The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-05-04

course. some stations thai appear 10
be more tickli~h for tie mrn assigned
10 them tlian others. For ,%<ampic.
there j. probably not a sea soldier in
the | nitcd states marin corps to- day
who i not. figuring On the %in>irniii-
cant show IL" will probably have for
his life if, IN the event Of his ship
getting INTO action, he is detailed with
Il picked few Of his mates to man the
rapid firing guns in the fighting tons.
At first glance the fighting top Of a
modern ship OF war appears To be
quite the .lost dangerous spot on the
ship, fore or aft. in cast Of action.
Tllerc has never been any good opror-
tunity to test this, for fighting tops,
rightly called military mastsj are Of
comparatively recent development.
ana during the Chino-.Jarancsc naval
engagements NJ systematic attempt
seems 70 have been made on either
side [" RAE the fighting tops to the
docks or int the sea. The prouur
ton Of killed aud wounded in :llc
lighting tops durin. those engage
mcnts wa considerably less than on
the deck. IN Il Sea iighl between cx-
pert maiirl.lat"r> Of Slip however.
there can be NJ lpubt that the vessels
viii 90 each at the other, military
ma>t> with enthusiasm al the very
"%utscl, for tho purpose Of >ilcncin"
the deadly play Of the rapid iirinr
guns, which are capable of maxim.
terrific havoc un an enemy /, decks.
The rapid firm. Guns only would he
used Tor the purpose OF choppine of
or Knocking over the en- yS fighting
tops. for Il fi@hting top is asmall mark
in long range shooting. aud 10 sunncr
would be SO foolish as to waste big
gun projcctilcs in an attempt to shave
a mark the chances of striking which
urc about rs a thousand to one against
him. But rapil-Gring guns arc accu-
rate, and their projcctilcs are power
full enough to do for the strongest
fighting top that ever reared its ugly,
circular head from the deck Of a ship
Of war. The sides Of the fighting tops
arc armorcd, but they are not arlmorcd
sufficiently as 10 render them islpcnc-
trablc to the projcctilcs of ordinary
rapid-iiring guns. The sea soldiers
man the fighting top guns, and it may
be set down rs something mighty ccr-
tain that in the event of war the ducls
between the marines in the fighting
tops will be sanguinary features Of the
sea fights.
The blucjackcts who arc stationed
in the magazine during a sea fight are
certainly no better off than their
mates, either above or below deck.
Each commander in a naval battle
knows precisely where his foes mag
nzines are located, and there is likely
to be some tall aiming for magazines
in the next naval war. TO those who
are unfamiliar with the general OK
pcrtncss of modern great gun marks
manship and the extraordinary accu-
racy of some Of it, it might seem pure
foolishncss for a gunner to make an
attempt to hit any especial part of an
cnemy's ship at a range of several
miles. Those who think in this way,
however, have only to be referred to
the Bit Of craftsmanship performed
by one Of the l3-inch gun crews Of
the battle ship Indiana the other day.
This crew, using service projcctilcs
and charges in practice, put two -
inch shots right through the same
hole. This sort Of Workmanship is
BY no means uncommon in the United
States navy, the standard Of which
for great gun experiences is as high as
that of any navy in the world. 1t is
no unusual thing for the gunncrs Of
American mcn-of-war engaged in big
gun'practice to tear the canvas targets
TO ribbons, ut the very longest efEcc-
tive ranges, before the practice is
we'll begun. This being the state Of
the great gun craftsmanship at tie
present time. it is reasonable to sup
pose that the men in the magazines in
a sea fight should have no especial
cause for being happy ovcr their fell
lows above their stations. One great
gun she'll pumped we'll over a maya
zine, even though the magazine be all
far below the water line, is likely to
cause enough trouble to induce the
magazine men to wish they were on
deck, if they have a chance to think
at all. Moreover, there is such a
thing as a heavy projectile penctrat-
ing an arnorcd ship below the water
line, as was proved on the Yalu, and
If this should happen at a point Of
the ship where a magazine CHANGED to