The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-15

no one will be hit
A man standing upright and fairly in the
cone Of fragments. but twenty yards from
the place cf burst, would escape seven
times out Of eight or if eight men were
standing al this distance from the place OF
burst only one would be hit. II the shell
be large and the ground stony this might
be some what modified. for the gases from
the shell will pick up a certain numter
Of stones and thus increase the number
Of splinters. which are always more uu-
merous from a large than a small shell;
but even then a common shell is not very
much to be feared in the open.
Composition of the shrnpneI.
When a common she'll bursts among
walls or buildings or in a confined space it
is seen at its best. The fragments and
gases from the shell glance off the walls
and strike those who would otherwise have
escaped Men are blown down who would
have been untouched in the open, and the
moral effect is generally much greater.
But even under the most favorable Condi-
lions a common shell leaves much to be
desired, and it has therefore been almost
entirely superseded in the field by shrap-
mel.
The common shell fails because Of the
small number Of hits that can be obtained
with a single shell. The shrapnel is de-
signed to carry a large number Of bullets,
which remain in the shell until il has al
most reached the object. The bullets are
then blown out by the bursting charge,
and act like volley from a number of
muskets or pistols. so that a hundred hits
may be made by a single shell.
Externally the shrapnel is very like the
common she'll but the bursting charge is
very small and lies in the bottom Of the
shell. The body of the shell is filled with
bullets numbering some two hundred in
the ordinary field gun shrapnel They rest
on a diaphraghm which separates them
from the bursting charge. In the older
patterns Of shrapnel these bullets were not
very dissimilaT TO those of the old Brown
Bess, which weigh fourteen to the pound.
But the anxiety to obtain more hits has
resulted in the reduction Of the size Of
the bullets. which now run thirty-hve to
the pound-that is to say. they weigh
somewhat less than half an ounce and
being round, they greatly resemble the
pistol bullet OF a hundred years ago. The
head OF the shell is somewhat loosely riv-
eted on. so that il is readily blown off by
the small bursting charge. At the apex OF
the head is the combined time and per-
cussiOn fuse, which communicates by
tube passing through the bullets to the
bursting charge in the base. The fuse
is the most important part Of the shrap
mel and. indeed without good fuses il is
impossible 10 obtain any satisfactory re-
suits with modern field artillery And not
only must the fuses be good, but they
must be properly set. The best fuses will
give only poor results when manipulated
by Impractical hands.
In ebwavnal rsraofipo a garf a in MN, Hor of
rounds are deliberately wasted in opening
fire in order to ensure the efficiency of the
remainder. The initial rounds are fired
with the safety pin locking the time ar
rangement OF the fuse so that the shell
does not burst till IL strikes the ground.
when il is exploded by the percussion part
of the fuse. There is some effect. but not
anything like that obtained by a burst in
the air. The point Of Craze Of the shell is,
however. most carefully observed, the OBJ
ject being TO ascertain whether IL is short
of or beyond the target. II short the ele-
walton OF the gun is then increased; if
over. il is decreased. and this is continued
until II is certain that the shells are
striking close TO the object. This finding
the range. as il is called. sounds easy
enough, but really is most difficult and
there are various systems in vogue for
il out.
With all its killing power under fayora-
bic conditions. the shrapnel shell has not
a high moral effect. The comparatively
feeble burst nearly leo yards away is not
startling. and though the swish Of the
sheaf of bullets may not be pleasant, it is
not nearly as disconcerting as the roaring
rush Of the comparatively harmless com
mon shell. whose explosion Is also far
more terrifying. Although the shrapnel
bullet has less energy when striking at
say. 600 yards range than even a pistol
bullet IL inficts a very nasty wound. dis
tinctly more serious than that inflicted by
any modern rifle. even including in this
term the Martini This is because The
bullet is spherical. and though the veloc-
ity may not be more than 500 to coo feet
seconds. this is quite enough to cause ia
tai injuries by piercing the body. even
though the energy Of the blow be rela-
lively small.
Arms OF the Infantry.
The sphere Of action Of the Geld gun.
with its shrapncl shells. extends from that
range where the power Of the rife bullet
is on the wane 10 The point where the
shrapnel itself does little harm. What
these ranges are naturally depends on the
power OF the rife that pTopels the bullet
aud on the characteristics OF the gun fir
ing the shrapnel All the magazine rifles
with which the infantry are now armed
are similar in throwing Il light and ex-
tremely long bullet with very high We
locity. which reaches Ia some instances
:. 200 feet seconds. The cartridge with
charge and bullet complete. only weighs
about half what the Martini or Snider
cartridge weighed. soldier can there
same weight and he can miss twice as Of
ten and sim produce an equal effect. This
encourages long range firing. Moreover
the high velocity greatly improves the
shooting at long ranges.
The result is that al ] 500 Yards the
magazine rife produces an effect which he
earlier rifles Of. .ay thirty years ago pro-
iuccd al only half that range. And 70 is
only under the most favorable conditions
that field guns can expect to remain iu
position within less than 800 yards Of
good infantry without terrible loss. The
extreme range Of The modern rifle IT, We'll
over 5000 yards But no weapon save o
h0witzer Is ever effective at fits extreme
range because the difficulty Of directing
The fire Is so great and as far as present
experience extends. even the latest rifle
can do little at coo yards
when the gun fails the howitzer comes
in 4 howitzer is 20 the gun what the
pistol Is 90 the riae-a short. light weapon
firing heavy projectile with a small
charge. thus the 47-iuch gun is rs feet
long. weighs A. cvt- and carries q As
pound shell. The 5-irch howitzer is feet I
long weighs g svf. and carries q 80
pound shell The charge for the 41-such I
gun is - ounces OF rordite. that Tor the s. .
nch hoUiizeT from ID ~ ounces down 20 7