The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-07-17

the new command had been given, the
FIRST shower of shrapnei went hurting
among that battery. over n mile away.
OF course only blank ammunition was
used. for IL the real thing had been SUBJ
stituted there Gould be one battery less
in Uncle Sam service. Detachments OF
cavaIrv were skirmishing through the
,,,nods OF course the battery was an
IMAGINARY target for them, in turn, for
.ho whole great drill ground is a chess
boar,i upon which each troop or battery
Commander makes his moves They are
not made for fun, but for the education
~ the men, and every move has a we'll
defined meaning.
Everybody OF troops that showed up
anywhere within two miles was shelled.
every transport at the Port Tampa piers
became target in turn ana II anything
but hank ammunition had been used
there would have been-a frlghtful slaugh-
ter.
The following morning ] went into the
fold NTH Canaan 5. w. Taylor and his
battery of the Fourth Aruiieary. l lifted
nm the nd 10 the caissOn 10 which / was
assigned lust TO assure myself that every
thing was AN right 1 fOund matters
entirely satisfactory. for the caisson had
irts fun complement OF shrapnel, as
well as about a score or steel shells all
of which were loaded mad company,
however. and II 1 mad realized my worst
fears I would have had two companions
going I'D. | got another tasS of the
palmetto root roads, but came through
IL all right The manOeuvres and drills
through which Captain Taylor put his
battery were very similar 70 those de-
scribed already. and were certainly very
Interesting. lie selected first a Held
oyergrown with tall pampas grass. whlch
almost concealed the battery A force OF
infantry half a mile away would never
nave seen It, or known or its location,
until half OF their force had been killed
Firing exercises were gone through with
and an hour and half Of the hveliest
kind Of drin Afforded ample opportunity
for photographs.
TO one who sees only the picturesque
side OF these artillery manOeuvres they
SAVIOR much of a sham battle; TO one
who looks deeper mo the subject their
true siguifca1c is revealed. The gunners,
although they use only blank cartridges,
are trained TO sight the piece as carefully
as If shell were 20 be fired and 10 handle
the guns with the same degree of pre-
cision and care as II IN actual battle.
The result Of this training has been
shown in field target practice at some OF
the Western posts within the year.
Lieutenant c. @. treat of the Fifth
Artillery, who is adJutant at the artillery
eub-post al Fort Riley, devised some
large targets OF canvas. so mounted upon
trucks or wheels that they can be moved
forward or backward. or TO the right
or left, following the movements OF a
body OF troops in the field In the target
practice these canvas targets were used
a. support for silhouette ngures repre-
Senting cavalrymen. iDfanuymen, or a
portion Of a battery OF artillery. as might
ne deeurel necessary. Distant 200 10
400 yards from the battery and out OF
sight IN hOllOws between knobs, at dis-
tances unknown 70 tho gunners, these
targets were literally torn 20 pieces IL
was shown I'm one test, after three shrap-
mel had been fred 90 ascertain the range.
that an entire battery Of artillery would
have been wiped out OF existence In less
than four minutes had the targets been
animate instead OF inanimate.
In other tests Silhouette targets, eacn
representing an infantryman. were set
M in fours. IN echelon representing an
entire company Of 1O5 men and officers.
In less than six minutes every figure had
been mortaily HIT and some OF theme as
many as seven times. shrapnel beins used
and the distance the exact location OF
the targets being Unknown.
have talked with number Of military
men during the past week who are IA
miliar with the methods or fighting that
prevail I'm the Spanish Army. They night
IN solid formation. q S. said. and know
noting about skirmisning fighting or
extended order They have little or no
field artillery in Cuba. II their army,
no matter how strong II may be numeri-
cally. ever comes within range of those
terrible field rifles and their death-dealing
shrapnel Commander Bob Evans prophe-
cv Will be quickly verned. As matters
now stand IL will not be al an unlikely
that the dons will have 10 take little
az this sort OF cruel IN the near future,
FOR Uncle sam certainly isn't gathering
his army for hOliday.-St Louis Globe
Democrat.