The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-08-14

washington. August 1d.-tSpeciai.)--
A few weeks ago q sham battle was
fought on the White Lot. the large
oval space back Of the White House
The regiment of Warrington High
school cadets was divided into two fore
es and contested calamity for the pos
session Of the disputed ground. Charg.
Ing and retreating. rallying and re-
charging. their glittertng accoutre-
ments. fiuttering flags. gustenfne
swords and bayonets. waved by eager
faces, combined to render the sight In
spring. High officials. civilian and
military. gathered to witness the battle
and applaud the bravery displayed
but amid the rattle and bang resulting
from the discharge Of thousands OF
blank cartridges. discordant note was
heard.
THAT is all very welI'' said grix-
zled veteran Of two wars. whose shout
der straps denoted his high position;
but 1t Is sad to think that probably
ninety per cent OF those young men
who are so CALAMITY popping away at
each other II put to the test could not,
to use hackneyed expression, hit q
flock of barns,' at q hundred yards.
With a pull of his wiry nustache he
continued: 1900
when ] was q young man we had
considerable practice Of q different
sort On the plains when we were not
chasing the hostiies we were hunting
buffalo and other game. The result
was that everybody knew how to shoot
I and especially the soldiers. But now
man gets arrested IL he fires q gun
in the city limits: all the game Is gone
or at least. all that would be accessible
/ IL - a. xIz<x
best we can do Is to play shotgun
against glass ball or 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
antiquated carbines into the air. why.
sir!" he said. Strengthening UP and
looking even more fierce than before,
eff these cartridges were loaded with
ball instead of blanks. damme sir! the
only danger would be to us by-stand-
ersw s.
The general probably put the matter
too strongly but there IL undeniably
basis for his statement. While no
statictics are available 1t Ia more than
probable should the young cadets who
made SO brave show on that occas-
ion and who displayed such n commen-
dable knowledge of military tactics.
he called upon to fire rapidly and sc-
curately. at an enemy 500, 500, or 1000
yards away, they would be at loss
Il. proceed. Place a modern rifle in the
hands of the average man and set him
about pumping a magazine full of
shells at a mark the size of q man and
half a mile away--what would he
do?
Yet the complaint Of the veteran OH
Ger could not properly be laid against
ha An,,htlaoQ
have been more than pleased to famil-
iarize themselves with the use Of the
army rifle ana ammunition, and to be-
come at least. fair marksmen, and an
opportunity been afforded them. And
in all parts of the country there are
other sham battles fought whore the
participants are quite ignorant of rifle
shooting. ~ 49,,
To the casual observer there would
| seem to be something wrong about q
plan that provided only out-of-date
guns and blank cartridges for the
training of the youth OF the country;
that taught hundreds of boys at ex-
pensive military schools. and colleges
| receiving a governmental subsidy, how
to drill to march, to make camp, and
everything else a soldier should know
except how to shoot. And so II looked
| to Congress which. in March 1908, enac-
ted a law providing for the National
Board for the Promotion of Military
Practice. to be composed of twenty
one members, civilian and military.
which should be charged with the duty
OF devising plans TO encourage all cit
liens. and especially the youth of the
country, to learn to- shoot and to shoot
straight Skill In rifle and revolver
shooting is counted as eight points In
ten of efficiency and yet II is not too
much to say that In our military
| schools. the National Guard, and In
crack military companies, at least ten
times as much attention Is paid TO evo-
luton and the manual at. arms as to
rifle and revolver practice. But, al
though the British soldiers at New Or
leans were probably the best drilled
of their day, 1t was the squirrel hunt
ers behind the breastworks that won
the day. +S A2Es sIN. -
The Iamentable decline in the, aver,
age marksmanships. Of American youth
Is directly traceable to the lack of
suitable ranges. both indoor and out,
and the National Guard has turned its
attention to arousing the interest OF In
structors and students in the military
schools throughout the country, in this
subject of rifle and revolver practice
with a view OF securing adequate rang
es. There are eighty-nine universities
and colleges in the United States to
which military officers eithor. on the
active or retired list. are assigned as
professors of military science and 1t
would be interesting to know how many
of these have rifle ranges. When Con.
gress some forty years ago, first took
up the matter of granting appropria-
tions for agricultural schools IT wisely
tackled thereon a provision that schools
receiving such appropriations. in adj
dition to giving instruction In agricul-
ture. should provide for instruction in
military tactics.
The colleges to which army officers
are detailed as instructors, although
by no means comprising the entire list
of military schools is the United States,
are divided among the States and Ter
ritories as follows: New York seven;
Missouri. FIVE; Pennsylvania, four:
California, Georgia, Tennessee, three:
Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Mas
sachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota New
Jersey South Carolina, /; South Dakota,
Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wis
consin, two each; Arizona Connecticut,
Delaware Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky.
Kansas. Louisiana, Maine. Maryland,
Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New
Hampshire. New Mexico, North Caro-
lima, North Dakota, Oregon Utah, Vir-
ginia, West Virginia and Wyoming
one each.
1t may be assumed that sixty or
seventy per cent of the aggregate of a
large body of volunteer troops would
be under the age of rs. In States
where boys have commenced business