Arizona republican., 1905-06-02
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, JUNE ?. 1905.
The Wonderful Precision of Japan
 ese Gunnery.

The world is still waiting for de-
 tails of that titanic conflict in wbicf the sea power of Russia was annihil- ated, but all the facts at hand warrant the conclusion which was immediately expressed by The Republican, that the victory was won by the Japarese man behind the gun" While there are ru- mors that Togo employed submarine boats to advantage, there is no reliable statement to that effect, and in any event it is established that most of the Russian vessels were sent to the bot tom by a hurricane of Japanese shells Russian guns, Russian armor, Russian powder and shells were as good as those of the Japanese;, Togo was vic tor because his men were cool and we'll trained marksmen, and their shots went home.
 Both on land and sea the Japanese gunners have established a record for accuracy which it would seem impos- sible for Americans or anybody else to surpass. The kind of craftsmanship which Rojestvenslky was compelled to encounter may be inferred in the ab- sence of details from a Knowledge of what Nogi's artillerists did in the siege of Port Arthur. In his interesting story of Port Arthur" which George Kennan is running in that excellent weekly magazine, The Outlook, instan- ces are cited of precision in gunnery which seem almost incredible. MT. Kennan was one of the few newspaper men who were eye witnesses of the siege, and he speaks of things which happened under his own eye:
 "On one of the trips that I made into the Russian valley south of the di- vide" he writes, "I happened to see an exhibition of artillery practice, which, although not in any way exceptional. or unusual seemed to me extremely interesting as an illustration of the way in which the Japanese protected their sappers in the front line. A four gun Howitzer battery, situated under the bluff near the headquarters of the ninth division, waa shelling the fort Of Birmingham. In this there was nOth- ing especially remarkable-forts were being bombarded every day-but in this particular case the battery was throwing shells into the inclosure over the heads of a party of Japanese who were entrenched on the crest of the counterscarp. The gunners who were firing from behind a high protecting bluff, could not see the fort. and their aim was controlled eby an artillery of ficer standing on the top of Takushan. two miles away, who watched the fall of the shells through a glass and sent directions to the battery by a tele- phone.
 "The thing that particularly inn pressed me was the wonderful accuracy of fire attained under such conditions. Ehrlungshan was more than a mile distant from the battery; the Russians behind the parapet and the Japanese sappers on the giacis were only sev- enty-five or eighty feet apart, and the slightest error in the elevation of a gun might send a shell into the trench es of the besiegers instead of across the mOat into tha inclosure of the fort; but no such error was ever made.
 Readers of The Outlook who are familiar with the city of Washington may be able to appreciate the skill of the Japanese artillery officers if they will imagine that Russian garrison is holding the White House against a party of Japanese sappers entrenched on the eastern terrace of that build ing only seventy-five or eighty feet from the windows. On the back side of Capitol Hill there is a battery of IT. inch Japanese howitzer, which is so situated that its gunners can see noth- ing west of the congressional library. They have to throw shells into the in visible white house, over the heads of their comrades on the terrace, and to do 1t with a margin of less than a hundred feet for possible error Their aim is virtually controlled by Japan ese artillery officer who stands on Kalorama Heights, watching the fall of the shells, and who sends directions to the gunners by telephone. Under such conditions as these, the Japanese Howitzers would throw shells into the white house as one would toss marbles into candle-bo and I have seen them do it again and again. More than once l have myself been in the situa- ton of the sappers, and although Jap anese shells were going close over head, l had acquired such confidence in the coolness and skill of the gun ners that I felt little or no apprehen- sion of accidental injury"
 Every year, in congress, a few moss backs make a vigorous kick against the "extrava gance" of the American navy in wasting vast sums of mon ey Tn target practice. When a single shot from one of the monster guns of the navy costs more than a hundred dollars, it may seem like a waste of public money to employ the whole fleet at target practice for several weeks every year. but in view of the results in the Japan sea the American policy is not likely to be abandoned. The empire of Russia suffered within few hours a Ihser .of Sso mn onn .,,5 +Lo ,,.