The Holly chieftain., 1900-01-19
NEW FIELD MORT lRs.

SNesDe
Emcient Weapons Heing Psr-
tected For use In Philippines
WILL BE TESTED At SANDY HOOK.
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{ gsAnumhsr oe.postibls mortars. suits.
BILE for service In the field In the Phil
lppines. win soon be forwarded from
the Watervliet arsenal At Washington
for proof tests at Sandy Hook. They
are practically the nrst Of the kind
turned out In the United States.
These mortars are patterned closely
after the type represented by the
Krupp 2.95 inch mortar. In the opin-
sVAs Va AARhy Vb0haANS CAPGAb9s 1VW-
ever. the new American mortar will
be found to be much more efi1cient
weapon than the German. These NOR.
tars weigh about l15 pounds each and
the carriage about as much AS the gun.
A crew OF four men ID needed TO work
each weapon, says the New York Post.
The plan for their use Will be to car
ry three or four mortars In q wagon.
but should the country prove too rough
for this style Of transportation the
weapons will be. packed on mulebAck.
The new guns have the advantage that
they can be lifted about readily by
hand. In appearance the new pieces
are most diminutive, the length Of
each gun being about IS inches. 1t IL
planned, It Is said. to use the same
shell In the mortars as will be employ
ed In the new caliber light artillery
fieldpiece. The powder charge for the
mortar. Of course. will be greatly re-
duced, the weight, as designed. being
less than one-half pound Of black pow
der The smokeless powder charge
will be even less :.
The range tables show, II is stated, n
wonderful efficiency for the new pygmy
pieces. which. 1t should be known, are
designed for nse In the most advances
trenches. their specific function being
y to clear the trenches occupied Ii the
immediate front by the enemy For
this purpose shells loaded with shrap-
mel will be largely employed. though
It is also arranged to use special type
Of mine shell. carrying charge Of
high explosive.
The firing tables afford maximum
range for the new pieces when laid at
an angle of IS degrees of about 3,7OO
yards. which distance assumes the use
Of a special shell lighter than the pro-
jectile employed by the standard field
pieces. When using full sized light
battery shell. the range attainable IL
declared to be about 200 yards.
1t will be recalled that in the vicks-
burg campaign General Grant 80 ap-
preciated the need Of mortars for verti-
cal fire that roughly constructed guns.
banded with metal were tried. In the
Santiago campaign It was the opinion
Of many officers that the services OF
mortars could have been utilized time
and again. The small sized weapons
now nearing completion at Watervliet
can be dragged along the ground on
wooden skid by dozen men. no mat
ter how muddy or soft the soil. 1t is
hoped by the ordnance officials to sup,
ply General Otis with several dozen
of the new field mortars by the early
fall
The shrapnel shell designed for the
held mortars will contain about 15p
balls. The shrapnel shell, when used
against troops sheltered by trench O,
who may be lying behind abatis, liz
burst In the air by means OF tinlr
fuse, graduated to fractional parts or
second. Knowing the distance o.
tile enemy's position and the time RI
quired for shell to reach that pos:
ton. the fuse is cut accordingly. The
object Is to burst the shrapnel lItt,
short Of and over the enemys position
and as the shrapnel balls have TIL.
original impetus impaired by the shrll
proper they are still carried forward,
while at the same time they scattr.
The general trend OF shrapnel bur,
is that Of cone inverted. Ie is ila.
most effective ammunition known for
clearing trenches.