The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-05
KILLING IN MODERN wAas.
Discipline Necessary 10 Make weap-
ons Formidable.
From the saturday Review.

Wheh men get so near together that they
cannot run away with any chance Of es-
Gaping they must either kill or b. killed.
Hence, the same instinct of elf-preserva-
ton which nowadays makes a man a hero
Whole armies and tribes persisted in the
Homeric combats of antiquity When your
foe stood but a few yeards from you, 10
turn your back meant to give him the
opening to deal death blow for which
he was watching, and to run away was,
therefore, more dangerous than 10 face
him.
In the days OF Eugene and Marlborough,
although Villianous saltpeter had asserted
its supremacy it took long time to 10
and fire a musket and the bayonet and
broadsword We're the surest means of de-
struction. Cold steel was the stanchest ally
even up to the early years of the present
century, and to give them the bayonet,"
the most favorite tactical device Of our
pensinular generals. Brown Bess was in
effective at a hundred yards. and to hit
haystack at half that rangs was as much
as the soldier had any right to expect.
Thus, armies. when they drew together for
a fight, had to come TO the closest quar-
ters to gain any important or far-reachiug
result. Not so near together, perhaps as
were the antagonists of a century before.
but far more within reach of one another
than were the French and Germans in
1870. The vanquished could not escape SO
easily as in that last campaign, and in ac-
cordance with experience, although il took
longer to effect the slaughter, the piles of
dead were higher, therefore, In the earlier
than in the latter days. AT Zorndorf one
half to one-third of the total forces engag-
ed were either killed or wounded. al Ma
rengo one-quarter were left on the field; at
Borodino the blood of one-third dyed the
Russian snow. The invention or ri1ed
guns and muskets reduced the losses at
Solferino to one-eleventh, at Koniggratz
to one-ffteenth, while even the chassepot
and mitrailleuse did not bring the total
at Gravelotte to more than one-eleventh of
all the forces engaged.
Yet, in spite of the testimony OF status
tics such as these, our newspapers have
lately been filed with the most sensation
al paragraphs as TO the horrors modern
war will bring with It, and the headlines
concerning the potentiallties Of our new,
est weapons have been positively nause,
ating. 1t seems to be Imagined that be-
cause 5000 Dervisfes were killed and
wounded in a forenoon the other day,
therefore, we may expect similar hoo-
caust every time a bataille rangee is az
cepted. The circumstances under which
these gallant lives were lost seem often
lost sight Of and the smalness of our own
losses appears TO convey no meaning to
the sensation mongers. 1t might have
been supposed that the lessons of the war
in Thessaly would have had some steady
ing effect on the perfervid imagnatons OF
our journalists. There we saw modern
weapons and appliances brought into the
field, magazine rifles, breech-loadlng can
non, made by the indefatgable Herr
Krupp, shrapnel shells and the whole
paraphernalia of destruction which are 70
turn the battlehelds of the future into
abattoirs. Yet, as happened on another
celebrated occasion, no one Comparative
" speaking) seemed one penny the worse"'
The unspeakable Turk has seldom indulg-
ed in bloodshed so abstemiousy as at
Domokos. The valiant Greeks made no
hecatombs such as caused the soil to reek
in The old classic days.
The anomaly Is easily explained. Both
parties knew the deadliness of the others
armament and. like many of the opponents
in the old dueing times, the nerves of both
were more or less influenced by what they
knew. few hits were enough to make
men keep their distance. The guns never
dared to move within decisive range and
when one side had done enough to satisfy
its sense of self respect it made a STRAIT
egic movement to the rear. Long range
fire from both rifles and guns had an ex-
ceptonally good opportunity for exhibits
ing its destructive effect, and these weap-
ons were as efficient as those in the hands
of any army at the time.
But it is not by armament that wars are
decided; the personal element is sim the
predominant one, and tsle flesh and blood
of the soldier is not to be steeled or har,
dened by any mechanical process such as
may be applied to plates or gunbarrels
The men at DomokOs did not shoot well
because they were themselves being shot
at, and because the officers had not the
same control over those in the ranks that
men they had trained. No doubt at ON
durham both British and Egyptians were
being shot at too, and many o bullet
found it's way into a brave mans body
but the men actually shooting were com
paradvely little hit, and II the bullets
which sailed over the heads of those i'm
the firing line found victims in the rear.
those in front did not know of IL until
the battle was over, and the victory won
When your enemy does not get nearer than
half mile away, 1t is easy to keep your
head, to feel confident, to aim deliberate
ly. especially If you know that you are
supported by powerful artillery while he
has none, and If you are certain That the
weapon in your hand is infinitely superior
TO that which your enemy carries Con-
clusions hastily drawn from the results ar
rived at under such conditions are to be
accepted with caution, and we shall do
well to considerably curtail the estimates
made as to the future by the sensation
mongers.
More misehievous than anything else
however, is the prominence which has been
given to the performance of the high-ex-
plosive shells, which were for the Fl ST time
tried in war last autumn on the Me. We
have cause for congratulation as to the
results of what may most probably be re-
garded as an interesting experiment Until
they had been thoroughly tested. the
doubt was not 80 much whether heavy
shells full Of high explosives would or
would not do considerable destruction. but
as to whether they could safely be fred al
ALL Such shells may easily prove more
dangerous 10 friends than foes, and should |
one explode prematurely in the weapon fir |
ing 1t, the disastrous effect would not end
even with the complete destruction Of The |
gun or Howitzer and the men in the neigh- |
borhood Not a man, after such a catas- |
trophe, would be got to handle such am
munition with confidence. The nerves Of
all in the battery using II would be in a
state Of tension, and their own weapons
would be held In greater terror by the ie-
IA Of he