The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-05-06
91ST Cd. MADE
4 FINE RECORD
Artillery Company Scored
100 Per Cent in Tar
get Practice.

The N.nety-frst company of coast
artillery. which spent TWO weeks at.
target work at Fort Pickens. made the
best record 10 be scored IN many
years in target practice. Regarding
the company and the practice, the
New Orleans Picayune OF recent date
contained the following upon their ar
rival home:
Bringing with them the record for
hits at target practice Win heavy
guns, in the artillery branch Of the
nited States army. the soldier boys
composing the Ninety-frst company
returned Yesterday 10 Jackson Bar
racks, from Fort Pickens, near Pen
sacoIa. Fla, happy and proud of their
achievements. and We're the recipi-
entS CT hearty congratulations from
comrades and friends. aS soon as the
iews spread that they We're al the
very top of the column OF excellent
marksmen- Naturally enough. the
whole garrison was =neNDreSSIb.N
ratified at the remarkably fine and
probably unequaled showing made by
the Ninety-first company at Fort
Pickens. and there is no sainsayins
that it surpassed eXpectat-O ns, al
though the artiTerists had expressed
a determination 10 attain the highest
percentage possible when they left
for target-ShoOting They went into
il with a will and spirit VIII Oh be
spoke success from the very first DAY
and their record was 100 percent in
hits.
The N+nety-first company left the
barracks for target practice on April
nd Immediately upon arrival At
Fort Pickens went i'll camp behind
he Notifications, where the guns
were. The officers who went along
were Major Stephen VI. FOOte, COM
mander of the New Orleans artillery
district: Captain l.. s. Chdppelear, /
commander of the company. and Lieu
tenant Robert Arthmur. The soldiers /
were drilled twice a day at the guns !
and the range-tndiDg apparatus. On /
April 20. q and % the target pTac- /
tice was commenced with sub-calibei !
gums. 300 shots, weighing one pound, ,
being fired The shooting with the
heavy disappearing guns look place
on April 2S and May /. The first .prac- !
tice consisted of six shots with 10-inch !
rifles, the prOjectleS weighing 6O4
pounds The range was three and d
half mileSS, and the targets were
moving ones, being tOwed Oy a tug
with a line 200 yards long DIT d speed
of from four to five miles an hour.
The moving targets consisted of two
pyramid targets on a floating base
about - feet long, with rope ex-
tending from one TO the OtheI with
streamer TO mark the middle point.
The target was supposed TO be 20
wards long and 10 yards high. The first
shot of the series carried away the
streamer. indicating the center of the
target. and the second shot demOlish-
ed the leading pyramidaI target,
which was sent about 100 teet in the
air All of the shots of TINS series
went through the hypothetical target
making the record Of 100 per cent.
The six shots were fired in about four
minutes.
The second practice occurred two
days later and the guns, range and
targets were the same. Four shots
were fired in few seconds over two
minutes and every enc was a hit
making 100 per cent. in hits for this
practice also. and a brilliant record
in every sense of the term. The eX-
IRENE lateral deviation from the
center of impact was only about nine
feet. while the vertical deviation was
abCzIt nine feet. and all of the shots
would have struck within compare
lively small space on a battleShip
even if the battleShip was coming bow
on.
in the sub-caHber practice the
ranges were shorter, but the methods
of sighting were the same The tar
get was also a moving one, twenty
feet long and ten feet high. and the
ranges were a little over mile"