The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-10-20
PRIZES FOR DISTANCE JUDGING
The Extimation Of Distances d, the In
tantry of the worlds Armies.

Much time and attention have b--n given
I'M "a perfecting the infantry rifle. hut
NOT Notwithstanding the fiat trajectory aud
great accuracy IL fire % tho modern small
arm, the actual firing under -ervi"' con
ditions hy the infantrie- 81 the world l.
s,iu Inaccurate on account 81 the Herou
.rr,,s constantly made In tho estimation
81 dis,nnc~. II l. very evident hat no
,,a,,.r how accurate the gun may IT, when
fired a, a fixed target at a nov range.
,hi. accuracy " useless n "a" Skirmish"r
canno, estimate his distances correctly.
The effect Of mi-judging distances - ~
,r.a, tina, quite ~ much attention should
H. given to teaching IN" onioerS ana th"lr
as.,-,ants uhe non-commi-sion"d oficersl
Co estimate" distances correctly A. Is DC
voted 20 the Instruction Of th" men m
accurate shooting some progress IN tins
matter has been made during IN" past
wear or two by the Introduction OF a fairly
reliable and practicable infantry rang"
finder. nut this IL not enough.
The reason why this suhjcct Is 80 generally
,aylec,sd. or at least not sufficiently prac-
,i-..d. il l-cause many ofi'"rS, especially
,hn--e Of the higher ranks, l-'lieve that III"
erroru committed In estimation OF dis
,anc,s ARE by no means IA grat A. IN" results
Of the study 81 the -uhi"ct show them To
h. The reports ~ inspections OF troops
show indesd. that the errors arr les- than ~
usunlly SUPPOSED. and, instead 81 heing a.
high "a - per cent. they ara hut o PER
cen, or AZ least not over ~ r"r cont. bu'
!, n,,,-, be remembered that these inspcc-
ton. y.narallv TAX" place on known
yr,und. and very seldom are the officers
entirely ~unacuuainted with ths ground.
as they probably would tr in battle.
I,aly aptrars TO attach the greatest i'm
,,r,anc,r ,o personal instruction In the es-
,iuA,ion &c III" hS~t experts
in ludging DISTANCES rceiv" rewards.
such a. marksinsn and s~harpshnoters
rs.aiy. i'm other countries, All IN" suhaltern
nracars are specially trained In this subject.
aud ar, examined In IL annually To deter
min. their proficiency. In order To H. ralsd
os e1t-,rt they must max" a probable error
under 10 PER cent
Tn. non-cummi~sioncd offisorS and mu-
sician- alsn receive a sjsrial instruction.
,he EXERCISES taking plao almost daily
i'm the entire army, under the direction Of
commissioned officers and on ground that
il constantly varied, Ia" DISTANCES So
l..c,ed generally range from 90 Ia 1870
yards. exceptionally w To s,9n vard-, and
the nan estimating takes the same posi-
ions h. would have IN hattie or skirmish.
namely, standing. kncsling or living down.
datanding on the range az ia" objective.
and the man representing the latter also
takes corresponding positions
Zach company rSsiV'~ annually twenty
lire to 10 distributed a. prizes at IN" cN-
~aininations. and III" prizes bestowed arr
puhli-hsd Ia the truOIs~ IN a general order
The DISTANCES arr mostly t-tws"n sH and
loo wards IA few arr taken tryond LOO
Vari-l and the maximum error allowed j.
al ,ar cant ia nrNar In L. rNtesl rs sfslgasf
The selcc, re,eivc u diploma and have n
rd star with the letterS IS ,shmoruh
srslil embroidered on the left SlesNe. and
men holding the grade uf select for two
y'Sir- In sucS-sion haNc n gnid or silver
star, depending on the kind OF button on
their uniforms. Men who maxi erruTS
over II PER crnt los their insignia.
For the ofiOars who make the l--t reCord-
annually there arr on" gold rnetal, six silver
medals and nine brDn1e, but Ia ohiain
tho gold m,sdal the error must H. under :
pr cs'nt.
In Russia zach company has five rouhlr-
t. distribute a. prin'~.
In sutherland the rCruits arr instructed
a. estimate DISTANCES up to Go Naris, ia"
l-rst men and the ufic'rZ up ip i.en Nard-,
IN. non-commi--iorrsd ufhc~r- w e. i.sp
yHrts. Tn. beet c-'imaters arr assembled
frnm time Ia tima AMI taken ga march"-
or NV rail 10 ground e%utir'ly r"w 60 ihrm
Tho-c who max" 'rr'r- - l"~- than u l"f
Csnt. rssiN~ "A SPECIAL insignia
In Austria Hungary IA" usu arr ~"
ci--i to sstiiuai. isianc'~ up Ia 90 So
Only. but The oficrrS anal nun-~smmi-~iuu'-t
ufic-rs. a. we'll ~ a few -hst~i mru, ar
eNrfvt-pd lssvund that ikrluw an Iaos-
thu DISTANCES AZ" estimated iu hutHirs~tih-
~ m.,r- Ia that D. thr lra-t waiting 90
tho sighti. aluv, tha' b. rluud uuul-'fr
differing Nv su Tacve.
u Be- ,v..-m trum al tiis that boz w.s'
aunir- gnnsi i~inIssuan0- D. a'ta'hssi u. iH
.stimntipn ~ distauss~, and siu,s' ir-
rHtsd A. - -srts 0smuit -rrlrr of D. l~T
Uaut 10 ths uistans. ~ NAV ~.ffalrIf i"
A-=tnnssi that 90" orfuH mad "a tu-T~ r
taitlr ~tll - ~ hasi a. Twsi itaIN a. be-
ss-sn. has ~. mo~i osmTdDfD ryrifru 'i u.
-triffinn and ts T-ffssatsu b. du" o. M"
fac thai the suIsrfrr uai--fs sAruasss ,Tff
start suI-nisiun q ft~ training tlsf
Iagre av EtRspl tis i-~t Wsr Hui Na'
il- otorr thens-ays. 80. n~gutnul O. 80
fca thcnl~lNes Ia ule sab 49,