The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-05
MILITARY MATTERS;
 GUARD OF ALABAMA
8y D. M. McEXER.

tion has been decided upon by Com pany c. of the 23d New York. Cap tain David c. Blanton, and formal ap- piicaticn has been made for permis- sion to 1eaye New York for . week on saturday night June IS. The other command officers will make thorough canvass of their companies as to whether their. men desire to make the trip and win report the results at a future meeting. It was agreed that the date selected by Company c should be accepted by the regiment if the l'eved that if the regiment does not 90 in force there will be at least full battalion.
 Some of the Alabama organizations are talking of going. but as yet noth- ing tangible has been done in that direction. A camp of tn. entire brig ado fs being talked of and the State can be used in that direction. The matter will have to be decided soon and as soon as the Adjutant General finishes his present inspection tour he may take 1t up.
 Strict Tralning.
 Lieutenant John F. ORyan. conn manding the 1st Battery, New York has establishedaa aa progressive program of. instruction for that command. as win be seen by the following: Mon. day evenings-Non-commi off, cers' school; theory and application of indirect fire: uses of range finders, panorama sights, and quadrants; minor problems in exterior ballistics. Tues day. Friday and Saturday evenings Instruction in horsemanship, school of the soldier mounted; school of the driver; and pistol practice, deliberate, timed and rapid fire at fixed and dis appearing targets. Wednesday even ings--School of the battery, using the new s-degree rapid fire guns. Satur- day afternoon for practice and in- struction in field work will now be arranged for.
 Indoor Ranges.
 Adjutant General Newton of Texas, has decided to equip the various com panies Of the Texas National Guard with indoor ranges on the line of those used by the Army. By the use of the Winchester .22 caliber musket or the Krag fitted with the. .22 caliber barrel and an arrangement whereby the targets are diminished in propor- tion to the distance. it Is possible to obtain the same results in a small in door range as on the outdoor range. Of course weather conditions, such as wind and mirage. cannot be duplicated. but indoor practice, when outdoor ranges are not available. is highly rec commended. It has been the experience of all good shots that to keep in form there must be constant practice.
 German and English Rifles.
 Germany. it now appears. has not re- armed her infantry with a new model rifle, but the model adopted in 1903 has been changed to accommodate the new ammunition known as 'S." the bullet of which is pointed instead of oval. The muzzle velocity has been raised from 2.034 feet a second to 2.690 and the trajectory has been fattened so that at fifty yards the trajectory is four feet eight inches. or less than the height of man. The total range of the improved rifle is 4,3ee yards. The improved model weapon was tried in German Southwest Africa with satis- factory results. The re-arming of the artillery with the new recoil gun will be completed April 1.
 Since the British infantry has been provided with a new Lee Enfield rifle, a new gun has also been introduced in the field artillery, with which, how ever, not all the batteries have been equipped. It is recoil gun, construct ed at the governments own gun fact ories. The 14 1-2 pound unit gun was largely recommended, but not adopted, and 12 1-2 pounder for the mounted and an IS 1-2 pounder for the rest of the field artillery have been intro duced. These figures refer to the weight of the projectile, while the cal iber of the new guns ;s 7.62 centimeters and S.3S centimeters respectively The recoil apparatus Is placed above the barrel, while in the field guns of all other nations it Is below the barrel. By this unique arrangement it is expected to obtain a lower centrobaric position. The cannon-lock or plate consists of two parts, the lower of which may be turned upward during marching The surface plate, (planometer) is att tached to the lock and at the upper edge of the latter is a gose-neck to which which may be appended visor for measuring angles, in ,nded for in- direct aim.
 German Qualifications.
 A writer in The French Revue Mil itaire des Armees Etrangeres notes the striking fact that of late years there has been a great increase of perman- ent Notifications in Germany. This cannot be attributed to any intention on the part of the German General Staff to abandon the offensive. As the result of careful study of German strategy the writer has come to the conclusion that the fortresses late.y constructed along the German frontier are to full i'll two roles. Firstly, they will form a screen behind which the mobilization and concentration of the field armies will take place; 1t will thus be possible to mobilize and concentrate near the frontier without fear of interruption Secondly, in the event of a war against both Russia and France ,the German armies will be numerically inferior to their opponents, and may find 1t nec- essary to adopt offensive efense of the Franco German frontier; the fortresses will then form strong pivots about which the field armies will maneuyer.
 NEGRO SURRENDERs.