New-York tribune., 1907-09-20
GUNNERY CONTEST HOT
sRMY PREPARES REPORT'
Aghast at Suggestion That Pres'-
dent Man Order a Change
rrron The Tribune Bureau


,,-,..o, Sent 1a-"Is it possible that the
-,-.sa,+ ec,ing on the recommendation OF
s,,, officer. might direct that the coast oelence
.4511erv abandon its present scientlhc system VI
era control and gun pointing anu "uOp' 'ie
,arbazard system Of the navy! Inns Is 'ne
,,,estion which is agitating the army. 1t Is 'iie
Kernel of the gunnery controversy 'iie ieoi "
-asfon Of the earnestness-to use hiiiu eNpie0
7-i,r, uf7ich that controversy Is oeilie 00i
ried on 49,. ..
l-.-.troad that il has perfected the most
,o--;so system of range finding ana gun poli'-
. Il, the world and that 1t can MAKE d oe''ei
~,o+ a. 2 range Of from ooo" 10 ''Vo' Soiu
- car at half that distance. the
amy * aghast at the mere sugges'loh' anu 'iie
60. .,,nner- talent in the army is engaged IN
"nes' -.,or+ with which to demolish the
arguments conta1neu III >'
-,snder Sims. L. s. y.
-. officers are not doing much talking on
.Lo s,biect They are disposed in broad and
o,n5escendng way 10 accept with indulgence
she excitement of the army and especially OF
tbA coast artillery. but they are more com
-lacer+ because of the fact that their gunnery
e-et attracted the attention of the powers that
he and especially because they had the first
timing the first opportunity TO impress their
,,ieyv of the situation the ears of the man
r4o has power to act. for Commander Sims re-
nort IS no longer in the hands of Assistant Sec
retary Newberry-
Army officers. on the other hand. are indig
rent at the recommendation Of a navy officer
,hs+ they should abandon their own system and
sdopt the navy's and they regard it as little
short Of innpertinence that the suggestion should
have come from navy officer and have been
submitted without their being consulted.
The dispatch in this mornings Tribune excited
great interest botn in the War and Navy de-
partments and copies Of the paper were passed
from hand TO hand all day. while surprise was
expressed that the facts should have escaped
the cover Of military secretveness The War
Department is convinced that the facts can have
become known TO others than few high rank
ing officers only through the indiscretion of the
Navy Department. while navy officers are con-
WINGED that the information must have been dis
closed by members Of the army general staff
The trouble with Sims is that he is an icono-
cIast simple iconoclast" declared an army
officer to-day apropos Of the navy commanders
recommendation. But he is enthusiastic and
in the past his fearless criticisms have doubt
less done 2 great deal OF good and have re-
suited in lettering conditions. But while Sims
has been busy for several years devising means
70 improve the efficiency of the naval gun fire
he evidently forgot that the army doing
something too. He must think that the coast
defence is Just where II was ten years ago.
Now IN my opinion our coast defence is the
best in the world The army is not much in the
habit Of blowing its horn. but it has a
number Of experts who cannot be matched in
their particular lines anywhere. That may he
saving great deal. but ] mean it Talk about
the navy's 'spotting system for the use of the
srrnvr Pshawt where would it be in case of a
fog at night or with the enemys guns and feet
shrouded in smoke? AS q matter of fact the
army tried out and abandoned the system Sims
recommends for its years ago
Il am not in the coast defence branch OF the
service but I know something OF that kind OF
work and. not being in it, I can perhaps speak
more freely On land il is possible to estab-
lish z line two thousand feet long and measure
il accurately At each end of this imaginary
line a station can be stablished. and at each
station an operator placed with a telephone
When an enemy appears his exact location can
be determined by each observer. and the angles
telephoned 10 the gunners. There. where the
t7lnners are stationed. the angles are marked
or scale map and the exact position Of the
enemy is established
THE army system has been brought down so
fine in all its details that now the powder can
be blended by our experts and the size OF the
charge regulated to such nicely as 10 give
the velocity required by the projectile- II Is
strictly scientific proposition There Is no
guesswork about it. If gun should make
miss we should pay no attention TO it, because
the error would be charged to the men and not
70 the system and the next shot proba bly,
1roul5 find the mark for which it was meant IL
the army system can be improved on in any
Way h, Mr.. Sims or any one else should like
to know how il can be done
You printed something about the record
made at Fort Strong with the 10-inch battery
Well that was an excellent record but the II
inch gins Al Fort Banks. Massachusetts. also did
some excep1ionaIlv fine work It's all very well for
the navy 10 talk about hitting canvas thirty
fee- or so square AT 500 yards, but at Fort
Banks the 12-inch guns put six shots into
srace that could have been covered nicely by
an arroor pIste and did il AT 5000 yards too.
and did il in minutes and 40 seconds Ihat
would have sunk the biggest batteship afioat
before even she could have changed her course
To escape And the shells and fuses have been
so perfected that they can be timed 10 eXpiooe
whenever the glnners wish them to"
OF course the naval gunners have something
70 say zoo but heretofore they have had the
discussion prettv much 10 themselves The navy
makes much of what is called the "spotting
system" that is an observer goes abort ana
with rair Of binoculars watches the SHOTS
STRIKE If the splash shows that the shot is
- u a a -