New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-08-09
This Hot
weather, Lundborg's Cologne
will be found cooling and re-
freshing.

whence the heaviest fire comes is always OF
| great value
And the bayonet In actual conflict. it too
| mas niue use under modern conditions. Rapid
nrng magazine rifles settle the issue before the
oayonet can be brought into play. charge
| WIN the weapon is not an impossibility. but the
| likelihood Is that IL army cannot stop an
| onslaught with artillery and musketry it will
| flee or surrender before it can be reached by a
steel blade. Defeat is felt and acknowledged be-
iore there is occasion to withstand an attack
| with hayonets.
But the moral effect Of the weapon is impor-
| tant, even II II is never drawn from its scab-
| bard. An army known by the enemy to be
| without bayonets would be at a great disad-
| vantage For instance. al FL Caney the Span
| iardS were aware that their foemen had the
steei ready TO afix to their guns and that an
| encounter at close quarters would mean the
| slaughter Of most Of them 0he Spaniards). This
very conviction leo them to cease firing earlier
| than they otherwise would have done, and to
| surrender when the Americans came up to
where they were Had the assailants been
| known to be without bayonets, the resistance
| would have been longer and more desperate.
| This aspect Of sentiment is an effective argu-
| ment for the retention Of the bayOnet.
| In addition. the weapon has important uses.
To the soldier it is what the harpin Is to a
| woman. The heavy swordlike blade serves as
] an inrenchng tool In emergency, a
| Ratchet. a knife or can opener. With the butt
end he grnds his coffee in his tin cup. He would
| be lost without IT,
|
The respective values Of the Krag Jorgensen
! and Mauser rifles were the subject OF much dis
cussion in the campaign. In general, superior
| ity seemed to be conceded to the Spanish arm.
| Its fiat trajectory is about $50 yards: It's rival
| is set down as firing a line shot 500 yards. but
| some officers say that above 600 the muzzle
| must he slightly elevated The Mauser gives a
greater velocity to its bullets and in penetrating
| pine wood has advantage OF ten inches The
wound ii nfcts is more humane: conversely,
| 1t is less likely to stop man whom 1t wounds
| from fighting on 1t is loaded with package
magazine, so that the five cartridges can be
| slipped in as easily as one into the krag-Jor-
gensen.
For the American arm. greater simplicity In
mechanism. and consequently less likelihood OF
This was important factor in the Sc
lection of the model by the Government
Then It is more easily handled as SIN
gle-nre gun. The utter uselessness, and worse
of the Springfield rife with it's smoke pro-
ducing powder. was demonstrated. The volun-
teers carried IT, and had IN be kept In reserve
guarding supplies, building roads and the like
much of the time. Whenever one Of them dis
charged his weapon the cloud OF smoke adver-
tised his exact situation most effectively, and
shower of bullets was aimed at him. After
time, a volunteer would not fire in the field un-
less he had arranged 10 roll away instantly. AS
soon he pulled the trigger he would tumble
off some distance. chuckling as the Mauser balls
cut the busheS about the spot whence ne hred
The Regulars learned to dread the proximity
OF Springfield rife worse than the smallpox
They would not allow to be fired near them,
and the poor volunteers were marked lot I'M
less they nocled to themselves. OF course.
the adoption Of smokeless powder for all rines
and the artillery Is only a matter or time.
Another mooted military problem on which the
practice varied in this campaign is that OF
voley firing Against an enemy drawn UP In
line il Is OF course, superb. But nowadays
battles are not fought that way With the ex-
tended order formation. the volley has It's dis
advantages. Ordinarily 1t is most wasteful or
get ready for a volley. Aim is taken. and the
word 10 fire Is given. In wen-traned army
the discharge is simultaneous. or virtually SO.
In the first place. this Is likely 10 mean that
certain number OF the are shooting at
nothing in particular. The enemy exposes him
company see no target whatever Then those
who do cannot choose their o~n time about
aiming-some must pull the trigger before they
are ready; others wait after their ain is true.
1t is constant struggle to keep new troops.
and even old ones. from wasting ammunition.
Yet this method is likely TO accomplish just
that
WHEN vOLLEYs ARE ADVOCATED
On the other hand. some circumstances Justify
the volley. At FL Caney score or two OF Span
iards formed on the hillside. and the simulta-
ncous fire Of forty or lfty men killed several
and broke up the line Just before charge.
four or five volleys are eficacious in keeping
the enemy down behind his breastworks. He is
his confidence the onslaught has we'll begun.
Then in firing on artillery the volley may be
used to advantage. Furthermore. II may serve
10 find the range. A single bullet might kick
UP no perceptible dust, while fifty would, and
thus give the range sought.
Volleys were fired by various regiments on
July | and . in which the circumstances were
none OF those mentioned. The officers who or
dered them believed in their double moral
effect in stimulating their own men and In
striking terror in the enemy There undoubt-
eddy is something inspiriting In hearing the re-
peated chOruSeS from your own side, ana, con-
versely, something disheartening when the other
fellows are doing the work The Spanlards at
FL Caney used this fire most literally.
Right here however. step up some old on
GERS who that troops which can be kept
confident only by noise are not OF the right
stuff They point to the very practice Of the
Spaniards as showing that the officers could
ONLY keep the privates to their work by bar
barrie appeal to their auricular nerves. and say
that an enemy who Ia affected by such buga-
boos is already beaten. The last word is still
TO be said this subject.
4 substitute for the Volley recognized by the
tactics is the counted cartridge fire. In this,
the order is to shoot, say. five times and then
stop The men search out one Of the enemy.
choose their time about aiming and then
null the trigger. They keep this up until the
limit set Is reached. This method insures greater
accuracy and prevents waste of ammunition.
How important II ia not to fire uselessly Is
shown bv the fact that ut La Quasina some Of
the Rough Riders fired eighty rounds In an hour
or two AT that ratio In long engagement,
II would be impossible to supply ammunition.
and a good part Of the time the soldiers would
be as useless wooden Indians
MOVING Troops FROM CAMP ALGER.