The new South-news., 1908-02-08

n Civil War. In fizhtl1g In
IA dams. In Cuba. ia the Phil
I'm M Ippines. and In China stood
on a knoll near hcadquar-
tiers at Fort Riley. Kansas. In the early
part OF last October. peering through
his binoculars al great cloud OF dust
made by a regiment OF cavalry ms II
do shed furiously across the plain In
one OF the sham battles by the regulars
IN the ten days maneuvres there. The
| frceracksr rattle OF the guns OF six
regiments Of infantry. followed by
their swift rushes across the plains
and their plunges 10 the ground the
roar Of half a dozen batteries OF field
guns. throwing imaginary shells aud
hurling defiance to one another, came
as music to his cars
The gray and wind-tanned Brigadier
could rcDrcss his enthusiasm no longer,
and ne turned to n friend. who had left
the Army nj the G, Sc OF the Civil
War aud who was his guest at the
manuevres. and said:
BEST soldiers In the world. Colonel-'
Hardly that. General" replied the
Colonel. There were no better sol
dicrs. and there never win be better
soldiers. than the men In the Army
ln the last two years of the Civil War"
quite right. Of course. But what
] meant was that the American private
soldier. equipped and trained as he is
today, is the best fghting-machlne
known. ard that he can do 100 per
cent. more works 100 per cent. more
efficent-than he could when we were
fighting in the South. He shoots
further, he sees furthe-. he hears
further yes. he marches further and
endures more than when we were
youngsters winning our first shoulder
straps. III prove 1t to you. The
morale Is 100 per cent. improved over
the old days"
HIS WEAPONS THEN AND NOW.
For week the active man Of mill
tary service and the active man of
business who had come back to smell
powder and renew the martial spirit
OF his youth went into every detail
OF the maneuvres. They took Krag
Jorgensen rife aud had private hit a
tree more than a mile away. The
Springhelds of dozen years ago
couldn't shoot more than 1900 yards
or thrce-quartcrs of the distance the
krags shoot. Then the Genral told of
the new Sprlngiields which have been
adopted by the Army to supplant the
Krags. and his eyes snapped as he did
SO. Out in the Philippines and in China
he told how scores of the men, as they
| warmed to their work and grew ex-
cited. were found shooting air. in
In the excitement they forgot to re-
charge the magazines.
All that is gone now. The brand
new Springfield is entirely encased in
wood. and the soldier can handle it in
comfort at all times. 1t Is lighter than
the Krag and weighs only seven and
one-half pounds. But most important
of ALL when the soldier has fired all the
cartridges in his clip. he is unable to go
through the motions OF shooting the
weapon again-that Is. he can't shoot
air-until he has recharged the gun
The barrel has also been shortened to
the length of the carbine. and hereafter
the infantry and cavalry will carry the
same weapon. Whether the soldier is
mounted infantryman or a d!smount-
ed cavalryman, or just Il plain infantry
man or cavalryman. his gun win be the
same. and only one kind of ammuni-
tion needs to be supplied.
Then. too. the private soldier of to-
day. it was seen at a glance Is more
, than 100 times as efficient shooter
when it is realized that he carries with
him In his compact belt 1a0 cartridges
where he used to carry only fifty
Right here is the secret or his ability
to march further and to go on long
"hiSes," where his range Of action for
! mcrly was limited to the necessity OF
Keeping closer in touch With his ammu
Eition supply.
ELECTRIC WORK IN THE FIELD,
Soon there came along the Signal
! Corps with their telegraph instruments
and their wires and their flags and
other paraphernalia. In the midst of q
, rush across the country regiment was
stopped suddenly; the order was giver
, to wheel ard to rush to distant part
of the field There was no aide rush
, ing mp and dashing back TO the Genera
! in command. The Signal Corps hnt
received word that more men were de
manded in a weak spot in the line
The General at once telegraphed Il
stop the regiment that was making
!, Lcadway in forced rushes. with orer
: spaces between the men. TO retracc it.
steps and to strengthen force tina
had been ou;aanked.
That's the kind OF work we did il
? China" shouted the Brigadier. viii
: n whooo and cloud OF dust the mel
disappeared. In less than q half hou
there was more signaling and teie
= graphing and back the regimen
: charged. II was difficult to see then
!. most OF the tine. AMI the opposin;
= force was practically out OF sight
How did they know they wers