The Holly chieftain., 1899-08-18

rl,e Guns weigh but One Hundred
und Fifteen Pounds and Are Mnde
to BE Carried on MuIehnck IL Nee
-ssary-sey.rui Dozen to lie Ready
by the Early Fall.
a number Of portable mortars. suita-
BILE for service in the field in the Phil
ippines. will soon be forwarded from
the Watervliet arsenal at Washington
for proof tests at Sandy Hook. They
are practically the first of the kind
turned out in the United States.
These morturs are patterned closely
after the type represented by the
krupp 2.95 inch mortar. In the opii-
Ion OF MANY ordnance experts, how
ever. the new American mortar. will
be found 20 he much more efficient
weapon than the German These NOR
tars weigh about lis pounds eack and
the carriage about as much us the gun.
\ crew of four men is needed to work
each weapon. says the New York Post.
The plan for their use will be to car
ry three or four mortars in a wagon.
but should the country prove too rough
for this style OF transportation the
weapons will be packed on muleback
The new guns have the advantage that
they can be lifted about readily by
hand. In appearance the new pieces
nre most diminutive, the length of
each gun being about is inches. 1t is
planned. II is said. to use the same
Shell In the nortars as will be employ
ed In the new caliber light artillery
heldpiece. The powder charge for the
mortar. of course, will be greatly re-
duced. the weight. as designed. being
less than one-half pound of black pow.
der. The smokelcss powder charge
will be even less.
The rang tables show. 1t is stnted.
wonderful efficiency for the ewpygmy
pieces. which. II should be known, are
designed for use Ia the most advanced
trenches, their specific function being
to clear the trenches occupied In the
immediate front by the enemy For
this purpose shells loaded with shrap-
mel will be largely employed. though
1t is also arranged to use Il special type
high explosive.
The firing tables afford maximum
range for the new pieces when laid ut
an angle of 10 degrees of about 3.TO0
yards, which distance assumes tile use
of special shell lighter than the pro-
jectile employed by the standard field
pieces. When using a full sized light
battery shell, the vange attainable is
declared to he about 2,TGO yards.
1t will be recalled that in the vicks-
burg campaign General Grant so ap-
preciated the need of mortars for verti-
cal fire that roughly constructed guns,
banded with metal. were tried. In the
Santiago campaign 1t was the opinion
of many officers that the services of
mortars could have been utilized time
and again. The small sized weapons
now nearing completion at Watervliet
can be dragged along the ground ON
wooden skid by dozen men, no mat
ter how muddy or soft the soil. 1t is
hoped by the ordnance officials to sup
ply General Otis with several dozen
of the new field mortnrs by the early
fall.
The shrapnei shell designed for the
field mortars will contain about $50
balls. The shrapnel shell. when used
against troops sheltered by trench or
who may be lying behind abatis, Is
burst in the air by means of time
fuse, graduated to fractional parts of
a second. Knowing the distance of
the eneiny's position and the time re-
quired for shell to reach that posi-
ton. the fuse is cut accordingly. The
object Is to burst the shrapnel little
short of and over the enemys position,
and us the shrapnel balls have the
original Impetus impaired by the shell
proper they are still carried forward.
while at the same time they scatter
The general trend of shrapncl burst
Is that Of a cone inverted. 1t is the
most effective ammunition known for
clearing trenches.