Evening journal., 1898-09-03
FIELD GUNS IN WAR.
hey Are the Favorite Weapon
Among Military Men.
tory of the First Trial of the Water
vIiet Guns at San Antonio, Tex.
Great Accuracy of the
Deadly Pieces.

MID IS lullJ tqudA 10 lue QcNelOpmcul
other branches Of military arma-
lent. 1t has been especially rapid
#ithin the last dozen years. The work
Il specialists and the results of ex-
81 nded tests have ended in the pro-
B %iction Of weapon of great accuracy
Nd of Titanic force. The field gun
III to-day is the fayorite weapon of the
# Hilary man, and he expects from
some very remarkable demonstra-
IONS when opportunity TO use 1t oc-
hrs. Napoleon is credited with the
n mark that Providence is always on
e side of the heavy artillery, but the
H Htillery which Napoleon knew was
" worthy to be mentioned on the
me day with the light, graceful and
& adly arm with which the mSderns
e prepared to do slaughter. The
&r rst great step forward was taken
ben the breech-loading action was
*vented. Well-known scientific rules
M boring and the improvement in pro-
5 ctiles and powders have done the
# st.
IE| AS CAAAIh 9AAANo ndo lO UCLlNl
Id guns than those with which the
mics of Germany and France are
med, but they are every bit as good.
III Ike our other ordnance, they are all
# Rde on this side of the water The
# nerican manufacturer yields to no
e in ability to make perfect
eapon. Indeed, many of the chief
provements in field guns and in the
f2 ger sizes, sometimes called 'siege"
ms, are the products of American
# aims. The field guns of the United
Al htes army are made at Watervliet,
Y, just as the large guns for the
Z. Wy and for coast defense are turned
B t at Washington. Lhey have a cal
er of little more than three inches,
IS E, of course, breech-loading, and
ther lengthy for their width and
z' E lightly but strongly mounted.
ey use a pointed shell which ex-
bdes either on concussion or by
pc fuse generally the former, and
fired with great rapidity. Each
of a battery is in command of a
utenant. who, under the eye of his
perior, sights it and directs its work
He has his elevation, depression
wind-gauge formula at his fin
rs' ends, and with him good shoot
is mainly a question of care. The
'vder used in these guns is of the
aller-grained brown hexagonal
ID, though the spheroidal is pre-
red for some calibers. The recoil
this gun on level ground is &c feet,
tn the wheels unlocked. With the
eels locked it recoils FIVE feet, and
run forward and resighted very
fly. It's point-blank range is 2,2Oo
IDS. 1t can be made effective at a
ch greater distance, of course, but
GERS prefer that range for accurate
'oting.
fell to me some seven years ago to
,ort tho first field trial given the
tervliet guns. Three of them were
t to Fort Sam Houston, at San An
ia, Tex, where Light Battery F,
rd artillery, was stationed under
nmand of Mai. James B. Burbank,
st capable officer, now attached to
staff of the governor of New York.
!. Burbank was instructed to try
m out thoroughly, and for this pur-
Be selected an ideal range on Ga
hl's ranch, 60 miles north of San An
io. The guns were planted in line
] 20 feet apart on the side of a
en- hill and pointed across a shall
valley. On the opposite hill, 2,2OC
-ds away, a tent fly was put up as
arget 1t was IS by feet in dimen-
D. and was stretched on two poles
that distance It looked like moth
in the world so much as a mans
ket-handkerchief. One shot was
Id as q range-fnder, and that shot
we'd the range was found. Then the
rls began.
or half an hour these guns pitched
lis through or under the target, ac-
ding to firing directions, with as
ch accuracy as a man would use q
hchester rife at 100 yards. The
TX was done with the precision oi
lock. There was the rush of the
ce into its first position, the quicl
g nmand to load, the rapid aim and
charge, the faint scream of the
Il, the puff of smoke and dull re
as it struck and the dust rose VI
pillar. When it was ended we
e across the valley and up the op
ite slope to the spot where the
fly had stood. Bits of it lay about
e and there. One of the poles was
en- short off. For so yards below
other pole, for 30 yards on either
of it and for 100 yards above il
earth was not plowed-it was har
ged. An ant could not have lived
he ground.
was not difficult to imagine what
il lid have become of an opposing
be. Men and horses would have
b dead and all guns dismounted il
minutes after the firing began
re could have been no better il
ration of the absolutely fatal char
Pr of these pieces. 1t was founC
t they did not become unmanage
through heat, that the breecl
hanism displayed no sign of strain
t the recoil was not greater thar
calculated and that accuracy wal
M perfect with the last shell as will
first. These findings we're report