The Portland daily press., 1900-01-20
SCIENTIFIC MURDER.
Fearful Death Dealing Machines Used
In south African War.

There have been marked Improvements
10 held and nsval guns In the past i've
years. and there have also been marked
advances MADE 10 projcctilts. The shrap-
mel whioh the Enlgish and Beers are us-
ing In South Africa is regarded ~ ahead
Of any shrspnsl which has been used In
recent warfare Only few years ago
5000 yards was deemed the maximum
range at which shrapnei was effective.
In South Africa and at Omdurman the
British shrapnel has been ussd effeotivs-
ly ct ranges Of e50) yards. The ahrapnsl
shell is an ordinary looking projsctile
filed with number Of snail balls. The
majority OF field guns Of tho s.s5-inoh
oaliber uss shrapnel continuing about $50
sinall balls. In the center OF the shell is
. charge OF blsok powder. and In the
head OF the shell IL time fuse. This
time fUss resembles In Its workings the
combinations Of mechanism ef . safe
door isck. there 10 graduated arc cut
to seconds and fractions OF seconds.
Now, knowing the distance away OF the
enemy, and the time required for the
shell to travel that dis.ance. the fuse IL
cut accordingly; !. e., q pupoture 10
made through the walls Of the fuse at the
desiIei numter of seconds. The dis
charge Of tire gun ignites. through the
" reiium OF q Iercussion arrangement, tie
fulminaie, and at TIE expiration Of the
elapfei Il re the fiane dassei into the
powde. ohAmte. and the discharge fol-
lows. Ire e.e,t Of tie burst ID to ie-
leue the small balls within. As the
shell had . downward uesd. 1t te,ng
rear tie cad Of Its flight at the time OF
tie burst, the small balls are carried
onward and downward. AZ the same time
gene al the tre,a Of tte shrapnel balls,
following . burst, 10 that Of cone In
yertei.
Tte a't,l'erlst e,ee,vors to burst bis
shrapr el In Il te air ~ = point about thir-
ty yards short Of tte e.e ny'a position.
lie ehe . is ,e'y much akin to that OF
$50 sharpshooters suddenly opening fie
on one at q ID not over thirty yards away:
Ia experimsnts made with the shrapnel
for the Unitsd States field guns OF 81
inch calibsr, IL WAS found that ut range
of % yards the cone of dispsrsi,u is
about sixteen degrees, which Will cover
q oirols about twenty-thrse feet In diam
The mum ber Of balls and fragments of
the shrapnel contained within this oone
Of dispersion 10 about 261 for the Is
FOUND, and ESQ for the 1876 round shrap-
mel. The shells used In the United
States field guns are heavier, as Q rule.
than those employed In Europe. The IL 8
pound American she'll contains 200 small
~. lie nd the ~ X. pou nd ahaIf Q96 halln
At Omdurman, Lord kitchenere
force opened on the advancing Darvishes
with shrApnel ct ranges In excess OF 5000
yards. The effeot of the shrApnel bursts
along the Dervish lines, 1t 10 reported,
Tvs to NOW down twenty to thirty nen
at each discharge.
The SHIT II proper as employed In the
field guus. 10 ussd nowadays almo't
wholly In operations against buildings
or against protected positions. Against
exposed bodies Of troepa or forces OF the
enemy lying behind intrsnchments.
shrapnei 10 brought into play. 80 i'm
portant 10 shrapnel considered today.
field batteries In Europe consists Of b>
Per cent. shell and canister. The nigh
velocitiss obtainAble By reason OF tie In
PRODUCTION of smokeless powder and the
fitting OF reooil mechanism have yielded
greater ranges for shrapnsl. Willis TO o
ynrCS II TeOOfOo0 IOr uelu guns Wucu VT
Ing shell, . range Of $500 yards Is desned
maximum for shrapnsl from the general
typs OF field gun The sbrspnel b'lls de-
pend on that velocity Of the she'll proper
remaining just before the burst for their
own velocity. and this remaining velocity
must he sufficiently great to afford power
to infiiot dangerous wounds upon horsss.
The least ansrey essential 10 placed at
2s2 foot pounds. For ths average run CT
small talls employed. say forty two
pounds is obtaiuabls from = remaining
velocity of about s74 feet psr ssoond.
This corresponds to . muzzle velocity Of
100 foot seconds and sffords an efficient
sbarpnel effect At 3t00 yards.
Ths French, however, In their endeavor
to increase shrapnel powers. hava added
TO their ARTILLERY . number Of howitzers
of 1870 miliimster osliber. designed almost
exclusively for shrapnel work. These
guns are employed with the small calib ber
field pieces. Now thtt the French field
battery IL to be reduced t, four guns
per battery, IL 10 surmised that the
howitzers will bs employed In indspend
ent organizations. The British have re
Gently dispatched to South Africa three
full howitzef batteries. the only organt-
zations of the kind In the British ser
vice. These howitzers are counted upon
to do very efficient work Lieu tenant
Godfrey l.. Garden in Golfers Weekly.