New-York tribune., 1907-08-08
ARMY AND NAVY NEWS.
Warship Target That Tells Its Ozcn
Story.
From The Tribune Bureau-l

Washington. August 7. 1901
PROOF OF NAVAL MARKSMANSH1P-lt Is q
habit OF naval gunners 10 have pictures taken OF
the punctured target and of guns which they have
been firing. and to give Photographic PROOF OF
the accuracy Of their craftsmanship. one OF the
best records made in the regular target pracuce
recently that with the port after-turret s-lnGh
guns OF the United States battleShp Indiana AAAs
is a turret which corresponds in caHore OF guns
to the one in which the bareback occurred on tle
Georgia recently, and in which the men WEE
achieving notable record. calculated II Is saiu
70 have beaten ali previous ones In the case OF
the Indiana, Of the S-fnch turret Irec
ten shots and hit the target in the ten places "ee
the of that turrets crew nave poheu nc
heads through holes the turret trainer ana
the gun pointers posing in front of the target InesS
shots were landed while the snip was IN HOlIo-
and show the phenomenal accuracy OF gun nre
which has been attained by the gunners OF Ameri-
can vessels of war. Incidentally, tne picture EN- en-
phasizes what may be done under condltlons WHICH
in no respect introduce element OF danger Cal
cuIated impair the accuracy OF the rnarksLnan nan
The Indiana one OF the ships wrllcn mas Deeil
officially commended for the excellence IN naval
gunnery Of the men. This S-inch target helped 20
win the battleship trophy for the Indiana IN Ine
annual record target practice
SAFETY OF NAVY POwDER.-A memorandum
has been prepared for the President by the Navy
Department in reply to charges which have been
made by powder manufacturer that the navy Is
stocked with inferior ammunition OF q Quaity
which is dangerous to handle and threatens at any
time destroy the vessel carrying IL rms state
ment is emphatically denied BY the naval ordnance
officers. The powder which has been suppned oy
the so-caIIed Powder Trust has been IN al re-
spects up TO the strict requirements. and there is
no expectation trouble in any way AT one Tune
the powder makers discovered Irregularities IN one
NJ their pIants They reported this at once 10 the
! NAVY Department and all Of the powder unoer
/ suspicion thrown out The company mas neen
placed under heavy bonds to make good any PoWoer
that is found INFERIOR IN tIe l!e4L 80 " 80 ~
wears, and all the powder issued TO ships OF wax
passes an inspection which is OF kind 10 insure
/ the service obtaining the most satisfactory ma
| teriaI The disaster the Georgia had no reIa-
/ ton TO poor powder Offcers of that vessel are
/ fully convinced that II was ous 10 LIaIeoa~H
and there is a suspicion that notwithstanding
statements to the contrary. the desire for making
record may have led TO carelessness on the part
! of the gunners- Much is expected Of the specl4I
beard which has been detailed 70 ascertain the
are known defects which have been periodically
reported TO the department, and these are oelng
accumulated for the guidance OF the board Inc
board, the members Of which are Lieutenant COM
manders Kaiser and Fogelsesang ana 41eulend-II
Palmer all OF whom have had practical turret ex-
perience. will meet in few days They are under
orders 10 have their report ready by SEPTEMBER %
/ The inquiry IS 70 be thorough, with view 70 an
exhaustive treatment OF the subject Al least one
tIIrre- of each class Will be visited by the board
and an earnest endeavor will be made TO reach
some decisions which. II adopted. viii prevent a
recurrence of these turret accidents. lncident 20
the general subject the board is 70 consloer the
question of drill regulations as affecting the 1Tlns
of the big guns. and IT, in It's Judgment tney ato
to the men they VIII report such changes as snouId
be made
/ NO TRAVEL PAY FOR CULPRITs-There IS
a question between the War Department and the
/ accounting officers Of the Treasury respecting tne
granting OF travel pay IN the case OF an ennsOeo H
who has been arrested by the civil authorities ana
sentenced TO term in the penitenuary Tor an OF
fence or crime committed. II IS usual when man
Is discharged give him travel pay from the pace
Of discharge 10 the place OF enlistment or
rnert The Treasury Department holds that N tns
case Of a man who is discharged because ne mas
been sent TO the penitentary by the civil autnoTi
ties there is no reason why travel pay should De
given On the other hand. the War DeparIraehC
holds that this travel pay should be dtsoursed 50
long as the offence IS not military one ana Ine
sentence Is not imposed by court martial II Is
an incident outside Of the army that requires
60 q - BE sa1s~a+ed from the military establish
/ ueut The Treasury Department authorities rem
dered decision some time ago N Guesuon OF 80
sort and now another question has come up anu
! the war Department has pointed out to the Con
troTer OF the Treasury what the military aulnorl
! ties regard as his inconsistent attitude.
/ NJ MORE TEXTBOOKS NEEDED.-A Chicago
/ at-ornev has suggested the President that the
| o,a-nn7e7t prtnt for the benefit OF the cadets at
/ Wes, Point and the mIdshipInen at Annapons
hoI- f- tho corapiIation Of which he has assisted
anu anu taots Us.f in the instruction at those
/ academies. The matter was rererred 10 tIe "aI
5 NJ, deDartn1en,s which reported that re-
gardless OF the merit OF the book there Is 40 ot
o-t,,rf-y for adopting additional literature II s
considered that the law textbooks at present usso
/ L0s-Is AZ West Point and Annapolis may Dc de-
/ pended upon 10 suggest any changes or adc-OiOlS
| found necessary.
! ORDERS ISSCED.-The following orders nave
| been issued:
ARMY.
r,f-.+ Lieutenant RICHARD NJ THOMAS 18th Cavalry
10 Military Academy. -, ,..--. .. r,,-,
C,aDtai1 SAMUEL. T. ANSELL+ sth Infantry 10 Fof'
Williams =, =, wa
LEWIS and RICHMOND = DAN -
cnost artillery corps Fort TOtten for coIlso1A-
rion OF submarine Defence and Artillery sc1ooiS-
zrato- CTSTAVE W STEVENS coast artillery CORPS
I from For. washington TO the Presidlo-
r-f-s- ! ieutenarts LLOYD 3. MAGRCDER ana ttAL4-
MY u TONPKINS. coast artillery CORPS. 10 rort
rotten assignment on torpedo plATtTrs !1a1oI
samuel RtnggoId and General Henry = f1uill re-
/ spsctlvey- g,
the Preside -. =. ..
Cantain JESSE NJ BAKER. quarterrnaster TO ST.
/ ouis relieving Major DAVID :. STANLEY. depot
o1arterrnaster. will repair to washington lor
/ dutv in Office OF quarterrnaster general
/ = lieutenant Colonel FREDERICK Won SCHFtAbE-t-
deputy quarterrnaster general. from once OF guar
teruaster general TO St Louis and assume efiarse
general depot relieving Captain BAKER
NAVY.
ro-1-nander T ". KISKAID. Lieutenant CoInrnanJeTs
/ c c FEwEI- P. y. OLMSTED- p BABlN A W
HINDS W. 2. SCOTT and Z. L BENNETT En-