Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-11-11
THE COST OF SOLDIERS.
Keeping Up to Date in Matters
Military Comes Dear.
Enormous waste Involved I'm Naval
Changes In This Country and
Elsewhere Cost OF
Change of Arms.
copyright. 1871

copyright. 1871
The British navy not long ago de-
clared obsolete a certain type of tor
pedo. In doing so it discarded torpe-
does which had cost it about e 100000,
or $750,O00.
In no private business, and in no
other branch of the government serv-
ice. are such enormous losses possible
as in the army and navy. A sudden
change in the fashion of women's cloth
ing may make or break a manufac-
turer: the rage for bicycles may bring
ruin to the carriage maker; but their
losses are small. comparatively. and
may be retrieved.
But when new gun or new system
of fertilization is devised. the old is
abandoned forever. and the value which
it represented is total loss.
The costliest change which the gov
ernment of the United States ever
made was when it discarded the muz-
zle- loading rife for the breechloader.
and the smooth bore cannon for the
rif1ed gun at the end of the civil war.
The heavy ordnance discarded at that
| time represented an Investment OF
many millions-it would be difficult to
say just how much. The discarded
muskets were about 100000 in num-
| Der, and their cost had been from $12
| to SIS. At an average of SIS. they were
worth. originally. $22.5O0.00O. Of this
sum about one-third or one-quarter
| was recovered by the sale Of the guns to
| other nations in time of war. so the
actual loss to the government was $15.-
| 100000. These guns. it is true. had
| been used in the war, and presumably
the government had got $15.00O.OOO
worth of service out of them; but they
were in good condition and might have
been used by our little standing army
| Of $4,000 men for half a century if the
| style had not changed.
The Springfield rife cost little more
| than the old-style musket. 1t was re-
replaced by a magazine gun Of small!
| caliber and high velocity. The old guns
were not discarded when the new ones
came in. They are las good as gold"
says Gen. Flagler. the chief or ord
nance of the army. They were put
through the armory. where all worn
parts were replaced. and 90 per cent.
of them was restored to prime condi-
ton. They will be kept in reserve for
use in time of trouble. The officers of
| the government will not even say how
many of them there are, for fear for
eign nations should base on that in
formation an estimate of our fighting
resources.
Some of the old heavy ordnance still
has uses, but most of it has been sold
for old iron or given away. Three hun
Idred and seventy-eight guns have been
given away, principally to grand army
posts; also 1872 gun carriages and about
5000 shell.
This ordnance, like the muskets. had
seen good service. and. besides. its orig
inal cost was mpartively small. An
old eight-inch smooth-bore cost about
81 500. while an eight-inch modern
rifled gun costs $4,000. There is an
amazing difference in the efficiency of
the two, however. The old smooth
bore was a 56-pounder and used 1917
pounds of powder. The modern gun
Of the same caliber is a 30O-pounder
and uses 135 pounds of powder.
When the navy department adopted
a new rifle recently it turned the old
rifles over to the naval militia. There
were more than 5000 of them, and they
were worth about SITS, 900. Even if there
had been no militia to equip the loss
by this change would have been COM
paratively small. There are 10000 of
the new rifles, including those for the
marine corps, and they cost about $175,-
900.
At the end OF the war the navy de-
partment did not forthwith tumble
overheard the old cast-iron cannon
and substitute the modern built-up
gun. The change has been gradual.
and some of the old guns are still in
use on our ships of war. Nor were the
wooden ships of the old navy discard
ed. except as they wore out.
The ships of the new navy are of the
very latest design and cost $250.0OO to
S5,O00,OO0 each. It is not likely that
conditions will arise which will render
them entirely obsolete. AS for our
4-inch to 13-inch guns, which cost the
government from So. 500 to $50 600 each.
the only changes likely to occur are in
their mechanism. and these are small.
compared with the total cost of the
gun. Still. any day some genius may
come to the front with a wholly new
construction which will leave millions
of dollars worth of heavy ordnance
practically useless on our hands.
GRANT HAMILTON.
Trees md Men.