The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-19
BATTERY OF S|E|f GUNS
AMERICAS LARGEST FIELD PIECES
ARE NOW EN- ROUTE TO
CHINA
CAN HURL 1o5-PoUND SHELLS
Great Cannon Able to Carry Seven
Miles, That Will Work Havoc
Among the Chinese
Walls.

FORT RILEY, Kan, Aug. 1o.-4He
Seventh artillery, United States army
are capable of making havoc in the chi
nese walls and fortifcations and are the
largest in the country. The battery
will go under Gen. Merriam's orders and
will, with it's five officers and $50 men &C
sending of the big siege guns from this
post to China, as has been ordered by the
war department, may mean much in the
trouble on the other side of the Pacific.
These guns, composing Battery o, of the
companying it, offer great support for
any maneuvers that the allies may I'M
dertake The sending of the battery
foreshadows the razing of Pekin's walls,
not to mention the weaker Notifications,
! if necessary. It is one of the most SUI
perb war engines that it has been the
fortune of this country to possess.
The siege battery, stationed here since
April 49, is one of he two batteries Of
this sort owned by the United Safes.
There are four more guns in the battery
| at Fort Hamilton. and. with those brought
here, were made several years ago. Tt
was not until the beginning of the Span
ish war that any attempt was made to put
either of the large batteries in service.
Lie OdLl6T1SS were luen HASTILY
and manned mostly by newly enlisted
men, with a. sprinkling Of experienced
soldiers for non-commissioned officers
from the regiments of field artillery.
They were fastened to Tampa and an
attempt was made to drill in the Florida
sand with the big guns. There is
memory Of this experience that comes
! to the men engaged in this sad eXpe-
rience. 1t was a hideous nightmare
! that was devoid of results and productive
! of profanity. The transports came at
last and the huge guns were loaded on
| board and lowered into the hold. They
were landed at Asseradero, on the coast
of Cuba. This was good as far as 1t
went, but there were no horses with
the battery and nothing could be done
without them.
NOT USED IN CUBA.
| So the guns remained on the beach
| while the men and officers followed the
main body of the army until the Spanish
war closed Then the guns were swung
on board ship again and returned to
| Washington, where able-bodied soldiers
and some emery paper were employed TO
restore them to fit condition.
Then, last spring, somebody thought 1t
would be a good thing to send one Of the
! batteries to Fort Riley, where there could
| be practice on the hard prairie soil, for
| hidden by the cramped quarters of the
| Washington barracks. 1t took thirty-six
cars to transfer the battery of guns,
horses and men to the fort, and as many
were needed to take them to the coast
on their way to China when the battery
started this week.
Battery o, Seventh artillery Is COM
posed of four guns of the ,howitZer type.
Each weighs 300 pounds, and is mounted
! on a carriage weighing nearly as much.
mt
] wheels, and does not resemble the ordi-
nary field artillery in the least. 1t took
| eight horses to drag each gun on the
! smooth, hard ground Of the post reserva-
! ton.
The carriage is made with two sets Of
tFunnions. One holds the gun while in
| ordinary field practice, but when fired
/ there is shifting to another, which per-
mits the breech to be lowered. A gin
is needed to permit the change to be
made, but 1t IS expected that there will
| be Improvements on this method before
active use is given The men in charge
favor a system that will allow of the
change of angle by hand power.
The battery drills here were conducted
on the flats east of the fort, and were
/ practically the same as are given by the
| batteries with lighter guns The eight
horses drag the $500 pounds over the level
| parade with fair speed.
A CRACK BATTERY.
The hills even are climbed with toler-
| able certainty, and the men are confident
| that they can do all that is to be re-
| qu1red of them. The men of the battery
| are the pick of the post, for they have
! been selected with a view to their
| strength and agility. Nearly all are I'M
| der twenty-five years of age, and few
| have been in the army more thop two
| years.
Owing to the lack of shed room, the
| guns stood out in the open air at the
| fort here, with only tarqualins to cover
| them.
The battery has fifty mules, and the
| full complement of horses is fixed at
| lO4. When the ammunition train is fully
| equipped all the horses and mules are
| in demand
The cassion of the field artillery is
! displaced by an ammunition wagon
| All through the spring and summer
| the battery drills were gone through and
the men know exactly what the guns can
do. A range of three miles can be Sc
| cured easily, and more if needed and to
get room to practice was one of the rea-
sons why the battery was brought west
The range Of the guns has been cal
cuiated by the military formulas I'D to
seven miles. 1t is likely that this range
| will be tested when they are trained
on Chinese walls. The howitzer fires a
| proJectile weighing 105 pounds. The pro
| Ject1les are made in three different types
| for varying kinds of attack. One is the
shell loaded with powder and fitted with