The evening times., 1898-06-13
DIFFERENCE IN CALDER
The Small Arms Ammunition Of
the Army and Navy.
IT IS NOT CONVERTIBLE
The Rifles Used In the Army and
and Caliber, and They Require
Different Kinds of Cartridgcs-It
May Cause Confusion.

Strange as 1t may seem, the ammunl-
ton used by the Navy. for its. great guns
and small arms does not fit the weapons
employed by the Army, and should the
operations of the, troops necessitate the
discharge of the powder. shells and car
tridges which they have on hand their
supply cannot be renewed by the Navy
from the magazines Of its ships: As re-
suit considerable confusion is apt to arise
before the war is ended. N--
Some perplexities have already appear
ed in the case of the Cubans, who have
been supplied by the War Department
with Springfield rifles and with ammuni-
ton fitted for those weapons. In case of
need the Navy cannot help them now.
The Navy rifle Is known as the - Lee
straight pull and has a caliber of .236.
The caliber of the Springfield rifle is As
and that of the.-Krag- -Jorgensen. with
which portion of the Army Is supplied.
is 80. In the case of the infantry, there
fore It is necessary to keep the men sup
piled with ammunition for two kinds of
small arms, and ordnance experts admit
that there is always a probability of the
ammunition being mixed up the troops
supplied with the Springfields receiving
1t is the understanding that the troops
which have been sent to Santiago de Gu
ba are all supplied with the Krag-Jorgen-
son rifle, but even here IL Is admitted that
the possibility of confusion is great. The
operations consequent upon the landing
of troops will necessi;ate the use of
large quantity of ammunition and sup
ply ships will have to be constantly max
ing voyages from Key West to the point
where the troops are encamped.
In case the marines during their oper-
ations with the Army should become
short of ammunition they would have to
wait until the ships could send them
supply instead of receiving a quantity
from the troops. as would be possible in
case all were armed with weapons of the
same caliber.
Even the great guns of the Army and
Navy do not discharge the same kind of
ammunition. This is another prospective
source of embarrassment, even greater
for the Army than can possibly be the
case with the Navy.
II is proposed by the Ordnance Depart
ment TO do AN it can TO supply the troops
with an ample quantity OF ammunition.
but /: is appreciated that when the entire
Army is landed in Cuba II will be a diff
cult task. and that the labor would have
been much lighter had a uniform callber
been adopted by both services.
To this end several members .of.,Con-
gress have introduced resolutions author
izing an investigation of the matter by a
competent board. Nothing. however. has
been done. and during the present war.
| at least, the two services will have to
struggle along with different calIbers of
| guns and small arms. and undoubtedly
| with great annoyance to both.
| At Hcmpstead.
| Hampstead Plains. L. L.. June 1s.-It
t,o,-
cessive heat has kept the number of visi-
| tors down to about two hundred.
The only religious exercises in the camp
| were furnished by a band of Salvationists.
Many of the officers went over TO Hemp
| stead to attend church.
AT the Catholic Church, the pastor the
Rev. William b. Farrell, said that he had
| received a request to announce to his
| congregation that a lawn party would be
| given on Friday evening of this week. ad-
| joining ST. Georges Protestant Episcopal
| Church. The party was arranged by a
| commmittee of patriotic women of Hemp
| stead, and the money earned would so to
| help the work of the Red Cross Society.
Father Farrell said that the cause was a
| good one. and urged his congregation. 20
accept the invitation to take part in the
! entertainment and contribute anything
that would further the cause. Father
Farrells action is much commended.
Mrs. II. II. Quick. wife of Major Quick.
| of the Forty-seventh Regiment. and pres
ident of the Woman's Auxiliary Corps of
the Forty-seventh, visited her husband
today. She said that the woman's corps
was formed last week TO relieve destitute
families of soldiers in the regiment
I'VE have received many urgent appeals
for help" said Mrs. Quick, and in many
cases we found absolute distress in the
families of men who had gone to the
front. We investigate every case that
comes to our attention. 1t is a fact that
We found some frauds but at present we
have on our lists seventeen cases really
deserving help"
Entertainments to aid the corps will be
held on Thursday. Friday and Saturday
of this week at the Forty-seventh Regi-
ment armory, in Marcy Avenue, Brook
lyn- A mending committee meets at the
armory every Friday evening, and the
clothing received will be distributed
among the families of the needy soldiers
Private Boyd. of Company NJ, Forty
seventh Regiment. was sent to the Mas
sau Hospital at Hempsteead today, suf-
fering from a heavy cold.
Military College Graduates.
President Mckinley will send to the
Senate during the week the nominations
of 200 young men for second Heutenants
in the Regular Army.
Although these appointments are to
the lowest grade in the commissioned
force of the Army. the President has
given them more consideration than
many of the brigadier generalships. The
pressure from the politicians for these
places has been even greater than with
the higher grades
In order to get the best military talent
without at the same time offending his
political friends. the President contem-
plates the appointment of honor gradu-
ates from the leading State military COL
leges. For some time past 1t has been
the practice of the War Department to
include in the Army Register the names
of three military students standing at the
head of their respective graduating class
es from each military institution having
a Regular Army officer as Instructor.
With the great amount of Army patron-
age at his disposal President Mckinley
feels that he can well afford to recognize
the military colleges throughout the coun-
try. 1t is his purpose to give at least one
appointment to the leading military coll
lege of each State, making forty-five ap-
pointments in all from this source. 1t Is
possible that he will finally decide to
select two from each college, but forty
five are sure. He has also decided to ap-
point sixteen meritorious non-comm.s-
stoned officers from the Regular Army.
These men successfully passed competi-
tive examinations, and are, therefore, en-
titled to their shoulder straps. There will
still be many appointments for distribu-
ttion among young men with good politi-
cal backing, but the President has told
his political friends that their candidates
must have some military training and pass
y{o "A Nv al A.