The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-21
GERMANY MUST GET NEW Guns.
French Field Artillery Far In the Lead
what . German Authority says.
From the Courier des Efats-Unis

| From the Courier des Efafs-Unis
| In modern battles artillery has always
| played decisive role. Upto 1880 the artillery
| OF the different armies In Europe remained
| stationary. Then. taking a step In advance
| Germany brought out her model Of 1899. il
was simply an improved Bange gun. which.
as the Germans believed. gave Germany an
immense advantage over France. This gun
Il still In use In the German Army. II Is
nickel steel piece with gun carria &c OF limited
recoil. After each shot the piece does recoil
enough to require rcpointine. II can he
loaded rapidly. but. in reality. it is not ra pid
firing gun. At the ma ximum II can fire only
six shots n minute.
The new French material followed one year
afterward. 1t proved to be a revelation In
the art OF war. The system Is unlike that OF
any other gun: II may be called reformation.
that IL to say the tube which fires the projec-
tiles is mobile. while the gun carriage l. fixed.
After the first shot. the carriage Is anchored
In the soil and remains perfectly stationary
as long as the firing continues. Its immobil-
ity Il 70 complete that one may put a watch
on tire top OF one OF tine wheels and ten CEN
time piece on the top Of the other and they will
remain there throughout the entire firing
time II is the gun itself which recos on roll
ers. pressing upon hydro pneumat brake
which sends II back to its place instantly
With trained personnel tho gun can easily
protected by double steel shieid attached
TO the piece. and after he first shot the pointer
and frer take their place oil the seats of the
gun carriage and rema In there while the piece
When a battery is placed in position the
ca ssons come close TO the pieces The rear
caisson Of each ammunition wagon in service IA
a shelf for holding bottles in an open CUP
board Tn" end Of the caisson facing the
enemy is armorcd and acts as shield for the
on account Of the absolute stability Of the
r!ece. rcpointng is UNNECESSARY a. regards
70 assure rigorous precision in the matter 81
elevation For Instance. when tho pieca
has Cred shell. tho pointer. to avoid useless
20 secure the desired direction The second
uroiectile bursts little further than the
the first had insurcientlv covered and SO on
II is what is called the rr fduchant or the
mo%ns b m%sh" of OF hfn sSo basrX csa
fire Is acsompiished in four Serbs Of SHOWS shots.
every ten seconds fires series Of three shots
each time lenethenipg It's fre by 700 metres
fred the firing ceases. and the battery pre-
pares to cover new zone If that becomes
The Germans are now endeayorine to get
gun equal at least to that Of the French
Some models from Krupp and Ehrhardt are
particulariy Ii Is an arm Of small calibra '
i've c"ntimetre,s. ard carries shield II
flres nelinte shells Gen Reichenau claims
for II an elective range OF $500 metres
II must not be- forgotten that "a complete
renewal of the German artillery will cost
nearly four hundred millions and that new
pieces for 800 or 500 batteries with their pro-
iectile~ cannot be manufactured in n day
J. is evident therefore, that in this matter
the certainty Of already possessing most
effective war machine.
H. the Rsrw d'Arhus-ic Gen Rohne one
of he German aut horities in artillery. speaks
of the new French artillery as follows:
Its appearance is a sensational event "
has 50 many advantages that all countries
sooner or later. will be Obliged to adopt ma
teris OF the same kind. The French fire Is
confined to simple operations. presenting no
difficulties whatever and excluding all posi-
bility of error i'll regard 10 the objective
point The result that would be obtained
by the French moving method over a great
space in time OF war would be pretty nearly
analogous to that obtained at the polygon:
while with the old German method the result
In time Of war must In reality be very meacre
when we speak OF accurate firing. Artillery
duels in future will be much more obstinate
than they were formerly. on account OF the
shields which stand as a protection against
shrannel battery not provided with
shields would be put out Of business in short
order.