The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-04-16
THE NEW TRENCH ARTILLERY

 Rapid-Firing Field Pieces-France
 Said to Be Ahead of Germany in the
 Artillery Race.
 In regard to our new field pieces, the severest secrecy has been obserbed and when one thinks of the number of per- sons connected with the study and with the solution of the problem, he can only feel grateful to our artillery men for their prudence, which does them no less honor than the powerful engine which they have invented The recent visit of the war minister and of the chief of the general staff at Chalons relieves nobody from the obligation of silence. It simply proves that the ques- ton that has been so carefully studied is now finally settled. Let us see how this question was presented during the past years and examine the general plan upon which that study was con- | ducted.
 The invention of smokeless powder ploodCCQ dI llIlIueuldlp GlIeCI upon IHS rifle. It increased the range and per | mitted diminution of the calibre, which brought out that modern type that is called the magazine gun But in the case of artillery enormous ex- pense was necessary in the change from one system to another, in order to bring the smokeless powder for field pieces into general use It was used simply in our field pieces of go, made to resist the pressure of the old black | powder, and its only advantage was the absence ofsmoke, which, of course, was favorable for observation and the range of fire. Nevertheless the theo- retic studies were advancing. The ar | tillerymen, distanced for time in this duel, which for fifty years has been go- ! ing on between the bullet and the shell, were preparing a field piece to beat the rifle. To the new conditions produced by smokeless powder was added the necessity of reducing the calibre, and consequently Tightening the engine. This effort to get lighter cannon, and consequently more movable one, is always noticed after periods of long peace. That is the idea to which we owe the invention of rapid firing guns. It was the result of the recent progress realized in naval artillery. Everybody knows that the guns on board war ships must be fired rapidly because the objects travel at great speed. On the other hand, the work of these rapid l firing guns is simplified by the fixed base furnished by the deck of the ves- sel. The recoil may be completely checked and the piece automatically put in battery by means of intermedi- ary springs supported upon this fixed | base
 It will, of course, always be an inn- mense advantage for field artillery to be able to produce it's destructive ef- ects in a small space of time; in other words, to become rapid firing artillery. But, inasmuch as it fires upon wheels" it is without the supports that render the problem easy for naval ar tillery. To fire rapidly 1t is necessary that the pointing of the gun must be preserved from one shot to the other. The gun, carried backward by the re- coil, must of itself return precisely to the place which it occupied before the detonation. Such a result could only be obtained by a specially arranged carriage.
 Two different systems of guns car riages have been tried. One consists in immediately absorbing the force of the recoil by a support in the ground like q sort of spade. This first invention was the one which the Germans adopt ed, unfortunately for them, in the con- struction of their new field artillery. , The second system consists in the en- ! y,1a of a,.ro long track. Upon this track there are intermediary springs, which diminish the force of the recoii and finally bring the gun back to it's original position. Such, in substance, appears to be the type of the carriage upon which this new rapid firing French field gun is operated. The details of it's construc- ton, of course, are strictly secret, and it is only by comparison that one can get an approximate idea of it.
 This delicate piece of machinery be- longing to the gun carriage is only one of hundred Improvements which dis tinguish the new gun. The entire pro- gress realized makes it a ballistic affair as much superior to the rif1ed cannon as the latter was to the old smooth bore. A new field, therefore, is opened Tor artillery, and nobody can foreSee the effect of this change upon tactics and upon the methods of firing. Il should be observed that no matter how perfect a weapon may be, it remains according to Cicero, simply prolonga- tion of the limbs of the soldier The mechanical qualities of the engine mean but little in themselves. In or der to complete them when they must be blended. as it were, with the human qualities of the personnel This ap. premiership of the gunner commences to-day, when the work of the scientific man is finished. Our artillerymen vii require new and long training. It i! only upon that point that we will bt able to maintain the advantage which we have in artillery over the rest ol ] Europe.-From the Temps.
 A QUEER JAPANESE FUNERAL