davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

face, jumps up and plows the water.
leaving a series of spoutlets behind
sounding like a freight train going up
grade, and out on the horizon the whirl-
ing proiectile drops in its last plunge.
IL. 3. breaks on the fagship-the sig
nal to cease firing 1t is-repeated down
the line, and as bugles sound their call
the turret crews climb out, eager to
learn the number of hits. In the wake of
the towing ship float the targets, their
mesh and lattices are shattered, riding
the swell like gulls with broken wings
We swear that every shot was a hit.
We know that the salvos were properly
punched, the area of dispersion was
small; in fact. the shells straddled- the
target. The other ships signaled that our
congratulations. the glee was high
speeches and cheers later in the ward
room.
The umpires gave US eight hits for the
individual and fourteen for the divisional
run. Mind you. fourteen tWelye-inch shells
in less than five minutes striking q tar
get which at 10000 Yards looked no larger
than playing card, where the pointers
had only q patch of canvas five feet wide
to aim at and the ship speeding at sixteen
knots.
Night firing-repelling attack of make
believe torpedo craft. unknown as to
whereabouts and represented by small
targets swinging to anchor You have to
pass the station ship. its searchlight is
pointed skyward. pick up Your targets, hit
them all or be penalized
The great, big dreadnouSht fears the
destroyer. Give the destroyers a nasty
night with drizzling rain which the
searchlight cannot penetrate. it is good
night to the big ship. which may then be
nursing torpedo or two in her insides.
Under such conditions the game is plain
and except by luck the big ships have no
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23
AR;r19 CONCENTRATION AT SAN ANTONIO,
--LATEST. EXAMPLE OF WAR COLLEGE WORK.

not quite of the same general chara cter
that may be found in last years almanac
or in an encyclopedia. nor are they de-
rived from the same sources exactly. In
disputabfe facts up to the very minute is
the sort of informa ton that supplies the
data for the thousand and one problems
OF military science upon which the stu
dents Of the War College at Washington
work.
information Is the first step toward
success in war; is the great maxim laid
down and the one that is always upper
most in preparations for war or defense.
Find out all that can be found out about
an enemy's country and movements and
keep him from finding out about your
own is another way In which one Of
the foremost strategists of the United
States expresses it. And this Information,
variously acquired, forms the great basis
of what are called the Confidential ar
chives" of the War College.
1t was reported at the beginning of the
mobilization Of troops in Texas that the
War Department had sent down 1900
maps with the army. Some said they
were maps of Mexico. There are men
with the army down there who have
graduated from the War College who
know more about the geography Of Mex
leo than some who have lived all their
lives In one place can tell of their own
neighborhood. In a camp of instruction,
such as this at San Antonio purports to
be. maps are the chief working tools OF
the strategists and form the text books
for practical maneuvers and tactics. So.
of course, these would be taken.
Maps. plans, drawings, photogra phs
and written descriptions OF foreign coun-
tries and their armies keep pouring into
the War Department from all over the
world. Had "Old Rough and Ready" had
a knowledge of the geography Of Mexico
away back in 1S45 or had the country
had a war college at his back he would
not have spent whole year down there
before he got busy. nor would he have
attacked Monterey with 5000 men. glo-
rfous as his attack was.
Gen. Mcclellan said during the civil
war that such maps and plans as we
have Of the country are absolutely worth
less, because they are unreliable We
are more often deceived by the data of
our maps than we are by the enemy.
Many Of our best-laid plans go wrong
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

