet OF
go callbcr is l62 grains, as against
80 grains for a bullet Of 30 caliber
so that One-fourth more CARTRIDGES
can lie carried PER man. The smaller
the bullets, within given limits. the
greater the range and the larger the
penetrating power. Per contra, a
wound made b, a bullet of 1862 grains
Will he less likely to be fatal than
one made by a bullet weighing 22O
grains. And again, on the other
side. Il bullet impellcd with increased
initial velocity will be less likely to
tear the tissues and to shatter the
bones that a bullet which is slower
in its trajectory.
Nothing short Of actual experiment
will determine the Ioint at which
the efficiency Of IA projcctile is i'm
paired 10y its smallncss. Everybody
remembers the story of the back
woodsman, who, being showed "A toy
po"kct-pistol, exclaimed, ''Ef you
should shoot me with that ere wip-
bon and ! should find it out, I'd
thrash YOU within an inch of your
life. In this case the frontier
fighter reckoned that the charge OF
powder would be in proportion to the
pro ectllc. But the 30 Caller u
carries a charge Of l1G grains Of DOW
der, VIII ch is sufficient tC dri G the
proJcctile with vast momentum.
Such a bullet striking a vital organ
like the head or the heart would pro.
ducc death rs quickly a. Il MIME ball,
but If 1t struck a flesh part it would
pas through without necessary fatal
consequences, and its rapid flight
would scar the wound and prevent
death from loss of blood
The object Of man being to destroy
hoStile armies as rapidly as possible,
the more destructive military weap.
ons are made the shorter will wars
become. But To a non-military OBJ
server 1t seems that this object is
more likely to be attained, at the
present stage or the science. by Le-
slowing attcnt on on accuracy in
nfihg tnan by alterations in the size
OF the pro %cctileS. In battle it takes
Il dozen or Il score Of shorts to kill or
wound Il man. soldier grow nervous
when the ping Of the bullet sounds
their ears. They discharge
lncir piece without aiming. and con.
9eQucho!y lhcy generally shoot over
'Ile clellyS head, or strike the earth
beIorc reaching him. Gunners who
nave compared the cncmy's list OF
Killed and wounded with the return
cartridges tired are amazed at the
d~lsproportion between the two.
Heavy artillery is becoming more
ah0 more Il matter of exact science.
Noderh Dig guns are aimed by math-
enatlcal calculatiOus-the eve cuts a
secondary figure in the business: but
the small arm is still brought up to
The shoulder, the soldiers eye runs
aiohg the sight and the trigger is
pulleu when the supporting arm is
"ooDllhg under the weight of the
piece Here it would seem is the
opening Tor progress in gunnery.
No; in His Line.
IL Is allowable for a man to pun
upon MS own name, if he does it well
ana not too often.
cardinal Manning II ed to tell a
tory or his friend Bishop Pramstone.
VINO seems to have been a wit as we'll
Is an eminent ecclcsiastic.
one day a member uf his flock an
preached him, whether in earnest or
loI doeS not appear, with the remark
nat he wanted a wife: and he added
me usual modest conditions that she
lluSt be young, rich and pretty.
Inc Bishop answered him upon the
instant,