Arizona republican., 1899-07-01
Needed for the Work in the
 Philippines.
DREADED BY THE NATIVES
The Government Engaged in Ser IeS of Experiments Trying fo Find inc Kind That Will Garry Civilization Among Our Foreign Citizens Quickest and r1oSf Effectively.

Washington. June 3O.-With the rArogress of fighting in the Philippines the war department has become i'm pressed with the necessity of increas inlg the efficiency of the artillery forct oIt. dE.y there There are already many .batlteries fl the archipelago doing dutA as Infantry, but there is a quiet ngov@ment on foot to furnish them with Aguns adapted to use in that coun- try, And the War department is now engag gkd in a series of experiments to determAne the most effective form of light gltn for use against the insur- gents.
 Ganer:il Otis recommendations so far haveS> been principally for light. qi1icl1-firing field guns and for noun thin batteriesf thae is. guns of the mountain hoWSitzer type, that can be transported oR muleback. It has been demonstrated fh hat artillery for use ever in the drA season in the Philip pines must be Aery Night and easily handled, owing \to the exceedingly bad roads ard the large amount of cross-country work.i
 Therefore. the department is turning its attention to light au.omatic or machine guns" which are quite Q different matter fron4 the quick firing field batteries which take horses to draw them. Guns hof the automatic type take the regular trifie anFm unitioD and are so light that they can be transported at need by tReir own crew of three men,
 This was demonstrated\ in Fle re cent service ashore of EAsign Davis of the navy, who has beap recon- ane1ded for advancement ten numbers for his work with one of the Helen9 automatic guns in field operat1oals around AIanfla and Caloocan. The work of this guns crew showed that the natives dread the deadly l1rl tle automatic gun quite as much asI they do the larger sharpnel battery, and much more than the rife fire of i whole company of infantry. In addi- X ton. the automatic gun can be trans ported over ground impassa ble for a | fled battery, and can be worked eff | fectlvely under cover where a larger gun would ibe badly exposed. The work of Ensign Davis around Manila was quite paralleJed by the achieve men,s of Lieutenant Parker and his Gatlfng k1ttery at Santiago. The Gatling Is the standard machine F gun of the army today, and while 1t has proved an effective weapon, it is heavier than is desired for the pres ent class of work. It is understood That General Miles regards the Cat ling favorably, and also agrees with General Otis desire for mule mountain batteries He is also favOrably iTn- pressed with the v7or> 2f the Hotch- kiss revolving canron, which has been brought up to a high point of efficiency in the English service
 An effort is being made, however. to give a fair trial to all the o;her types of lighter guns now in the field. Tests are being made at Sandy Hook with the Few Maxim gun and the Colt automatic, the chief trouble with the latter type being that while it is an excellent light gun for boat work in the navy, it has not usually proved re liable under service conditions oD shore.
 There has been some .alk or sending to Manila the battery of Stms Dudley dynamite guns recently stationed at Fort Myer, but the doubtful factor in these guns is the accuracy of their fife at ranges over a mile. The manufac- turers asked permission to take them ] back to the factory to make some Improvements in this respect, and they |lre now being remodeled
 \ II is understood also that the de artment has on hand scheme by hich it is hoped soon to be able to row the highest explosives from ( Y field gun, but the work in that I ection has not gone far enough to , nit of much discussion.
 is reasonably certain. however, s
 it will not be long before the (
 " has taken some decided step in |
 reformat tion of the field artillery i
 ce. and when the exact nature of A
 hange has been determined there
 Pe prompt shipment of effective
 guns 10 Manila, possibly in tim M opening of the fall campaign.
 AS CITY TRUST TRUST COMPANY T
 Rs City, June 30.-The Eide t
 1mpany capital $500 900, O