The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-10-03

sight each vessel from the other, The
confusion on board when the men are
not able TO see those at the next gun is
said also to have led to mistakes re-
sulting In some instances of the loss of
the vessel
The adoption of the new powder by
the army win necessltate alterations
in the tactics applying to operations on
the field of battle, The infantryman
who fires with this powder at once OBJ
tains the advantage OF having a clear
field Of fire, But, on the other hand,
if he is unprovided with cover, either
natural or artificial, there will be no
protecting cloud of smoke to conceal
him, and should the enemy have found
cover he, on his side, is more vulnera-
BILE than when the smoke showed his
position. The superstition that troops
can be exposed to fire without knowing
whence it comes is more or less fanci-
full in the opinion of General Miles and
the best military taciticians in Wash
ington.
1t is admitted that with the suppress
sion of smoke the advance against
position will, no doubt, be somewhat
iiiOlG dlllAIhlI lilctl put NiiG
danger will not be greater until within
800 or 600 yards of the enemy. Beyond
this point, when distances can be judg
ed with less difficulty, when the errors
| of aiming are small and where the
| trajectory of the bullets of the new
army gun will be altogether danger
ous it will make little difference, the
experts say, whether smokeless or nom
smokeless powder is used. With high
| powered guns capable of terrific veloc-
| tiles and greater accuracy than the
old wartime pieces, it will be of the
| greatest benefit to soldiers to have
clear field without cloud OF smoke, so
| that long distance aiming can be done
and a good target made of the enemy.
The absence of smoke the army says,
will be of material advantage to the de-
fender who can occupy positions which
give cover, while those attacking must
very often, if not always, advance I'M
concealed. In some cases formation of
| the ground might enable them to APP
proach under cover but these are ex-
ceptional, and sooner or later he must
disclose himself.
| Whatever result smokeless powder
may have when infantry is fighting, it
is quite clear to the army that it will
| exercise considerable influence on the
other two arms, the artillery and cav
airy The advantages which 1t will con-
fer on the artillery are set forth by ord
nance officers as follows: 1t leaves a
clear field of fire, and will render it pos
sible, therefore, when firing upon artil-
lery, to distinguish the guns from the
intervals and to keep the fire of ones
own guna directed on the former. The
observation of the fire will also be sim
plified, while with the new powder the
effect of projectiles which burst in the
rear of the smoke, caused by the enc
my's guns, could not be seen. The eff
feet Of long-range fire will also be as
easily observed as at shore. When the
artillery is employed in an open coun-
try it will be more difficult to conceal
it, while the smoke formerly screened
1t from view The movements of bat
teries, it is claimed, will be more diff
cult, since no advantage can be taken
of the smoke.
1t is possibly an exaggeration to say,
as many officers have who look upon
II Introduction of smokeless powder
as necessitating a direct change in the
present tactics, that the cavalry will
be rendered valueless on the battlefield.
This same opinion was expressed, the
army men say, when firearms were in
troduced, and still the cavalry remains
an important factor in all military or
CARNATIONS. Some of the closest stu
dents of the art of war contend that
the cavalry will not appear on the bat
tlefield in the next great wars, but will
be reserved solely to screen the infant
ny and for accommodating purposes
Others contend that, as men on horses
are higher above the ground than the
infantrymen, they have better opportu-
nifty of seeing what is before them re-
CARELESS of smoke clouds, and that
when the time for the cavalry comes tc
act it makes no difference whether the
enemy is concealed by waves or black
smoke or standing in plain view.-Ba1-
timore Sun.