The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1908-02-06

I'm VNS3 ID IL VI "A IL EMAIL
who had seen service in the
IN Civil War, in fighting In
\ Gians, III Cuba, in the Phil
EM M ippines, and in China, stood
on a knoll near headquar-
tiers at Fort Riley, Kansas, in the early
part of last October, peering through
his binoculars at great cloud of dust
made by regiment of cavalry as it
dashed furiously across the plain in
one of the sham battles by the regulars
in the ten days maneuvres there. The
firecracker rattle of the guns Of six
regiments Of infantry, followed by
their swift rushes across the plains
and their plunges to the ground, the
roar Of half a dozen batteries Of field
guns, throwing imaginary shells and
hurting defiance to one another. came
as music to his ears.
The gray and wind-tanned Brigadier
could repress his enthusiasm no longer,
and he turned to friend, who had left
the Army at the cl 1se of the Civil
War and who was his guest at the
manuevres, and said:
BEST soldiers in the world, Colonelr'
Hardly that, General" replied the
Colonel. ''There We're no better SOL
diers, and there never will be better
soldiers, than the men in the Army
in the last two years of the Civil War;"
Quite right, of course But what
/ meant was that the American private
he 81
to-day, is the best fighting-ma
known, and that he can do 100 per
cent more works 100 per cent. more
efficient-than he could when we were
fighting in the South. He shoots
further, he sees further, he hears
further yes, he marches further and
endures more than when we We're
youngsters winning our first shoulder
straps. I'll prove it 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 and had a private hit a
tree more than mile away. The
Springfields Of a dozen years ago
couldn't shoot more than 1900 yards
or three-quarters of the distance the
Krags shoot Then the Genral told Of
the new Springfelds 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
stead Of cartridges out of their guns
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 dismount-
ed cavalryman, or just plain infantry
man or cavalryman, his gun will be the
same, and only one kind of ammuni-
ton 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 a shooter,
when it is realized that he carries with
him in his compact belt $50 cartridges
where he used to carry only fifty.
Right here is the secret Of his ability
to march further and to go ON long
"hikes," where his range of action for
merly was limited to the necessity of
keeping closer in touch with his ammu-
milton 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 a
rush across the country a regiment was
stopped suddenly; the order was given
to wheel and to rush to distant part
of the field. There was no aide rush
ing up and dashing back to the General
in command. The Signal Corps had
received word that more men were de-
manded in a weak spot in the line.
The General at once telegraphed to
stop the regiment that was making
Roadway in forced rushes, with open
spaces between the men, to retrace, its
steps and to strengthen force that
had been outfianked.
That's the kind of work we did in
| China shouted the Brigadier. With
a whoop and cloud Of dust the men
/ 1icanDnarnd Tn lnSc than q half-hnur