The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-14

washington, D. c.. Aug. ia few
weeks ago a sham battle was fought
IN the White lot, the large oval space
,.4ck of the White House. The regi-
,Iant of Washington High School Ca
--rs was divided into two forces and
,,utested CALAMITY for the possession
of the disputed ground. Charging and
rstreating, rallying and recharging,
their glittering accoutrements, flutter-
ing flags, glistening swords and bayo-
nets. waved by eager hands and back
cd bv earnest youthful faces, combined
10 render the sight inspiring. High
officials, civilian and military, gather
ed to witness the battle and applaud
the bravery displayed, but amid the
rattle and bang resulting from the
discharge of thousands of blank cart
ridges, a discordant note was heard.
THAT is all very well,'' said a griz-
zled veteran of two wars, whose
shoulder-straps denoted his high posi-
ton; but it is sad to think that prob
ably 80 per cent. of those young men
who are so CALAMITY popping away at
each other, if put to the test, could not,
10 use a hackneyed expression, hit a
flock of barns at a hundred yards.
The Real school of SOIdiery.
With a pull at his wiry mustache he
continued when 1 was a young man
we had considerable practice of diff
terent sort. On the plains when we
were not chasing the hostiles SJe were
hunting buffalo and other game. The
result was that everybody knew how
10 shoot, and especially the soldiers.
But now a man gets arrested if he
fires a gun in the city limits; all the
game is gone or at least, all that
would be accessible to city men of
moderate means, and the best we can
do is to play a shotgun against a glass
ball or a clay pigeon, while the young
men who will form the basis of our
army in the next war go banging
around a ten-acre lot, firing Anticipated
carbines into the air. Why, sir" ne
said Strengthening up and looking
even more fierce than before, 'if those
cartridges were loaded with ball in
stead of blanks, demme, sir! the only
danger would be to us bystanders!"
play and Real War.
The General probably put the mat
ter too strongly, but there is unde-
nably a basis for his statements.
While no statistics are available it is
more than probable, should the young
cadets who made so brave a show on
4 that occasion and who displayed such
a commendable knowledge of military
tactics, be called upon to fire rapidly
and accuratel at an enemy 300, 500
or 1000 yards away, they would be at
loss to proceed. Place a. modern rife
\ in the hands Of the average man and
set him about pumping a magazine
full of shells at mark the size of a
man and half mile away-what would
he do!
Yet the complaint of the veteran
officer would not properly be laid
against the cadets. for doubtless they
would have been more than pleased
to familiarize themselves with the use
of the army rifle and ammunition, and
10 become at least fair marksmen had
an opportunity been afforded them.
And in all parts of the country there
are other sham battles fought where
the participants are quite ignorant of
rifle shooting.
Out-Of-Date Guns.
To the casual observer there would
seem to be something wrong about a
plan that provided only out-of-date
guns and blank cartridges for the
framing OF the youth of the country
that taught hundreds of boys at ex-
1 pensive military schools, and colleges
receiving a government subsidy, how
to drill, to march, to make camp. and
everything else a soldier should know
except how to shoot! And so it looked
to Congress which,. in March, 1903, en-
acted law providing for the Ma
uonal Board for the Promotion OF
Military Practice, to be composed OF
tWenty-one members, civilian and mill
rary, which should be charged with
the duty of devising plans to encour-
age all citizens, and with the duty OF
age all citizens, and especially the
youth of the country, to learn to shoot
and to shoot straight.
Skill in rife and revolver shooting is