Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-07-09
FINE RIFLE RANCE
Ohio Spending 100000 to
Make Shooting Grounds the
Best in the World.
LOCATED AT PORT CLINTON
From Common Firing Line 500 Men,
Shooting Alternately, Can Work
at the Same Time.

The state of Ohio is laying over 9O7.- |
coo feet of Wire at the Port Clinton
rife range. ana already officers of the
Uni,cd States army and some foreign
officers have been there to inspect
what is the most complete rifle range
in the world. says the Ohio State Jour
mai The fact that such an authority
as Captain Charles De Forrest Chan
der of the United States signal corps.
formerly OF Cleveland. the man chosen
by the United States government to
solve the balloon problem for the ar
my, says il is the best ever" shows
that the state is 4 long way in advance
of even Uncle Sam i'll the matter of a
target range where 800 men can occupy
common firing line and shoot mt all
the ranges from 1000 yards down to
the midTangC
The system of wiring and the under
ground conduitS that carry all the
wires as well as the system of ''buZ-
zcrS' that connect each target with the
scorers tabe-ard there is one to each
targCt-was designed by Captain Lewis
Jacquith of signal company No. of
Columbus. o. The state is spending
about 100000 there in making the
range the best in the world.
Telephones IN use at the range are
those adopted by the Unisad States
government after exhaustive tests. and
every bit Of wire IN use is placed under
ground III steel conduits protected
from the dampness by gutta percha in
sulation. Inside the wires are carried
in lead pipe. are insulated and again
insulated from each other. From
common firing point n line drawn
across the range to the south, 800 men.
firing alternately. each ut his own tar
get. can work at once. Captain JAG
quith after consultation with Captain
Chandler and expert shots has adopted
"buZZer' system for the extreme
range. 1000 yards. The buZZer plan is
this: Each target is connected with the
scorers desk with buzzer When q
man fires the scorer presses button,
and the man at that particular target
knows that shot has been fired. II
takes about second and half for the
ball from the gun TO reach the target,
but the bUZZer works like Il flash The
ball may miss the target completely
and 20 humming through space. The
targets are only about fifteen feet
apart, and If it were not for the buZZer
the scorer might hear land this has
been the case at Seagirt the music of
the bullet from another target and 81
fash the signal that the rifle fired at
his target had scored complete miss
when in point of fact the man shoot
ing at the target had not fired.
Easy for Scorer.
AS the button Is pressed the scorer
knows that a shot has been sent to
his target, and his eye runs above TO
see the shot. If il counts he immadi-
ately throws the proper semaphore and
the shot is recorded TO the waiting scor-
er, who has his glass on the target
AS soon as No. ! man ut No. / target
shoots his target is drawn down and
No. ! target for No. man is ready.
The signals from any of the ranges
are arranged like the semaphore ON the
railway. Before the shot Is fired the
mark of the ball is noted and the target
plugged. They are turned so that the
scorer at the firing end OF the range
can mark the shot on the score sheet
There are two of these semaphores
One is white on one side and red on the
other. The white shows that the shot
has counted five. the red that it has
counted four. Semaphore No. 2 has a