The Mena star., 1898-06-01
THE MODERN SHRApNEL.
How It Differs from the Ohsoiete pro- 1ectiie = Its Destructiveness OId
 TWelve-POunder Smooth Bores.

@hdHJ suggestions nave been made to the war department for the utiliza- ton of the old smooth-bore 12-pounder Napoleon guns that the army still has on hand as relics of former wars. The department has been severely censured, indeed, for using these old guns for fir ing shrapnel, and several papers have gone so far as to assert that shrapnel cannot be usedin the modern rifled can non. An official who is a recognized au- thority on projectiles and guns said recently that these suggestions and criticisms are founded on ignorance of the nature of the shrapnel and the mod ern rifled gun, as used in the armies of all civilized nations.
 The old 12-pounder Napoleon, said he, IS smoothbore, obsolete gun, which was considered anticipated even in our late war. It bears about the same re- lation to the field gun of the present day that the old scythe does to the mod ern moving machine. The shrapnel used in the old field gun, he said, was known to the service as spherical case shot" It consisted of spherical shell filled with musket balls, held in place by resin or melted sulphur, and ex- ploded with small bursting charge.
 The shrapnel of the present day is quite another thing. Like the old shrapnel, it consists of a case filled with bullets, but these bullets are now as- sembled in circular layers, and are held in place by separators, which are short cast-iron cylinders, with hemispherical cavities, into which the bullets fit. These separators are weakened by radical cuts, and increase the effect of the shrapnel by furnishing additional frag- ments of effective weight. The total number of bullets and different pieces in the modern shrapnel is POI.
 As to the range of the old and modern shrapnel, this official says that the 12- pounder Napoleon carried it's old-fash- toned shrapDel only trife over 1,500 yards. The present shrGpnel, fired from a ritied cannon, is effective at $500 yards, and 21a times as far It could be used much further than this if a clear view of the object of fire could be ob- tained. The object against which this projectile is to be exploded must be seen clearly and it's distance calculated to nicety, so that the fuse may be prop erly adjusted and timed.
 The shrapnel is called by artillery ex- perts "the man-killing projectile." It has replaced shell in the field artil- lery, and is practically the only pro- iectile used by the modern field guns of the armies of this country and of Flu rope. 1t is ten to twenty times as de- structive as shell against troops. Tn the late war it was used to good purpose at Malvern Hill and Gettysburg, and also by the British in their Indian and Egyp- tian campaigns. The only objection that can be advanced against it is that tue range and view must be accurately determined. When these are ascer- tained, the shrapnel will pulyerize any object it is used upon.
 Sedan" said this official, twas the greatest artillery battle that has ever been fought. Every attempt of the French to advance against the German guns was checked by the shell fire of the German batteries at a distance of 2,0o0 paces. The French general, Dou- ay, declared that the French were beat CT by the artillery fire alone. This was with shell. The effectiveness of shrap- nel may be imagined when we remem- Der that it is at least ten to twenty times as destructive as shell under the same conditions" ."--N. |. Times.