New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-28
FRENCH ARMY AND NAVY.
CHANGES PROPOSED IN THE CONTROL
OF THE COLONIAL ARMY.
NEW RIFLE BEING TBsTED-AcT1vITY AT
FRENCH pocKYARDs--NEw SHIPS NEAR
ING COMPLETION.

Paris May 16
The question whether the new French Colonial
Army shall be placed under the control OF ,he
War ONCE or the Admiralty Instead OF remain
ing az al. present under the Joint direction of
the three departments of the War, Navy ana
Colonies will soon come before the Chamber OF
Deputies and Senate for final decision. 1t should
be remembered that in the extent ana wealth.
OF her colonial possessions, France ranks next
AFTER Great Britain. and the outcome OF the les
sons that began with the costly and exhaustng
Tonouin war Of 1885. and continued with the
drastic teachings of Tunis. Niger and Madagas-
car. is the establishment Of the independent
force OF $1,000 men and 1913 guns maintained
permanently on a war footing exclusively Tor
the defence of Greater France" The organlza-
ton and system of recruiting Of this force was
described in detail in The Tribune last De-
cember.
Acting upon the recommendations OF the Far
liarnentary Commission. NJ. Krantz VINO mas
succeeded NJ. de Freycnet Minister OF war;
Will shortly submit to Parliament a Dill pre-
pared by his predecessor providing that the
Colonial Army. with, all its belongings. lnciuo
ing troopships and coast defences beyond tine
seas shall be placed exclusively under the con-
troll of the Minister of War. There is consider
able opposition to this in naval circles. but
increasing. for experience 80 far pretty clearly
shows that the Colonial troops, which are neces-
sarily recruited by the War Department, cannot
be maintained under the direction Of any other
department without recourse to system of
borrowing and temporary makeshifts incompati-
Bile with efficiency in the field.
1t has for the last twelvemonth been an open
secret that the military authorities intend to
supply the army with new rifle. Several new
inventions have been tested at the Normal
Shooting School at Chalons and the Daudeteau
magazine repeating rife-named after its In
ventor. Major Daudeteau of the Territorial Re
serve-is found to be superior TO the present
Lebe rife in many important respects. 1t is
reported that this new weapon may soon be
issued TO some of the colonial regiments, and II
IL proves success in actual campaigning VIII
be adopted for the whole army. It's most i'm
portant feature is device for feeding the
breech from the magazine the details OF which
are naturally kept profound secret. The Dau-
deteau rife carries five cartridges and is of six
and half millimetres calibre. The magazine is
so contrved as to render 1t impossible for
extra cartridge TO slip and get damned in the
breech with the first cartridge supplied from
the magazine. as sometimes happens with the
I.ebel and other rifles now in in European
armies
During the firing experiments at Chaons the
deviation observed with the Daudeteau rifle at
a distance Of LOCO metres was only I.30 metres.
while with the seven and eight millimetre rifles
1t averaged from ten to eighteen metres. An
other advantage is that the pressure of explo-
sion does not exceed $500 kilogrammes to the
square centimetre, compared with the explo-
sion pressure OF upward of 1000 kilogrammes Of
other rifles. Experiments to determine the
range and danger zone" of the Daudeteau rifle
showed that its bullet disabled a horse at 1900
metres. In one instance at a range OF 1900
metres the bullet struck a horses chest and
penetrated the whole length Of the animals
body II smashes and splinters bones and the
\ surgeons say that an unusually large percentage
of wounds inflicted by the new rife will prove
fatal Further experiments Of an equally inter-
esting character are being made at the Normal
School OF Firing at Chalons. where developments
are being pursued actively as. perhaps, are
the proceedings Of the Peace Conference at The
Hague.
The French naval authorities carrying out
NJ. Lockroy's plans Of coast defence with un
usual activity. The large lagoon near Mar
settles, connected with the Mediterranean by
narrow entrance has been recommended by
Admiral Besson as the site Of the new naval
torpedo station. and there is every indication
that this plan will be carried out.
The French Naval League began on Friday
series of lectures which extremely we'll
attended. NJ Barley. Senator and former Min
lister Of Marine. stated that France does not
hold the the position that rightly belongs
TO her. and that her navy Is not in proportion to
her foreign policy. TO the requirements of
her commerce and extent OF her colonies. NJ
Casimir Perier has become a member of the
League, and 1t starts out with flying colors
Captain de Fraysseix Bonnin delivered the
opening lecture with a reference TO the advance
OF naval ornaments all over the world. He al
luded to the brilliant victories of Japan and the
United States and said that In France 1t was
not money that was needed. but the naval edu-
cation Of the people. He said that "decadence"
was perhaps excessive when applied to the
French Navy, but was inadequate to describe
the condition of the French merchant marine.
There is considerable activity at the French
dockyards. but the time required to build a
French ship is 40 per cent IN excess Of that
needed to turn out an English ship OF similar
size and fighting strength. Nevertheless, the
French Navy will soon be increased by the COM
pletion Of six ironclads and sixteen frst-class
cruisers besides various smaller vessels.
The Jeanne dare. the largest of the French
armored cruisers. will be launched. according TO
present arrangements. at Toulon on June 8. She
was begun as long ago as December %, 1895.
The Jeanne dare measures IL go tons. is 145 40
metres in length. and 1910 metres BEAM Her
engines are OF 2S.50O horsepower. and her esti-
mated speed is twenty-three knots. Her bunk
ers have a capacity of 200 TONS which should
give her radius Of action OF Is 800 miles at a
speed OF ten knots Her armament will consist
OF two 194-millimetre guns mounted In turrets
fore and aft; fourteen guns of 1886 millimetres
calibre sixteen Of Al millimetres six of 81 MILL
metres, and two submarine torpedo tubes Her
plates are 1870 millimetres thick amidships, "a
millimetres thick at the classmates and 200 mil
l.metres thick on her turrets Her decks are
also armor-plated. Her crew will consist OF 4C