The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-07-29

"OAoSAAA6 OLA CAACI1ly ~ 10 make the
sum of his career %eventful, even in
terestlng, and for soldering in all its
varied and absorbing forms, nothing
within the scope of u present strug-
gle is likely to excel that military
work cut out for us in the Philippines.
we shall certainly find we have more
to MI than the comparatively simple
duties of an army Of occupations; and
n reasonably wonders what may not
be the result of that frenzy of vic
tory n suddenly awakened sense of
self-suftic1ency in the insurgents when
they are confronted, perhaps, with our
determination to rule them hereafter.
How far religious ecstasy and in
stigation may be made to work against
us is something for speculation. The
Filipinos at large know practically
nothing about us, and, with cunning
pictures OF even a more hateful DOM
nance on our part than they have
borne heretofore, the religious broth
erhoods may make a last effort to re-
tain their grasp by fostering rebellion
against the very saviors Of the coun-
try.
Thai we shall ave more than the
Spaniards to contend with is we'll nigh
certain; and it is pretty positive, too,
we shan have to meet our native en-
envy on his own territory, and upon
the very ground of his own choosing.
oAO VI SuONCo "1S1 oO11lC
decidedly formidable mountain ranges,
the task of ferreting out a foe that
may seek the of those Businesses
will be a very trying undertaking.; and,
before we can go through even the
motions of that valiant warrior of old
who marched his men up the hill and
then marched them down again-all in
the same day-we shall have to over
come some natural obstacles then UNI
dreamed of.
A Spanish writer has summed up the
seasons in the Philippines thus: Six
months of dust, six months of mud, six
months of everything;" and experience
has shown the country to be practical
ly inundated from June to November,
with an added demand for six or
eight weeks Of intense sunshine to re-
duce the roads to passableness. Swift
mountain streams must be either ford
ed or bridged in the quickest and apt
est way, and where the roads stop,
roads or paths must be cut through the
tropical jungle Of high bamboo, mat,
ted, thorny vines, and a dense growth
of timber, and this, too, before either
the hot glare of the midday sun or
the damp, threatening darkness of a
torrid night is upon the men. Earth
quakes and violent storms must be ex-
pected and care taken to meet them
in the safest way.
Mountain warfare is, by long odds,
the most trying of all military services;
and from the start to the finish of a
successful campaign in the hills there
is hardly a moment that does not make
a call upon the resourcefulness and
skill of boil officers and men. We
shall have a miniature India of our
own to contend with, and in the ma
tive, if he be rebellious, a fighter Of
the true Indian instincts in all that
we know his cunning to be in u own
country. Ambuscades, night attacks
and retreats will be the order of the
day, and, worst of all, he will be
armed with an effective modern rifle
of high power.
Of all the troops dispatched to the
Philippines, the Astor battery of noun
tain artillery is really the only detail
made with especial consideration to
the possible local or geographical re-
qulrementS OF the country; and 1t Is
modestly suggested that none will win
greater glory or do more effective SER
vice than this little force if our army
be compelled to meet it's foe on any,
thing like the terms already practiced
by the insurgents upon the Spaniards
before Dewey reduced Cavite.
The battery will be composed of six
1%2-pounder gun Of the Hotchkiss noun
ain type. The guns have been de-
signed with especial consideration to
the service conditions of mountain war;
fare, and combine simplicity and ef-
fectiveness with the all-important de-
sideratum of ease Of transportation or
mobility. Over a country of ordinary
profile the guns will be drawn on
their carriages, and a timber, designed
to relieve the pack animals where pos
sible, will carry four ammunition
chests holding 80 rounds Of ammuni-
ton. When heavy grades are en-
countered h guns, carriages, limbers,
ammunition and pioneers tools will
be packed on mules, six Of which bear
the burden of one complete gun out-
fit. In service five additional mules will
carry 100 extra rounds for the whole
battery.
%cupation the mountain battery can fol-
low, and in practice it has been found
that the guns can be unpacked from
the mules and brought into action in
a minutes time, while only AZ seconds
are required to have them packed again
and ready to resume the march. Each
contains 100 balls, and each canister
weighing IL pounds. Each shrapnel
contains 100 balls, n earch canister
is something like $500 ~yards-nearly
two miles. There are no delicate parts,
and they are easily assembled, and
great care has been taken to provide
against the strains of mountain service
and the sever recoil due to the pc
culiar trains of fire.
The guns, when in action, do not look
unlike exaggerated toy %cannons, but
they possess a owe of inflicting Sc
we're blows and a deal Of damage from
positions otherwise denied to the heav-
Ter artillery of the usua order.
From some mountain crest they will
he able to Snre96 a vast deal nf min