Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-05-19

mental work was continued until after
repeated trials the range was de-
termined. The Chicago Record has
the following explanation OF the i'm
provements upon the old system OF
gunnery that have been developed in
the American navy:
when the present equipment OF bat
| tleships was contemplated d serious OBJ
stacle was encountered In the fact that
no reliable method OF determining ths
range at sea had been perfected, II
was recognized that In order tn have
| the big guns work effectively they
| must be aimed accurately. The devei-
| opment of the range-inder, which
solved the problem, was the result of
experiments conducted by naval ex~
perts, especially Lieut.. Fiske of the
United States navy. who did more than
any other Individual in bringing this
valuable instrument to its present state
of perfection. He applied modificn-
ton of the principles of land survey
ing with the transit and engineers
chain, and introduced the electrical
devices which greatly sltnpllned the
operation Of the system and aided
materially In solving the problem.
I'm practice base line is carefully
measured between two points at oppo-
site ends of the ship and range find
these stations. This instrument con-
sists OF powerful telescope, which Is
mounted on a standard and Is capable
of horizontal rotation above a gradu
ated disk. Upon the disk and extend
lng an equal distance on each side of
the zero point on the graduation IL a
metallic contact nrc. Fixed to the tel
escope standards Is contact strip,
which rotates with the telescope and
Slides over the contact ares. II the
telescopes of the two instruments are
simultaneously converged upon the
same point the distance of the object
may be computed readily. after the |
manner Of determining the width of u
stream in surveying, but during an en-
gagement the excitement alone would |
preclude the possibility of accurate
calculation, and, besides. the positions |
OF vessels would be changing constant |
IS, so that the time for utilizing trig- |
0nometrlcal data could not be spared. |
BY the use Of delicate electrical insttu- |
merits. however. the distance between |
the point OF observation and the ship. |
fort or other target Is automatically |
determined, and 1t is only necessary |
for the observers to keep the cross
hairs of the telescope upon the same
point. The electric current will trans
late the angles into distances and re-
cord them by the movement of
needle over an are graduated into
hundreds and thousands OF yards. An
important part of each equipment IL a
telephone set, by means of which the
operators are constantly in commune
cation.
THE value Of an instrument Of this
Kind in bombardlng an enemy's
stronghold and In an engagement be-
tween battleships will be readily ap-
preciated, even by the layman. Its ef-
hciency was attested by the work
which 1t enabled the American squad
ron to accomplish at San Juan"
Undoubtedly the range-Hnder will be
further perfected to a degree that will
cause distance to cut very small
figure in the accuracy of gunnery
making 1t as easy to hit far away as
a nearby object. War is being more
and more reduced to u science, and in
the process the American nation is
leading the world.