The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1907-11-30
WORLDS RECORD
FOR MOUNTAIN
BATTERIES
Held by Gunner Walter Gavin
Of Bennington
MADE IN PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
II Now Visiting at His Home Hare
After Nearly Three Years Service
In Mindinao.

Among nearly score who gathered
about the table at the home of Mr..
| and Mrs. James Gavin on County street
| Thursday was a son, Corporal Gavin,
who has just returned from a service
| OF nearly five years in the regular
army of the United States with one of
the championship gunnery records of
! the world.
After a service of Is months In the
infantry young Gavin took discharge
at Vancouvre for the purpose OF re-en-
| listing in one of the mountain batter
| les destined for service In the Philip
| pines. OF the 29 months that Corporal
| Gavin passed In the islands larger
| portion of the time was spent on the
| island of Mindinao, the second in size
| to the Island of Luzon of which NAH
| lila is the capital.
The islands OF LuZon and Pansy and
| others in the northern section of the
archipelago, which are inhabited by
Tagalogs and Visayans Of the Filipino
type have been practically brought un-
| der subsection and the people are rap
idly acquiring American ideas, but on
the island of Mindinao and In the Sulu
| group which are inhabited by natives
of Malay extraction there are as yet no
stable conditions. Even on the day
| that Corporal Gavin embarked for
home there was a lively attack made
on Camp Kitchler where he had been
stationed for some time. The people,
he says, are bloodthirsty lot, who,
when they become tired of fighting
| with each other invariably turn about
and attack the American soldiers.
One feature that has stood in the
way of progress in Mindinao is the
religion of the people. They are all
Mohammedans and one of their beliefs
is that the more Christian dogs" they
kill the happier will be their lot In the
world to come. They refuse point
blank to have anything to do with the
American schools and are not nearly
so quick TO learn as the Filipinos.
They are not at all well armed but
every able-bodied native always car
ries creese. cross between dagger
and a two-edged sword with blade
about two feet long. The specimen
that Corporal Gavin brought home
with him had wooden scabbard and
rudely carved hilt. The weapon is
heavy and American soldiers have
been found with their heads split from
crown TO chin by single blow dealt
with one of these creeses. The nat
ives are not only courageous and cru
ell but they are treacherous in the eX-
IRENE. They carry their creeses over
one shoulder grasping the hilt with the
right hand and once they have APP
preached close enough to use them
lone American soldier armed with the
modern rife, unless he has the piece at
his shoulder, is at a disadvantage
For some time orders have been in eff
feet that when ever native and SOL
der meet the native is to at once be
told to take his creese from his shout
der. With the creese by his side the
native realizes that he has no advan-
tage over the American with his rifle
or revolver and allows the soldier to
pass without molestation.
Ii was because experience had dem
ohstrated that the natives of Mindinao
had no particular fear of infantry that
the mountain batteries were sent into
the field. The two explosions, that of
the guns and the second when the
shell scattered schrpnel through the
brush. was beyond their cOmprehen-
sion. They could "savey boom" all
right enough but they did not ''savey
boom boom"
The batteries were originally equip
ped with Vicker-Maxim guns of Eng
fish make of rs calibre which lacks a
few thousanths of an inch of being
three inches, 1t carries shot weigh
ing 10 pounds and both sharpnel and
canister are used as the occasion re
quires. 1t has been considered the
model gun for use by mountain batter
les In territory where the outfit has tC
be carried on the backs of mules. A
gun OF similar type Is now being made
In this country but most of the batter
les in the Philippines are as yet equip
ped with the Vickers. Maxim.
The routine drill for the batteries Il
to line the men, mules and gun on
line. At the crack of an officer re
volver the gun is taken apart ant
strapped on the backs of the mules
and the outfit makes dash for an
other line just SO yards away wher'
the gun is taken from off the mules
put together and fired. UP to tn
| tiue lldI tHe AiucTiCdl udtLcrIco ue
gan their work in the Philippines tn
best English record for this drill wa
II seconds. One OF the American bat
teries reduced the figure below so sec
onds but the worlds record is held a
} present by a battery Of the Fourth al
tillery, Gunner. Corporal Walter Ga,
in. Even this record. Corporal Gavi
! says, is bound to be broken in the nea
future, as the American mountain ba
. teries are becoming more proficien
every year.