The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-08-25

WAvY AR1uIERxlRH
TAsas Dstsss n uanAlans tie ossas
0uns uAhs Psas1asal osssa.
~ tAses - TAsA
zAs AssvZartillery p . great brunch
u the Amy, md % distinct In it, stud
- - 70 ma1ss Il indsplhdeut Of the
other br1nehss of the seEvice. Just
now Ne heavy artillery branch y the
most important in the army. end = =
therefore pertinent 70 set forth the
fact that some military critics have for
many yeszs maintained. thsG TOO much
work and TOO many drills are ssddled
upon the heavy artinerymaa.
The light artillerymAn's drills are
many and his duties are heavy. but be
d consoled for this In the reelection
that he belongs to the creek brunch In
the whole military outht- Foreign mil
itazy critics Of eminenoe have unhesi-
tstangiy pronounced the ten batteries
Of light artillery Of the United States
army to be unsurpassed In the world for
horsemanship and rapid and scientific
handling Of the pieces. But while the
American artillerymsn has got 70 Be ~
nimble az an acrobat, and an absolute
master OF horsemanship, be does not
have TO use his head nearly 70 much %
his oomrade In the heavy artillery.
An artillery recruit can be rapidly
fashioned into an automatic carrier Of
ammunition, end In the course Of .
few drills. II be be quick-witted, he
can master the duties demanded by his
one particular number on q big guns
GREW. But II takes years Of slertnea
and attention and considerable study
besides for the clevsrest recruit to be-
come . good heavy artillcryman In the
American army. tits commonly known
emong srtillerymen that by the time
an artilleryman In the heavy branch
has put in three years. enlistment be
has picked up only ana ttering Of the
small duties and drills imposed upon
him % the heavy artillery service 10
at present organized. But men Of late
years have been getting enough Of II
IN three Year, experience, and II they
reenhst again Q great many Of them
Join the "doughboys" In the infantry
regiments for the sake Of the compare
lively easy zone colder, one gum" duty
required Of tho infantry. In the fret
place. the heavy artilleryman has to
become proficient In infantry drills.
Up to within Q few years ego the
heavy artillery branch was handicapped
by the lack Of modern guns upon which
to drill. Even at the present time many
artillerymen In the heavy batteries
have had no opportunity TO drill upon
modern breech-loading rites such a.
are at Fort Point and viii be at the
Denver resurvey and Bolivar Point
fortifcations There is all the differ
ence In the world between o muxzle-
loading and o breech-loading great
gun, and the drill upon each gun IL en-
tirely different.
II requires about two-thirds Of an en-
tire battery 70 operate Que Of these
big guns. The men ore drilled upon
them by numbers. The gunner gives the
and each Ian has q certain
work to pernDrm, but each man 10 re-
quired 70 master the duties Of every
member Of the guns crew. and for this
purpose he 10 shifted about from ono
number TO another.
As there are q thousand and one or
more movements to be executed in get
ting q great gun served and into firing
position, the mastery Of the big gun
tactics 10 no small matter for Q heavy
artillerymen, but there are % many
auxiliary drills besides the infantry
formation and drills ON the big pieces.
The drills called mechanical maneuvers
are the bane Of soldiers in this branch
Of the service Properly, mechsuical
maneuvers belong to theengineers. They
consist Of mounting and dismounting
the big guns, and the heavy artillery
mn Is expected to master the uses of
all the paraphernalia required in this
work-almost every style Of gun. jack
and tackle. Il Is very hard labor, and
besides 1t IL dangerous. There have
been come serious and some fatal acci-
dents In the army caused by the at
tempts Of heavy artillerymen, unfamil-
lar with the work, to mount and dis
mount big guns.
Some Of the artillerymen become In
terested IN the instrument drill, or.
rather, the drills on instruments, and
take to the study Of ma athematics for so
lutions. But the majority Of them listen
to the elaborate scientific explanations
Of the officers % to the uses Of the In
struments, their mechanism, eto., and
promptly forget all about them until
the next instrument drill. The instru-
ments are Of all sorts-the aerometer,
for example, which is used In heavy ar
tillery for the purpose of ascertaining
the strength Of the wind In It's possible
DETECTION Of protectiles; instruments
for measuring the initial. muzzle aud
other velocities Of projectiles; instru-
ments for measuring the power of pow
ders; sighting instruments, range flnd-
ers, search lights, electric firing appar-