The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-06-07
MODERNWAR NOVELTIES
STRANGE DEVICES OF ALL SORTS
FOR The SOLDIER.

tNlninE intOfmNtlOn-Wtns AnihhlS
and Machinery Employed in New ways
In modern war the Importance of
accurate and reliable reconnaissance
has increased an hundredfold, owing
10 the fact that the forces engaged in
decisive battles have become far
greater in number, aud the distances
20 be covered, both in concentrating
he troops for battle and in disposing
chem ON the battlefield itself, greatly
exceed those of the past.
The following is brief summary
If the principle means which have
been made use of recently for facili-
tating this important military work:
1. Specially Trained Scouts and
Orderlies-G General Sheridan was the
first on the Northern side in the Civil
War to object to having his cavalry
frittered away and worn out in outpost
luty, and General Grant had the good
sense to uphold him. To free the
,avalry of the smaller elements of its
reconnaissance work, and economize
its fighting power as much as ossi-
BILE, most of the great nations are now
training a kind of mounted infantry
in this work In Germany each army
corps has squadron of mounted
orderlies" of this kind, and they have
proved invaluable; in Russia n num-
Der of the best men in each company
are mounted and trained in patrol
and reconnaissance duty, instruct
ed in riding horses and bicy-
eles, and exercised by affording them
opportunities TO engage in bear and
tiger hunts; in England each brigade
of the cavalry division sent to South
Africa received a battalion of mounted
infantry with Maxim gun; in Aus
tria mounted scouts assist the cavalry
in their accommodating As an incen-
tive to training for this work, the va
rious nations have instituted distance
rides and walks.
9. Field and Wireless Telegraphy
! The improvements in field tele-
graph apparatus have permitted the
use of this valuable accessory in the
very front of the outposts, and the
introduction of the buzzer has so far
increased its efficiency that with even
the poorest insulation it works well
enough for all practical purposes
Our Signal Corps in the Philippines
has surpassed all previous records in
this field
Wireless telegraphy is still in the
experimental stage, although it is now
being tested practically III the field in
the Transvaal improvements are
being constantly made, and its future
cannot yet be predicted.
3. Optical Telegraphy-The hello
graph has been specially developed
in sunny climates; by the British in
Afghanistan ana in Africa; by the
French in Tonkin; by the Americans
in the United States, and by the
Greeks in Crete. 1t has been used
successfully over single stretches of
siXty-fve miles. In France the acety-
lene lamp mas greatly increased the
use of the apparatus by making it in
dependent of sunlight, and signals
have been read as far as thirty-seven
miles by day and fifty. six miles by
night. In Italy the acetylene lamp has
been read at distance of seventy-twc
miles The navy searchlights landed
in Cape Colony have been used fol
flash signalling and have greatly ex.
tended the range.
L. Searchlights-Th use of search.
lights by ships and by coast and Other
forts is well known, but recently they
have also been applied on battlefields
for hunting up the wounded. Acety,
lene gas is used where electricity is
not available.
5. Carrier Pigeons-The use of car.
rier pigeons from fixed stations like
cities and forts has long been known,
but lately they have been used sue.
cessfully in the French field maneu
vres, their houses being carried along
by the troops. In Russia in 1896
cavalry patrols carried along the car
rier pigeons of the forts, and il
was found that in returning to theil
homes they travelled at the rate oI
five eighths of mile minute. A
number Of pigeons have been sen
from the besieged city of Ladysmitl
with dispatches to Durham, distance
of 900 miles. The great advantage ol
carrier pigeons to the navy lies in the
| luOt tl-ub lho SSoutihS NtHStlo VI I
fleet can send back information from
long distances without thems elves re
turning
6. War Dogs-Pigeons merely re-
turn to their homes or to their feeding
places, but dogs act much more intel
ligently, and are therefore useful in Q
greater variety of ways. In the first
place, they have been used in recon
noisance duty, IN carrying messages,
and in connecting outposts and senti-
nels In the second place, they have
proved invaluable in hunting up the
wounded after the battle. The collie
has been found best for all purposes
The English used dogs to great ad
vantage, in Matabeleland, for exam
pie, for giving warning of the ap
proach of the enemy's scouts in the
dark, and in advance OF the head o
column to scent the enemy. Ger
many, Austria, Sweden, Norway ant
Italy are now training dogs for us,
in war.
7. Balloons-Most of the great ma
tions have balloon parks for the field
and they are so light that they are
easily carried even in the train of the
advance guard. The old spherica
balloon is so unsteady. even in wind
of twenty feet second, that it is i'm.
possible to observe from it. but tho
new cylindrical (dragon) balloon cat