Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-31

There IL savage rivalry between batteries
and they rush like madmen to get into DO
sition and get their shots In 90 =. v.u
as the firing abilities OF the soldiers, oeae
horses are suspended on wire cables anu
whisked swiftly across the plain- Inc
shisf Object = to perfect tn o tSs attack ia
from charging cavalry by shooting 1t down
before It can possibly reach the men, even
though the mounted force should burst our
Of ambush and have only short distance
to charge.
This new infantry arm Is somewhat larger
in caliber than most Of tho new arms u5eo
In European armies. and the Germans pc
than the smaller bullets that may pierce
man without checking his rush.
The German navy has had the % MODEL
rifles for some time. When the army u
the great advantage Of requiring only one
uniform tyne of ammunition for small arms
for both sea and land service.
The German navy, while not 30 poten,5
shares in the results Of the great national
spirit. A few years ago the men who chose
sea duty to fulfill their obligations to the
state were mostly dwellers on the north
coast. Now the feet contains 1900 men
who dwelled inland, most OF whom never
saw the ocean till their time came to enter
the military service. A remarkable tact rs
that out of this number OF 5000 the largest
L,
the land that was taken from France aIter
the Franco-Prusstan war.
Reckless in Drill
As solemnly In earnest as the land maneu-
vers are the sea maneuvers OF the Ger
mans. This race, whose chronological ana
historical character Is the reverse OF reck-
less. drives It's ships with calm contem-
plation as fercely in practice evolutions
a . If the work were being done under fire.
In other words, ships appear to be risked
with set, measured, deliberate purpose.
The recent German naval calam1t1es can
not well be explained IN any otner Way'
for the German sea officer in navy or mer-
chant marine Is as fine and careful q sailor
as there Is ahoat.
But in drill he is q different creature.
He drives a torpedo boat In a mock fight
as II he were driving 1t into marine Ba!a-
clava He .steams through maneuvers with
his big battle ships as he would IN a battle
where the issue meant the extinction OF
preservation of the empire.
The naval record shows 1t.
On September 4, 1901, the German cruiser
Wacht was on the port flank OF the port
column in the fleet maneuver. me Speeu
of the ships was nine knots. The Wacht
and Weissenburg. The two big ships were
only 900 feet apart, and none OF the ships
tried to decrease speed. Orders were Or
ders, and they were carried out with the
iron nerve that maze Seoan anu MeeI ieui.
Fine seamanship enabled the Wacht 10
pass well on her way between the rush
ing monsters but at the last moment, just
as she cleared, the steering gear failed.
The ram Of the Sachsen struck her and
she-went down, bows first. In 1oO feet OF
water. s'i-
Like Real War.
On May "a. 1902. the battle ship Kaiser
Wilhelm II. cruising in squadron. rammed
the cruiser Amazone and tore open her
starboard side to the rail. The Amazone
managed to keep afioat TIL she reached
Kiel.
Less than a month afterward, on June
II, 1902, the Kurfuerst Friedrich Wilhelm
was declared out OF action during the ma
neuvers. Obedient to orders from the UNI
pire. she stopped and waited for the big