The herald., 1898-06-14

sMOKflEsS POWDER
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.


all users Of single-ball weapons, but 1t will
have other effects in warfare not so imme~
diately apparent but just as important. Il
Is not soundless powder. though its re-
port is faint compared with the below Of
the old black-grained stun, nor is 1t ut
terly smokeless, but the former dense
hanging cloud which followed heavy firing
has been replaced by light filmy vapor
rapidly dissipated. The rifle fire of one man
using smokeless powder is not visible at
forty yards distance, nor is the smoke
made by twenty-four men at 200 yards.
Artillery smoke cannot be seen at 1900
yards, though there Is a sort of electric
flash of light following the discharge OF
the guns and cloud of dust rising from
dry ground and caused by the shock. The
film disappears almost Immediately. 1t has
been recommended to artillery officers that,
where possible. they dampen the ground in
front of their guns in order to avoid betray-
ing their exact positions by the dust. Ow-
ing to the lack of smoke, the locations Of
guns in fortresses will not be SO readily
determined by an attacking force as in the
past and their liability to being dismounted
in consequence much lessened. It will be
still possible for educated commanders,
fortresss guns with reasonable accuracy
by the shape of the Notifications them
selves. The new powder will be Of especial
value In firing from classmates, as 1t leaves
the air fit to breathe.
In open country defenders hidden in
bitches and behind hedges cannot be placed
by the smoke of their guns. and shooting
under the rolls of vapor. so commonly prac-
ticed and with such fatal effect in our civil
war; will no longer be possible. There will
be no rolls to guide the attacking marks
men. The cost of feeling an enemy's posi-
ton, therefore, by daylight and in ordinary
country, is apt to prove enormous. Those
advancing will be more or less exposed to
hidden foe There is no more uncomfortable
feeling than that of being shot at by some
one out of vision and the moral effect of q
storm of bullets from unseen foemen on an
attacking force is to be counted upon as one
of the real things of the war. This force.
steadily decreasing under the impact of bull
let's sent from some unascertainable point .
thousands yards away, will not have the
sustaining influence of hearing its own guns
go off, and to make a successful advance
under these conditions will require either
the most seasoned troops or levies Of most
Owing to the increased range given by
the smokeless powder and the fact that
there will be no dun pail hanging over the
field to obscure the vision, troops lying
down in the open will not only make them
selves as small as possible and throw up
tiny earthworks for their protection as
fast as possible. but they will not have any
glittering thing about their uniform or
equipment that can be dispensed with. A
silver dollar in the bright sunlight may be
seen 1000 yards away, and troops properly
instructed will avoid giving the enemy any
salient mark Gun barrels will be turned
down so that the light may not strike them.
buckles will be covered. and little tinsel
and lace used. The dark and light blue uni
form of the United States army, while not
so marked as the red coats Of the British,
is still easily distinguishable. and casual
ties would be fewer If our soldiers were Of
better color. The best battle uniform ever
worn, as American officers readily admit.
was the smoky gray of the southern troops
in the late war. A line of men clad in this
cloth blended indistinguishably with smoke
at 200 yards, and many times it was i'm
possible for the federals to say whether
their opponents were standing up or lying
down or had vanished utterly. The ad-
vantage of this uniform would be less, Of
course, on a field where there was prac-
tically no smoke at all, but still it is of
less striking hue than the blue or red, and
offers a worse mark.
The German axiom that the offensive 10
necessarily superior to the defensive has
been so weakened by the developments of
late years that Lord Wolseley and other
authorities now deny it totally In their
opinion the advantage has passed irrcyo-
cably to the side Of the defense, and they
are confident that the next pitched battle
between armies of approximately equal
numerical and moral force will prove II.
1t is certain that the, attack will have q
hard time of 1t until means are found to
lessen the advantages now conferred upon
the defense by zone of fire which has
been extended to more. than 5000 yards and
a powder which does not betray position.
1t was formerly good tactics to hammer q
hole in an opponents line of battle by
means of the concentrated fire of artillery.
and then to swing an enormous mass Of
troops against the weakened point, thus
piercing their formation and separating q
wing from the body. Just how this Is to be
accomplished in future is not apparent. It
is difficult to hammer holes into an enemy
which you canno. see and who may have
changed his position utterly without your
being the wiser though the storm of pro-
jectiles seems unfinished. Furthermore.
heavy guns steadily in action, will be
placed at marked disadvantage by invisible
4 LII IA