Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-13
Test of Gun Against Armor.

TICKS. Il was pidCeu IN pOSlllOn ABOUT Two
miles down the range. These experiments,
it was stated at the War Department. were
of interest to the army and the navy and
consequently several naval officers of high
rank accompanied the board by invitation,
and found much satisfaction in witnessing
them. 1t is said that the character of the
experiments was such that in the interest
of patriotism they are held as confidential
and that no information in regard to their
object or the results attained will be gwen
out
AS an incident of the visit, the officers
also saw a round fired from six-inch dis
appearing carriage of the latest model
turned out by the ordnance department.
This carriage IS of the type known as the
Burlington Crozier. and the most important
novel feature consists in a different ar
rangement of the hydraulic cylinder for
checking recol, which is designed to pro-
duce uniform length of recoil under vary
ing conditions of loading with respect to the
charge of powder, the angle of elevation,
etc.
Increase Cost of Naval Outfit.
Paymaster General E. B. Rogers of the
navy has found that the increased cost of
material. especially cotton and wool, will
necessitate an increase by Congress in the
individual outfit allowed enlisted men Of
first enlistment. The allowance will here
after be $50 per year, instead of S45. or a
total increase from 1857 900 to $4,000. The
present cost of the outfit was fixed in 1897.
since which time overshirts have increased
from s.. 40 to S2.I5 undress jumpers from
S436 to 50 10, blue trousers from $2.65 to
81 %. oyercoats from S. II to S1O.2o and SO
on, until the actual cost of the outfit now,
including rubber boots, etc, is $66.95.
Hardships in the Tropics.
Surgeon Bagg. who is duty at the
naval station at Guam, in a report to the
Navy Department, states that there are,
even with all the best known precautions,
men going home from the tropics each year
disabled He says that the officers in the
Philippines are wearing black undercloth
ing with view to testing its usefulness as
garb for stationed in the tropics.
He says it is advisable to allow the men to
spend a certain period of time each year
in northern climate or else shorten their
stay in the tropics. In Guam the isolation
helps the heat in producing depression, and
he recommends that the men there should
go TO japan for recreation at least once
a year.
Army Equipment for jamestown.
The jamestown Exposition authorities
are anxious to borrow from the War De-
partment a quantity of tents, flags and
other public property. Such things are not
issued except on rare occasions, and then
only when an emergency requires meas
ured relief. In times of calamity, of
course, the Secretary of War may author
ize the issue of tents and provisions and
that is always done promptly even when
the issue is certain to be attended with
loss to the government, as in San Fran
cisco, where a large part of the material
issued has been damaged and cannot be
used again. 1t will require a special act of
Congress to authorize the jamestown Ex-
position to receive the material desired.
Contract for Machine Guns
The ordnance department of the army
l., ADD 4,
Steel Company for one hundred and seven
sets of protective shields for Maxim auto
matte machine guns wheeled mounts.
These guns are for use at Notifications
and differ from those used by machine gun
platoons in that they are mounted on
wheels rather than on a tripod and
provided with protective shields.
To See the Dreadnought.
The British battleship Dreadnought is
about to make cruise across the Atlantic,
which will take her to West Indian waters
about the time Rear Admiral Evans squad
ron will be there. The purpose of the
cruise is to test the seaworthiness and bat
teries of the warship under sea conditions
Tie Dreadnought has left England for
Gibraltar whence she will sail January 81
for Trinidad. The battleShip viii stay
about two months at Trinidad, devoting
most of the time to gun practice in liza
cent waters. The United States fleet will
gather at Culebra, near Porto Rico about
the same time. Culebra is about a days
sail from the Dreadnought's station.
Metal Buildings for Troops.
The army quartermasters are in a guam
dairy concerning barracks and other build
ngs in the Philippines. 1t is found that
lumber taken from the United States does
not answer the purpose at all, and that
there will have to be probably main reli-
ance upon metal as building material
The white ants which abound in great
numbers are very destructive and If lurn-
Der Is used at all it must be treated with
special and expensive process as a means
OF preservation. That increases the cost of
construction in the Philippines and adds to
the problem of providing shelter for the
troops at the various stations.
Small-Arms Shooting in the NAVY.
The navy will have some new smalf-arms
firing regulations as result of a revision
of the former rules made by a board of
experts In the revised regulations more
attention will be paid to the firing at long
ranges than has been the case hitherto.
and skirmish runs have been introduced
in the sharpshooters' course. to be known
as the expert rifeman's course The sue
cessful men In this course will be entitled
to wear bar with the sharpshooter S
medal. 1t is proposed to pay special at
tention in the navy and Marine Corps to |
small-arms firing, and that will now be |
possible by reason of the large ranges at
Guantanamo The ships of the Atlantic |
fleet are now at that station, and the men
Will go on the ranges under the observa-
ton of officers. 1t is proposed to encour- |
age craftsmanship to a greater extent |
than ever before.
Submarine Bell Signals.
Experiments conducted by the light |
house board in this country. the British ad- |
miralty and the Danish government sup |
plemented by some smaller tetss made by |
Rear Admiral Evans, have satisfied the |
Navy Department of the value of the sys- |
tenn of submarine signaling by means of |
bells to indicate the approach of ship in |
thick weather or at nightfall to the shore.
Steps are now about to be taken to equip |