because our maps are bad In the
Franco-Prussian war OF 1872. the French
minister of war had no maps OF France
prepared. because he so confidently said
that the war would not be fought III
France. but in Germany.
The Germans were we'll supplied with
accurate maps OF France. The British
fell down in the Boer war because
they had no good maps Of the country
and did not know where they were or
what they were coming to most OF the
time.
Maps that come in from foreign
sources through the War Department
leave not trace behind them in their
official passage to the War College.
There are no filing records in the War
Department that tell where they came
from or who sent in any information
from foreign countries. The means OF
supply is a secret service and its work
is confidential
In such public documents relating to
the War College as are accessible, the
pages are beautifully besprinkled with
rows or asterfsks. which show that
there is much contained in the origi-
nails that it is neither safe. polite or
desirable that the world at large
should know. The very purposes OF
the institution would be defeated IL IL
were known. But day by day the ac-
cesslons go on, to be used in study and
to be safely stored for such emer-
Eencies as no man is wise enough TO
predict. Meantime. there is graduated
every year corps of field officers that
in point of efficiency in all that goes
to make modern soldier has never
been equaied in the history Of the
country.
The old days Of kntghthoed, when
armies withdrew to level plain
and fought it out on equal terms, have
passed forever. The principle of modern
warfare is to catch the other nation at
as great disadvantage as you can. and
nave your own army as prepared as pos
sfbie. 1t is the business OF the depart
ment of military information of every
nation in the world to learn. as much
as may be about the military affairs OF
other nations. They all do II, and do IL
in the same way as the War College In
doing.
But this much is certain, that when q
piece Of military information about any
thing anywhere is most desirabI and its
acquisition is intrusted to any one. his
instructions are to get it,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

three fttest were selected and the stiffest
test OF efficiency and genius for war of
them all was applied. The officers were
put through the War College.
The men who make good at the War
College have the final chance at that
small and exclusive aggregation Of final
war authorities. the general staff. There
are some fifty men on the general staff.
They are the general advisers Of the chief
of staff, the Secretary of War and the
President. When war emergency arises
the President asks the Secretary of War
for advice. The Secretary, asks the chief
of staff and the chief of staff appeals to
this general staff. They are the military
experts of the nation. They are the men
who do the actual work. Their recon-
mendations. after the approval of. the
officials higher up has been attached,
guide all army. operations, fight all wars.
-
When the officer comes to the War
College he knows all the detail Of army
life and is ripe with the experience of
the field. He has, however, never COM
manded an army. He is to be fitted to
take charge Of the biggest army that the
nation may be called upon to muster
in time Of war and fight battles with it.
1t is to be determined whether or not he
is Of the stuff that would rise to such an
emergency. He is to be intrusted with the
secret information in the nations great
est storehouSe of secrets.
His instructors are the nations great
est war authorities. There is Gen. Woth
erspoon. the head of the college. For
five years past there has been Cot Eben
Swift. one of the most brilliant theorists
in the army. but he, in accordance with
the program of keeping no man too long
out Of active service. has now gone to
the Philippines. There are other officers
selected because of special ability to lee
ture on special subjects and to sit in
Judgment upon the work of the student
officers.
A typical class lesson may be something
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23
eEt~e1/~S| ~~oro =


terviewed, steadily acquiring from all
possible sources the fullest and most &C
curate information up to the very min
ute of all that the other nations in the
world are doing in the way Of defense
and offense. knowing to a man the
strength and disposal of foreign armies,
where they are and what they are doing.
and learning all this and very much more
by agencies that the nation that goes
calmly to bed at nights never thinks of.
this wonderful adjunct to the nations
defense has certainly nothing to say
about what it is doing.
But let military problem come up.
let it be necessary to move, feed clothe
and arm an army or set it to fighting and
then this silent, mysterious. powerful
agency will have plenty to say and will
say it in tones that the dullest may
easily understand.
A collection of war maps of the United
States and Of foreign countries occu-
pies a harmless enough looking place on
the list Of apparatus Of this institution.
and the mind accepts 1t as quite neces-
sary and natural.
70 General information of foreign armies
and fortresses finds a place in the work
Of this course; but the data at hand are
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23
THE WAR COLLEGE

