Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1902-09-18
THE TELESCOPE IN WAR.
instrument is Indispensable Under
Conditions of Modern Warfare.

Conditions of Modern Warfare.
An interesting lecture on Field
Glasses and Telescopes was recently
delivered at the Royal Artillery Insti-
tuition by Lieutenant Colonel Philips,
70. al artillery chief inspector of range
firing, which was followed by a dis
cussion. 1t is remarkable, says
writer in the Times of India. how
unanimous was the opinion that the
time has now come when the condi-
tons of modern warfare imperative
ly demand a far more extended use
by all ranks of these aids to vision
than has hitherto been the case.
The necessity for the supply of
high-power telescopes on stands to
the army and especially to the artil-
lery, has long been obvious; but it is
to the events of the past two years
that the steps now being taken to
meet the necessity are due. 1t was
not. however, for these special instr,,-
ments that the lecturer and most of
those who took part in the discussion
pleaded, but for the employment
generally, of the ordinary telescope
in conjunction. il necessary with BIZ
nocuIare.
1t is remarkable thing that In the
navy, where quick recognition OF dis
tinct objects is of paramount import.
ance. the telescope is the recognized
and almost sole instrument EMPLOYED
and officers and men alike have per
force to become experts in it's use:
In the army on the other hand, not
only is the binocular the ordinary in
strument employed for the same pnr-
poses, but not one officer out of so
probably would care to use a tele-
scope If he had one For this there
are obvious reasons, but reasons
which are more apparent than real
1t has smaller field of view than
the binocular, so that particular OBJ
jects are not so easy to pick up as
with the latter. 1t requires consider
able practice to use 1t with any de-
gree OF success and 1t cannot be
used generally on horseback.
AS regards the first two objections.
the experience of the navy should
suffice to show that they are not
sound ones: while as to tra latter
the same really holds good in the
case of the modern prison binocular
of high power Every one now is
going in for this latter type of instru-
ment; the higher magnifcation up to
Xi2 put the old binoculAr into the
background completely while the
stereoscope effect OF the image makes
observation very much more efficient
than it could he with the older glass.
But telescope is rar better instru-
ment for ordinary daylight and In the
opinion of the lecturer "the best OBJ
teal outfit for all arms, for every Of
ficer, sergeant and section command
er at least. is combination of a
small Galilean binocular of about "A.
Colonel Philips quoted the opinions
of several officers in South Africa in
support of this view aad especially
as regards the superiority of such a
combination over the high-power
suffer from loss of light and defni-
ton. lovat's scouts took out tele-
scopes in the proportion of one to
every three men. and they did their
scouting with them. The German ar
tillery goes farther and has all three
kinds OF glasses but this seems
rather unnecessary. The discussion
which followed the paper showed that
opinion was all in favor of having a
telescope in addition TO some form or
other of binocular. and of having men
trained properly to its use. In the
Royal Navy ii Is considerd worth
while to have men specially trained
as signalmen; in the army this has
never been done, 'Inefiiciency in and
| willfully persistent neglect of this inn
portant training is often apparent
Why, many tables do not
even provide for lookout men at all.
| Fancy man-of-war without any sig
nalmen! When will We wake up to
The value of trained eyes. adequate
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