Evening journal., 1905-10-06
NEW TARGET RANCE
FOR UNCLE SAM
Gunners in Our Navy Will
Practice at Guantanamo,
Cuba
MOST COMPLETE IN THE WORLD
By william woln smith.


Washington, ID. c., October. 6-FOr
the purpose Of making the men'of the
navy of the United States as proficient
i'm the use of small arms as they are
with the big guns OF their ships. the
government is now establishing
target range at Guantanamo on the
island of Cuba. that viii be one of the
most complete of its kind in the world
The navy n our country has a world
wide reputation as men who can hit
more bulls-eyes with tho big guns that
do such remarkable execution In action
than any other set of men and 10 the
present program looking TO still further
accuracy in Workmanship goes through
the same record viii be established
ia the use of small arms.
The selection of Guantanamo is ideal
Tor the purpose Of rifle practice IL is
located on the reservation over wAsrh
this government has control as naval
station and is removed from settle
ments so that practice of this character
can be carried on with perfect safety
Last year the navy ende8vored to hold
its target practice at Yorktown. but
owing to the thickly settled character
Of the country and the consequent
it had to be abandoned Modern small
arms have such remarkable carrying
capacity that a shot going wild of a
target might easily fly two miles
distant and hit some innocent person.
After careful consideration IL was
agreed that there was nowhere i'm this
country "A suitable place for this essent-
ial practice work.
shows that already two hundred OF
these targets have been erected. When
complete there win be five hundred,
and large as this number seems there
viii be none too many. on the con-
trary it is probable that ere long an
increase viii have to be made. These
ranges viii be at 200. 300 600 and one
thousand yards and the firing line viii
be more than two thousand yards in
length. The Guantanamo range will be
utilized during the winter naval ma
neuvers. When these maneuvers take
place there are an average of fifteen
ships with a complement of four hun
dred men each in Cuban waters. This
makes an aggregate Of six thousand
men every one of whom will be re-
quired 20 do his turn" at rifle practice.
With such "a number of men and the
time at the disposal OF the fleet more
or less limited. it viii be easily seen
that five hundred targets are none too
many. At times there have been con-
siderably more than this number Of
ships I'm these waters during such
maneuvers and as this Is to become
the great target practice ground for
the navy il viii soon be necessary
probably TO double these targets ON
the range. II is the purpose OF the De
partment 60 have these targets i'm shape
for the coming maneuvers which viii
be held either in December or January
next.
Small arms arc no longer used 10y
| boarding parties as in these days of
/ high powered guns naval battles are
fought with great distances between
opposing feets but it is. however. es-
sential that sailors and jackies should
know thoroughly how to handle a gun
| effectively as they are frequently em-
ployed in landing operations and as
infantrymen on shore. After the proper
amount of practice naval officers say
that the enlisted men of the navy will
become as expert in the effective handl-
ing Of small arms as the soldiers of the
other arm of the service who have
/ achieved distinction as marksmen.
Suitable medals and other awards for
excellence i'm Workmanship have been
| provided as incentives for the men to
attain a high degree of efficiency.
/ Divided according to their records the
men viii be arranged in classes so that
the department will at all times know
just who the best shots of the navy
are and where they are stationed. The
record of "a ship both with small arms
and the main and secondary batteries
will be taken into consideration i'm
assigning the ships of the navy 10
special lines Of duty and il viii De
the aim of the men to make such
records that they will be chosen by the
Department to participate in the most
highly priced cruisers.