The herald., 1898-06-07
NEW RIFLE FOR TROOPS
Small Caliber and Enormous Velocity
the Leading Features

American soldiers who land in Cuba rifle
in hand, will find themselves in possession
of different weapon from the old army
musket Of 81. The old horse pistol raised
from a COLT has been hung over the Chin
ney piece and modern army rifles have been
distributed.
Fifty thousand Of them were recently de-
livered to the war department from one OF
the national armores and $4,000 more are
on the way. These modern small arms are
wonderfully different from the guns car
ried by the troops hitherto. The clumsy old
45-caliber has been replaced by a weapon
that shoots as. fast as a man can pull the
trigger. 1t is effective at the distance Of a
mile, and the lead bullet, clad in a steel coat,
leaves the muzzle at speed Of nearly half
a mile second. The idea Of the up-to-date
rifle is to throw small and very hard pro-
jectile with enormously increased velocity
TO a much greater distance with greater pre-
cision than formerly.
A United States soldier armed with the
new rifle will carry It's cartridges and can
take IT'S lives if he be crack shot.
The question is still in dispute as to whether
bullet ought to paralyze a man or simply
inflict a slight injury. In battle ninety-nine
men out of 100 will withdraw from the con-
fl!ct slightly wounded and seek medical
treatment. Thus they are hors du combat
for the time being. Often under such cir
cumstances soldiers will yell and shrek. de-
moraizIng their comrades. This of course
is an advantage to, the opposite side, On the
other hand, 1t is urged that the. new style
of rifle bullet has not enough stopping
power" Against savages 1t is certainly not
satisfactory, inasmuch as they will keep on
fighting until crippled or brought down, TAX
ing small account of their lesser wounds.
Just here comes in an odd point. The new
weapon is an improvement in the direction
of humanity. The bullet travels so fast that
apparently the body does not attempt to re-
sist 1t. and 1t passes through flesh or bone
without inflcting much of shock, making
a small, clean hole and not breaking up the
tissues. 1t goes through the thinner bones,
as the shoulder blades, the ribs and breast
bone without smashing effect.
An opportunity for first-rate test was
afforded by the recent Chitral campaign Of
India. Wounded natives, with tiny holes
drilled clear through them, were out and
about within twenty -four hours not suffer-
ing any inconvenience. Such was actually
the case with a majority of the Swatis who
were hurt in various engagements. This
might be understood more easily If only the
flesh had been injured, but bones were per-
forated and yet the men were not disa-
bled.
Veterans see these scientific facts with a
grim smile, yet show no backwardness at
shouldering the weapon which forces them
to learn new tricks in their old age.
The finest soldier marksmen in the world
are those of the United States. Their skill
has been developed under a system of COM
petitions wherein medals and other badge;
of honor are awarded to the victors.
The war department distributes 176
medals annually. OF these twenty-five are
gold, siXty-one silver ard ninety bronze
There are six kinds of gold medals for va
rious grades of achievement, five kinds of
silver medals and three kinds of bronze
medals. All of these are made at the mint
in Philadelphia. The gold ones are very
handsome. OF all of them the finest bears
the design of an Indian shooting a
buffalo with a bow and arrow, with the
legend "First-class Prize, Distinguished
craftsmanship" 1t contains 500 worth OF
gold However, a change has been made
and the medals are not to be made of
precious metals in the future. The reason is
simply that the soldier, when hard up, is
tempted to raise money on his medal
Cbioauo ChrnpicIe