Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-05-13

Emperor Mllliam caused Great Sensa-
ton When He Announced How His Army
Had Been Secretly Equipped with Re-
markable Firearm.
Some little time ago-we think in
July, 1S97-the German Emperor in
vited the military attaches to break
fast, and after the repast told them it
was no use keeping it a secret any
longer but the German army had had
its artillery changed without anything
being known about it. No fewer than
five army corps had up till then been
armed with the new gun, a quick-fir-
ing weapon made by Krupp, and by
the middle of the present year all the
field guns will have been replaced by
quick-fring guns capable of throwing
ten to twelve shells minute to as
great a distance as the field guns and
with higher destructive power in their
shells. How well the secret was kept
may be understood from the fact that
Krupp employs 10000 workmen and
that several powers try to spend large
sums in Germany to obtain military
and naval intelligence.
Upon the kaisers revelation, the
French military attache at once took
train for Paris, and found his govern
ment not unprepared to deal promptly
with the question. In fact, a model
had been determined upon some time
before, and orders were Immediately
placed not only with the government
factories, but with a number of private
firms. Only the question of cost had
prevented the French war office from
being beforehand with the Germans,
and the reason for this hesitation will
be grasped when it is stated that the
extra expenditure involved within a
very brief period exceeds ten millions
sterling. The secret has been kept by
the French nearly as well as the Ger
mans kept theirs but it is now known
to several European governments.
The weapon now in course of rapid
manufacture is a quick fring gun. ca
pable of firing at least ten shots a
minute. 1t has a calibre of seventy
five millimetres (3in.) the calibre Of the
French field guns being 80 nm. G. So
I'M, and of the horse artillery gun
so nm. The weapon is very similar to
the latest pattern of the Nordenfelt
cannon. Its weight, fitted with auto
matte hydraulic or glycerine brakes to
check recoil, and with steel shields to
reduce the risk from infantry fire, is
somewhat greater than that of the
80 nm. field gun, but the range and the
[ n Of . 40 ch,1
er. The shell is fitted with very
perfect percussion fuse, the accuracy
of which has been tested in the most
thorough fashion.
AS many as 5000 of these quick-fir-
ing guns for the French artillery are
being provided at a cost, including
! 900 rounds of ammunition for each.
of &2,OO0 per gun. Up till January l
this year 500 guns were completed,
with their due proportion of projec-
tiles. There will be enough guns in
being before the end of the current
year to arm all the corps" artillery,
and the whole of the artillery will be
rearmed before the end of 1899
The French have satisfied them
! SELVES lHdI, LOT effect, TWO OF tneSe
guns are equal to a whole six-gun bat
terry of field guns, with a margin to
spare. Nevertheless, the superior
council of war has decided that each
battery shall, as heretofore, consist of
six pieces. Thus the effective power
of the French artillery will be at least
tripled by the adoption of the quick
firing guns. In view of this decision
it has been resolved that each gun
shall have not one, but two ammuni-
ton wagons, which will not remain in
the rear, as in the case of the field bat
teries, but will come up with the guns
into action. This involves the increase
of thirty-sX horses for each battery.
1t must be remembered, first, that
the problem of supplying ammunition
in the field is made immensely more
difficult by this new departure; and,
secondly, that neither France nor Ger
many has adopted machine-guns as
we have done. These two facts enter
materially into the question of the
change from field guns to quick-fring
guns
New Hallway Fog Signal.