The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1898-12-23
I!i'HE MEN ArTHE GUNS
EOW YANKEE GUNNERS FIRED IN THE
MANILA FIGHT.

Good Craftsmanship ON Rolling
Vessel nud In the Excitement of an
Enlargement Means More Than the |
Public Appreciates.
Lieutenant Bradley A. Fiske, U. s. N,
of the Petrol, who took part in the engage
mcnt of Cavitc hay, has written an article |
for The Century on why We Won ut
Manila" Lieutenant Fiske says of the
"man behind the gum"
Look at him rs he stands, lock string in
hand, hckind his gun, his legs wide apart
us he balances himself on the unsteady
deck, his eyes EXcd on the sights of his
gun and on tho cncmy, whom he secs
through the narrow aperture OF the gun
port lie knows that his gun is all right,
and the powder end the shell and the fuse,
and that years ago the necessary steps
were taken which placed this terrible
weapon in his hand today, SO fashioned
that if he fires it right the shot will hit
the mark. But the rolling of the ship
from side to side throws the line of his
gun sights high up against the sky and
then down into the sea, and as no snip
steers exactly straight the line of sight
moves irrcguiarly to the right and left, so
that his sights appear to he describing ir-
regular curves, now against the back
ground of the sky ard now against the
back ground of the sea. An average roll
may be said to lie about seven degrees ca
| each side, or II degrees from one side to
the other. The average time of making
| this roll is about seven seconds, making
| the time of rolling one degree about half IL
second.
suppose now that Tom Bowling is firing
at an average ship, say 20 feet high, about
| 2.aO0 yards away. If he fires at the mid
| die of the target as he should do, this
| gives him margin on each side OF ten
| feet. which suDtcnds an angle at Tom
| Buwling's eye of about one-twollth OF !.
| degree, so that Bowling must appreciate
| the fact that his sights are ION" and do
everything required to fire the gun i'll one
| twenty fourth of "a second or else he will
| miss the target Now, no man living can
| be depended on for such rapid thought
| aad nerve action, even under the best con-
| ditons of quiet and calmnCSs-that is, he
| cannot be depended on to do it every timc.
Much can be done by II good gun cap
| tain, however, BY watching for Il smooth
| time and. firing "a little before the sights
| bear. No one knows this better than Tom
| Bowling. so he braces his feet on the
unsteady deck, every nervo stretched to
| its utmost tension. lie secs that the gun
| is pointing little to tho right of tho enc
my's ship "Lcftl' he orders and the
| gun trainers work their training levers,
or, if in a turrct, start the turning engine
so as to turn the gun to the lctT. Mean
| while rs the line of sight gradually is APP
| preaching the target from the right it is
also rising and falling with the rolling OF
the ship Tom Bowling secs that the
next time the sights rise to the level OF the
target the trainers will have got the gun
trained in the proper direction. lie braces
| himself for u quick pull of his lock string,
and then a wave strikes tho ship on the
starboard bow or the helm is shifted IA lit-
tie, and away gees the limo OF sight far off
to the left before the sights get up.
"Rightn' orders Bowling instantly, and
| tho gun trainers work the gun back to tho
right quickly, but cautiously, for much
depends upon them now. ''Wcll"'
"Rightr "Lcftr' etc, come the orders
in quick succession as Tom Bowling and
his trainers work the gun. suddenly the
line of sight strikes the target There is
Il CLEAN in Bnwling's eye, quick pull OF
his arm, Il tremendous noise, Il sitting
cloud of smoke. and i'll comes the gun as
if it were IL proiCctile itself and were going
clear across the ship and out at the other
side, but it quickly, yet gently, slows,
then stops, controlled perfectly by the by
draulic cylinder, ard Immediately it runs
out again ana is ready to be loaded and
| fired once more.
| In an instant the second captain has
unlocked and thrown open the breech.
Quick hands wash off the powder residue
from brecch block and bore, and then
shove in the shell and powder. The second
captain closes and locks the brCCch with Il
heavy clang puts i'll new primer and re
ports the gun ready. "Lrft!' cries Tom
Bowling ana the same succession Of ac
tiuns is rcpyrformed.
Ii anybody could have gone from ship
to ship of the United States fleet during
the evcntful hours between and 30 ON
that beautiful Sunday morning, he would
have seen about 30 Tom Bowlings all do
ing the same things and in the Same way.
He would have seen 80 guns crews all
eagerly, yet coolly, working their guns,
and he would have seen each division OF
guns and each turret under the charge of
an officer responsible for it.
Considering that there were about IS
Spanish gun captains, one may reasonably
| ask Was there not oven one of them who
| could shoot straight: There is no apparent
reason why IA Spaniard should not DO able
to shoot as we'll as anybody else. Is bad
shooting an inherent trait in a Spaniard:
If not, was the bad shooting due to lack
of discipline? There is no reason to be
lieve it, ard the usually accepted idea Of
the Spaniard would tend TO make one sup
pose that there might have been too mitch
discipline rather than too little. Was it
due to lack of intelligence on the part Of
the o1licersy Tho officers of both the Span
ish army and navy represent the best OF
the blood of Spain, where the ordinary
vacations of trade and, in Il measure, the
civilian professions are deemed beneath
the patrician families, and the litcrat.:!r
of both services bears convincing proof Of
the excellent instruction which their eli
GERS have received and of their devotion
to and interest in their service. Was it
due to lack of courage: The Spaniard is
| and always has been brave, and he was
brave, very brave, in Manila on the 1st of
May, 1898. Was the bad shooting due TO
the constantly changing direction Of the
ships necessitated by their nanOuYerS:
Not at all, for the ships remained in col
umn and nearly motionlcss for the greater
part of the time.
But had there been enough drill of the
men in the handling and firing of their
guns under way and under circumstances
Stimulating battle: This question we are
unable TO answer definitely, but the i'm
| preston which we received from civilians,
natives and others, does not lead us II he
iieve that there were the same labor and
time spent on practical gunnery drills at
sea us in our service.
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