The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1899-07-14
TRAINING RAW RECRUITS.

Capt. Hughes, at san Francisco, shows
Them How TO shoot.
The HERALD is in receipt of a
copy of the San Francisco Chroni
Gle, which contains IA lengthy and
interesting article concerning the
methods adopted by the army in
training raw recruits tn shoot. Part
of the article reads as follows:
"rhe new Presidio rifle range lies
in deep valley near the Italian
Cemetery. Seven automatic tar
gets, each containing the silhouette
of "a kneeling figure, Ins5ead of the
old fashioned bullseye, are stretch
ed along the edge of deep bulk
head, which is frOnted by one half
inch steel plates and heavy sand in
trenchments. Here at the 100, 200,
300 and 500 yard ranges the recruits
are instructed in their work under
the guidance of Captain w. N.
Hughes of the Thirteenth United
States Infantry, who is one of the
finest marksmen in the service and
the holder OF numerous champion
ship medals. From So'clock in the
morning until o'clock in the after
noon the men are kept at their task
and take their turns at the targets.
The difficulty that their instructor
experiences is not in getting them
to attend to their work, but keep
them from obtaining more than
their share of shooting.
"The love of using firearms seems
to be inherent in the native born
American, and the rapidity with
which the rawest enlisted men mas
ter the details of the practice is
wonderful. Forty eight hours has
been found amply sufficient time to
transform an awkward, bung)ing be-
ginner into a fairly good rlheman,
and from that on he improves with
every shot he fires. Last Tuesd iy
twenty-four If these men, not one of
whom had ever had gun in his
hand, before that day, ended the
practice at the targets in the after
noon with an average of eighteen
noints each out of possible twenty
! five. In other words, Ona-halt
d zen hours labor had given the
United States twenty-four good
marksmen. Over 1000 such have
been turned out at the Preside
ranges in two months. 49,.
NO matter how green and un
educated the recruits at the Preside
are, nor bow backward they may be
in every other department OF theil
work, they take the keenest delight
in everything pertaining to theil
guns. The effect of wind on the
bullets, the penetrating power of the
rifle and the mechanism Of the
weapon all seem to be matters o
absorbing interest. These things
the recruits learn rapidly and thor
oughly. The rifles used in this prac
tce are the latest type of Krag Jor
gensen and the shells contain
smokeless powder. There is very lit
tie recoil to these guns and for many
other reasons they are Invaluable
for the work of instruction.
"In order that the recruits may
not be kept out of practice for tn
whole length of time consumed IL
their trip across the Pacific, Cap
tain Hughes is advocating to tn
War Department regular system
of bottle shooting on the transports
This practice will not only serve tt
!, keep the men in excellent shape a
their rife work is concerned, bu
will do a great deal to relieve tn
monotony of the trip aud break u
the tiresome routine of the long voy
] age to the Philippines"
, Capt. Hughes, referred to above
is an old Columbia boy. He Tough
in the campaign against Santiagt
and will leave soon for the Philip
, piuaS