further. the>reposltory of the secret mill
tary information of the nation. 1t is in
trusted with the gathering of this infor-
nation and the guarding of it. 1t is the
goal of the ambition Of every man who
goes to war 1t is the last word in mill
tary affairs in the western hemisphere
The War College came into existence
when Elihu Root was Secretary of War
in 1903 and the building was COM
pleted some two years later. The first
demonstration of the advantage of this
intellectual center for war operations
was had when the army was modified at
Fort Sam Houston in such short time as
to cause the nation to gasp. There is de-
velOping realization of the fact that the
nation is on a different war basis than
that of 1898 and the wise ones say that
the War College is responsible for the
difference. So what Of the War College?
In the first place it is school. The
students are mostly men between forty
and fifty. Last year there was one man in
the class who was but thirty-seve years
as to age, but much experience had been
crowded into them. There are but
twenty-three men in each years class.
These are colonies. lieutenant colonels.
majors, captains. They are the selected
fittest men in all the army. The process
of elimination has been operating for
twenty years in their selection. 1t be-
gan in the first of the four years in
West Point.
X X
This elimination continued through the
three years of garrison school at the va
rious posts at which the young officers
were stationed. 1t was in operation when
the officers passed through the year. of
the school of the line. Finally it was
working regularly when the we'll adj
vanced officers got to the army's staff
college. Everywhere the UNFIT for high
military perferment We're eliminated.
Everywhere there was the search for the
military genius. Finally the twenty
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

They are the big, real thing. and an mi
tial error on their part may rob the ship
of every hit. 1t is UP to them to bunch
the salvos of ten Pinch shots on a tar
get smaller than trolley car and 10,0u0
yards away.
There are thirty-seven seconds between
each salvo, and. as the time of flight of
the projectiles is about sixteen seconds,
il leaves the spotter less than seven sec
Onds being taken up to get the correc-
ton of range over the wires down to the
substation and then to the sight settlers,
who must set their sights ready for the
next salvo, the guns in the meanwhile
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

or any other building in the city. The
Eunners could work in the dark, shoot
over high hills. Their guns would De
sighted in accordance with war college
mans. They would be surer OF hitting
the mark than If they were looking at II.
ri'hey would know every hillock. brook
md plain in all the region roundabout
We're the exigencies of war to require
that an army be landed at Port Arthur,
conveyed across Siberia and attack st.
Petersburg, the war college would know
the detail of every stage OF the advance,
how troops could be conveyed, where
camps should be made, where provisions
COULD be gotten. The road from the Rio
Grande to Mexico City would be as plain
to them as the streets from your home to
.our place of business. Were war to
break out between this country and any
ration on earth that is worthy of the
steel of the United States the Information
would be in hand to show how we might
hest attack that country or resist an at
TACK by 1t.
For the United States maintains an in
etitution the business of which is to know
buw to pass from state of peace to
state of war. The most secret, the least
known of its institutions is the vital link
IN the great war chain, the War College.
The War College is school where griz-
zled veterans, surfeited with experience,
come to get that refinement Of training
that would enable them to efficiently ham
Gle an army In actual combat. 1t Is,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23
GEN. LEONARD WOOD.
CHIEF Or STAFF,
War COLLEGE ENTHUSIAST.
@HARRlS EWING.

like the. following: The officer is placed
theoretically in command of an army on
the march. A map is shown which gives
the position of his supposed command. 1t
is war map. that is to say-a topo-
graphical map giving all the details as to
the nature of the country. His army is in
extended formation. He receives a. mes
sage by courier to the effect that he is
about to be attacked on the flank. He is
asked to call his officers together and
give them the proper command to meet
that attack.
At first the officer is given two days to
formulate his orders. Another situation
is evolved and he is given day in which
to issue his orders. Many situations are
put up to him and the time is always re-
duced. In the end all manner of condi-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

