Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-07

600 yards. and for the five halts amounts
to about ten seconds. Therefore Capt.
Allen fired shot every second and
quarter that the target was exposed and
firing was possible, and three out of every
four shots found their lodgment In tho
head and shoulders of an enemy" peer.
ing over an embankment.
I'm the Australian skirmish unlimited
ammunition is allowed" Capt Allen says.
This is as it would be in warfare. pre-
Stunning there was plenty of ammunition
available The firing is at unknown dis
tances and the enemy appears only long
enough to fire shot and exposes nothing
but the head and shoulders, as would
probably be the case in actual warfare
He is dressed in olive drab or khaki. and
his clothes mingle with the landscape and
background, SO as to make him almost in
visible at Goo yards. We fire and he
ducks We advance and the same ma
neuver takes place. BY the time We have
reached go yards 1t is safe to say that
every man of the enemy who has poked
his head above the embankment has been
killed or disabled, and the subsequent
charge is attended with little danger.
When we started this practice a total OF
fifteen shots on figure was big record.
After several weeks Of practice the team
enemy could expose himself over breast
works long enough to fire shots and live
in the face of an attack by such sharp
shooters
I'VE also tried the moving targets in
the Philippines. both In the division COM
petition, where it was made a special
feature, and in the practice for the inter-
national match. We challenged the Japa-
nese and English for twelve-man team
match. but the japanese were unable to
compete and the match was declared of.
The moving targets are placed on track
and run back and forth across the range.
The track undulates and by means of a
drumhead and an engine the targets move
at various rates of speed at the will Of the
officer in charge. They were colored
black. khaki and green olive drab down TO
a dark green, the color of the grass. At
the division competition they We're the
dark green. but olive drab was used on
the skirmish run because of the difficulty
in seeing khaki figures at 600 yards.
The moving targets are the head and
shoulders as in the Australian skirmish.
but are slightly enlarged. The kneeliIg
figure of the ordinary silhouette is omit
ted. When we first began firing at the
moving targets two hits in ten shots were
considered good. but at the end from 80
to 20 per cent of the shots told. We also
used the disappearing targets on system
slightly different from the Australian
skirmish. They are mounted on gas pipe.
with handle at the end turned by man
with stop Wdtcn IN MS ndHd StdTlnS
at 600 yards. we advanced on the double
quick until the targets flashed up. Then
we dropped. wherever we might be. and
fired as fast as we could. Suddenly the
targets would drop and We would make
another advance. Altogether there would
be seven halts, the targets being exposed
40 seconds at 500 and 900 yards and 80
seconds at the other stops. They came up
at unknown times ana We had TO load
while advancing at double time instead
mish. There is no question that for serv-
ice the above or the Australian system is
preferable to our system of firing at fixed
silhouettes of a group of two figures. one
kneeling and the other prone England
sets aside about 10 per cent of its prac-
tice ammunition for this kind of work. It
might not do for matches or for .scc~
firing. but for training it can scarcely be
training the men to seek cover when they
DROP
The competition for places on the in
fantry team will be held at Fort Sheridan
and for the cavalry team at Fort Ethan
Allen. both beginning June s. Between
that time and August p the teams viii
practice constantly those ranges or at
Camp Perry. Meanwhile the navy is pre-
pairing its teams at Annapolis. and will
enter three, representing respectively the
navy, IdIlIic r1OIpS duu tue NdNdl atdu.
envy. West Point will not be represented
owing to the pressure of other studies, so
the navy has three chances TO the armyS
two.
~
Company c. LIST Separate Battalion.
gave a. drill and reception at its armory.
True Reformers' Hall. last Friday even
ng. An exhibition guard mounting was
first on the program. with Capt. H. D.
officer of day: Lieut.. S.
H. Epps. adjutant; Lieut.. T. E. Jones. Of
icer of the guard.
After several movements in close order
he company was marched TO it's quarters
and the drill hall cleared for dancing.
Taps" was sounded at l:30 o'clock.