Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1898-07-01


sszsnghter. The first great step forward
was taken when the breechloading &C
~fisxa was invented. Well known scien.
sizsc rules of boring and the improve.
.-unent in projectiles and powders have
done the rest. The field gun now in use
a3y the powers is as accurate at its range
AS q rifle and has tremendous energy.
The United States has no better field
z,nDs than those with which the armies
Of Germany and France are armed, but
zshey arc every bit as good. Like oul
ether ordnance, they are all made On
chs side Of the water. The American
manufacturer yields to no one in ability
% make a perfect weapon Indeed many
"of the chief improvements in field guns
md in the larger sizes, sometimes called
-~ssiege" guns, are the products of Amer
;acan brains
The field guns of the United States
army are made at Watervliet, N. Y,
lust as the large guns for the navy and
FOR coast defense are turned out al
Washington. They have a caliber Of q
Eittle moro than three inches, are OF
course, breechloading, are rather
lengthy for their width and are lightly
but strongly mounted. They use point
ed shell which explodes either on con-
,srussion or by time fuse, generally the
former, and ere fired with great rapidly.
Each gun Of battery is in command
w,f O lieutenant, who, under the eye OF
dis superior, sights it and directs its
working. He has his elevation, depres~
sion and wind gauge formulas at his
fingers ends, and with him good shoot
ting is mainly a question Of care. The
powder used in these guns is of the
smaller grained brown hexagonal kind,
enough the pheroidal is preferred for
.o1me calibers.
The recoil Of this gun on level ground
rs rs feet, with tho wheels unlocked.
With the wheels locked it recoils five
fest, and is run forward and resighted
very swiftly. Its point blank range Is
d, zoo yards It can be made effective at
"A xnuch greater distance, Of course, but
Officers urafer that range for accurate
~tShuotins.
It fell to me some seven years ago to
report the first field trial given the
wNtervliet guns. Three Of them were
&ent to Fort Sam Houston at San Al
=, sonio, where Light Battery F, Third
artillery, was stationed under command
lot Major James b. Burbank, most Ca
Fable officer, now attached to the staff
~ az the governor Of New York. Major
Burbank was instructed to try them out
'shoro> yhly, and for this purpose select
Ca on ideal range on Ganahl's ranch, 60
-s1iies NORTH Of San Antonio.
The guns were planted in line and
40 feet apart on the side Of green hill
4aznd pointed across shallow valley.
IN the opposite hill, 2.20O yards swry,
- taat fly was put up as target. 1t
WAS 10 by : feet in dimension and as
~suetched on two poles. At that distalice
IT looked like nothing in the worll so
ounoh as a mans pocket handkerchief.
s1ne shot was fired as range finder,
snd that shot proved the range was
sDund. Then the work began.
For half an hour these guns pitched
.Ahells through or under or over the tar
get, according to the firing directions,
with as much accuracy as a man would
nase q Winchester rifle at 100 yards
',Tzhe work was done with the precision
M clock. There was the rush Of the
piece into its first position, tho quick
.~eummand to load, the rapid aim and
discharge, the faint scream of the shell,
the puff Of smoke and DUH report as it
4ruck and the dust rose up in a pillar.
When it was ended, we rode across
the valley and up the opposite slope to
che spot where the tent fly had stood.
!Bits Of it lay about here and there. One
saf the poles was bitten short off. For
80 yards below the other pole, for 80
xards on either side of IL and for 100
yards above it the earth was not plowed
1T was narrowed. An ant could not
nave lived on the ground.
Il was not difficult to imagine what
would have become Of an opposing forca
Men and horses would have been dead
:ssud all guns dismounted in five minutes
latter the firing began. There could have
sheon no better illustration Of the abso-
Autely fatal character Of these pieces
1t was found that they did not become
Vs71manageable through heat, that the
-shreech mechanism displayed no sign Of
.sstrain, that the recoil was not greater
<Ht,an was calculated and that accuracy
s.ns as perfect with the last shell Al
with the first. These findings were re'
,Roted to the Washington authorities,
usrnd the manufacture Of the guns went
an. The regular army is now thorough
Nympplied with them. Chicago Times
Zd9ald.
Just What It Seems.
lit seems like DREAM" he said In
Apeaking of his courtship.
"My boy" replied the veteran,
-~vhen you wake up after marriage you
rpiil find that that is just exactly what
ie is-nothing but dream "-Chioagc
AHsA ...