The Florence daily tribune. (Florence, Colo.) 1898-1903, 1898-09-13
FIELD GUNS IN WAR.
THEY ARE THE FAvoRiTe WEAPONS
AMONG MILITARY MEN.



of other branches Of military armament
1t has been especially rapid within the
last dozen years The work Of special
lists and tho results Of extended tests
have ended In the production Of wcap.
on Of great accuracy and Of titanic
force. Tho field gun Of today Ia tho fn-
vorite weapon Of the military man. and
he expects from It some very remark
able demonstrations when opportunity
to use it occurs
Napoleon is credited with tho rcmnrk
that Providence Is always on tho side
Of tho heavy artillery. but thu artillery
which Napoleon knew was not worthy
to be mentioned on the same day with
the light, graceful and deadly arm with
which tho moderns are prepared to do
slaughter. The first great step forward
was takcl when the breechloading nc
ton was invented. Well known scien-
tific rules Of boring und tho improve
ment in projectiles and powders have
done the rest The field gun now In uso
by the powers is rs accurate at it's range
as rife and has tremendous energy.
The United States has no better field
guns than those with which the armies
of Germany and Franco nre armed. but
they arc every bit MS good Like our
other ordnance. they arc all made on
this side Of the water Tho American
manufacturer yields to no ono in ability
to make perfect weapon. Indeed many
of the chief improvements in field guns
and in tho larger sizes, sometimes called
"siege" guns, are tho products Of Amer
lean braina
The field guns Of the United States
army are made at Watervliet N. Y,
Just Ms the large guns for tho navy md
for coast defense arc turned out at
Washington. They have caliber Of
little moro than three inches, are, Of
course, breechloading. are rather
lengthy for their width and arr. lightly
but strongly mounted They use point
cd sholl which explodes either on con-
cussion or by time fuss, generally tho
former, and are fired with great rapidity.
Each gun of battery is In command
Of lieutenant, who. under tho eye Of
his superior, sights 1t and directs Its
working. He has his elevation, depres-
sion and wind gauge formul,e at his
fingers ends, and with him good shoot
ing is mainly question Of care. Tho
powder used in these guns Is OF the
smaller grained brown hexagonal kind,
though the pheroidal Is preferred for
some calibers
The recoil Of this gun on level ground
is 80 feet, with the wheels unlocked
With the wheels locked 1t recoils five
ieet, and Is run forward and resighted
very swiftly. Its point blank range is
3,260 yards It can be made effective at
. much greater distance. Of course, but
officers prefer that range for accurate
shooting
It fell to me some seven years ago TO
report the first fcld trial given the
Watervliet guns Three Of them were
sent to Fort Sam Houston at San An
tonic, where Light Battery F, Third
artillery, was stationed under command
OF Major James B. Burbank. a most ca.
pablo officer, now attached to the staff
Of the governor Of New York. Major
Burbank was instructed to try them out
thoroughly, and for this purpose select
ed On ideal range ON Ganahl's ranch, 90
miles north Of San Antonio.
Tho guns were planted In line and
20 feet apart ON the side Of a green hin
and pointed across shallow valley.
On the opposite hill. 1900 yards awny.
a TENT fly was put up as target. Il
WIS 10 by 9 feet in dimension and was
stretched ON two poles At that distance
it looked like nothing In the world 50
much as mans pocket handkerchief.
One shot was fired as range finder.
and that shot proved the range WINS
found. Then the work began.
For half an hour these guns pitched
shells through or under or over the tar
| get, according to the firing directions
with as much accuracy as man would
use Winchester rifle at 100 yards.
The work was done with the precision
Of clock. There was the rush Of tho
piece into its first position, tho quick
command to load, the rapid aim and
discharge. the faint scream Of the shell,
the puff Of smoke and dull report as II
struck and the dust rose up in pillar.
When it WAS ended. we rode across
the valley and up the opposite slope to
the spot where tho tent fly had stood.
Bits Of it lay about here and there. One
Of the poles was bitten short of. For
| 80 yards below the other pole. for 80
| yards on either side of 1t and for 100
yards above 1t the earth was not plowed
it was narrowed An ant could not
have lived ON the ground
1t was not difficult to imagine what
would have become of an opposing force.
Men and horses would have been dead
and all guns dismounted in five minutes
after the firing began. There could have
been no better illustration Of the abso-
iuteiy fatai chhaTsscs.cc: Of these pieces
1t was found that they did not become
unmanageable through heat. that tho
breech mechanism displayed no sign Of
strain, that the recoil was not greater
than YVES calculated and that accuracy
was as perfect with the last shell us
with the first. These findings were re-
| ported To the Washington aufhorities