The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-06-24

some of the reasons why most of
the big gun practice is confined to
sighting without shooting. If Gen.
Crozies, the chief Of ordnance, has
his way, the I2-inch rifles will be
superseded before long by rifles of
I4-inCh caliber. II is barely pos
sible that the increase recently in
the actual firing practice of the
large rifles is due to a desire to
hasten the day of the new guns,
for after many rounds, as already
stated, the present ordnance will
be useless for offensive purposes.
There is evidence at Fortress
Monroe OF the quick passing OF
the glory ard the strength of the
artillery armament Guns which
not many years ago marked the
highest efficiency are being dis
mounted by the hirelings of the
junk dealers, to be carted away to
the ignominy of the scrap heap.
The government reaps no great
cash from the sale of its condemned
ordnance. In tact, the bargainers
who buy it pay about the amount
it would cost Uncle Sam to cart
the guns from the parapet to a
deep sea dumping place. In their
old age the things on which a
nation once depeded for safety are
given scant honor.
In case Of war the defenses o
the Chesapeake and of the James
would DE REINFORCED by mines
planted beneath the surface Of the
water. 1t is part of an enemy s
duty to locate the mine fields and
clear the channel of the explosives.
Small boats are sent out from the
investing battleships with crews
given over to the duty of finding
the mines and Of removing the
dangerous distractions by pro-
cess Of graphing.
The artillerymen at Fortress
Monroe are drilled at frequent in
tervals in the work Of checkmating
any attempt of the enemy to in
wade the mine fields and to drag
away the torpedoes. The drill is
conducted at night, and it is a
combination of the exciting and
the picturesque. A mine field is
laid off, and small government
boats with crews of artillerymen
aboard undertake to approach the
defensive point under cover OF the
night.
The soldiers at the rapld-fre
guns on shore stand ready to open
on the boats if the men manipula-
ting the searchlights succeed in
picking them up" If the boat
men manage to sneak in through
the darkness undiscovered and,
still undiscovered, are given time
to let down their graphing hooks,
they have won the game. If, on
the other hand, the searchlighs
squad finds them coming to the
mine field, and show them as a
shining mark to the gunners, the
men of the fortress are held to
have won the day, or, as it should
be, the night. This searchlight
and mine-feld drill doesn't cost
much, and as it IS important in the
game of war, the artillerymen have
il over and over again. 1t il
amusement and serious work in
enc.
Under law passed recently by
congress the pay of the enlisted
men of the sea-coast artillery has
been increased. A high order OF
intelligence is needed in the ser
vice, and the men who serve one
enlistment are capable, because OF
the instruction they receive, OF
filling we'll paying positions in civil
life. The result has been that few
men haye cared to re-enlist, and
Uncle Sam has been compe led to
go over the instruction work time
after time with new levies OF re-
cruits. The increase in the pay OF
the men, it is believed, will hold
them in the service.
Fortress Monroe is one of the