honesty, so does such accurate hlltlns
work for peace
Peace evangelists may shout themselves
hoarse, Andrew Carnegie may point to
The Hague with one hand Gnaking ar
NOR plate with the other. and the daugh-
tiers of the sewing circle petition the pow
ers TO be good. but the surest arguments
for our continued peace are the actual
holes in the battle targets. And these
holes mean that the fleet is efficient and
ready.
But YOU the effete, money-grubbing city
dwel!cr are making your cash and your
business grow because of this peace. al
though of its instruments you know little
and care less. You only know the feet
q spot of Landscape and you look at its
bluejackets as belonging TO comic opera.
Come out to the battle range, out on the
heaving sea. where the men are toiing all
around the clock. working on slippery
target RATS, wet 10 the waist. or swept
overheard by the combers in the cold
night pulled back into the whaleboat half
dead. but ready for more This being only
a part OF Jacks work during the prelude
to the game of hits per gun per min
ute. And the training beforehand, months
of hard work officers and men struggling
alike. training like foot ball team for
the annual match. For what? Not for
pay or promotion-but for the glory of the
old ship-a try for the highest honor in
the navy the right to fly the battle eff
cheney pennant-just a red flag with
black ball in its center.
~
But this man i'll blue YOU keep out of
the theaters and restaurants because lie
wears the nations uniform and not your
own pegtops or padded coats, and igno-
rant judges of the bench still believe the
navy 10 be institute OF correction.
Your impression OF the officers are equal
~ wrong-them you see only at play after
the work is done or on the quarter deck
when the ships are up IN the river where
they look spick and span in their uni
forms. which you believe the government
pays for as we'll for their food which
II never does.
So / have written this to help you to
know the man in blue and to learn OF his
splendid work.
The game of the tweIve-lnch guns is
called on the southern drill grounds off
the Virginia capes some forty miles from
land, where sea and wind play tag with
each other. Which is why the inspector
of target practice declares that April is
a perfectly good month for shooting. and,
hard-hearted he believes in difficulties.
and each year the rules become more Sc
we're. the target smaller and the condi-
tons almost approaching battle.
day firing the gray ships pitch in the
swell. waiting to shoot. All hands have
drilled TO a standstill and since leaving
Guantanamo there has been nothing but
dotter drill, subcaliber and fire control
exercises.
The spoilers, on whom success or fail
ure of ship practically depends. have
spotted falling cotton balls representing
the splash over a miniature target on
the quarter deck, and learned to estimate
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23
Flats Are Too Rich
for English Blood
Special Correspondence of The Star.

special Correspondence OF The Star.
LONDON, April Is, 1911.
0NDON'S white elephant" with
green trimmings. the sumptuous
apartment house built on the site
Of the late Duke of Cambridges mansion
in Piccadilly, is at last bringing a little
money into the Golfers of its unfortunate
owner. For more than three years, these,
the most expensive flats in London. have
stood unoccupied with the exception of
the top one. wherein Alfred G.. Wander
hilt lives his almost hermit like existence
Lately three of the remaining FIVE have
been let.
The extraordinary boom in house and
fiat letting consequent upon the coming
coronation is responsible for the sudden
prosperity of these flats. Had 1t not been
that upward of a million prospective
visitors are trying to reserve residential
and sleeping quarters in a city where
there is comfortable room for but half
that number. these flats might have re-
manned unoccupied forever, or until the
owner, in disgust. perhaps, tore them
down to make room for some other more
profitable form of building.
1t is not that the apartments are I'M
attractive to wealthy people on the look
out for a fat. In New York or Chicago
they would probably have been let before
they were completed. Each apartment
is 30 feet wide by 200 feet long, con-
tanning ten large bedrooms, three bath
rooms, drawing rooms, billiard room,
smoking room, cloak rooms and a big
ballroom. For the top one--the garnet
Alfred q. Vanderbilt pays $1,000 a year
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23
Copyright. 1911. by ". 4. Du Puy.)

ERE there a war
with Germany and
were the troops Of
this nation to pen
citrate within ten
miles of Berlin
they would be in
possession Of in
formation so exact
that I n e r guns
could be so trained
as to demolish the
emperor's palace
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

tice rests not alone on the pointers, the
gunnery and turret officers. but in some
degree upon the admiral commanding the
division. 1t is his job to lay his ships on
the proper course and execute the ap-
proach'' in such manner that all the guns
are brought to bear in the shortest time
possible; and in making the score of the
fleet the standing of the admiral COM
manding the division is recorded as well.
And the same holds good for ships
captain. but only during individual snip
firing. While in division formation he
must keep his vessel in proper position,
and the more tact he displays in leaving
the gunnery crowd alone the better for
the ship. For captain has been known
to have asked the chief spotter. having
come from aloft after the run begrimed
and dirty, 1.-THE ship did fine, where were
you, Mr.. Jones, during the fringe But
in few years we will nave captains VINO
have grown up with the game and them
selves turret officers of the new school.
x y
Today Is division firing, four ships
shooting at the same time. The huge
fighting machine is ready. her decks are
naked stripped bare: the heavy boats
left ashore and everything that may jar
loose is secured. Below in Wardroom-
country and in the cabin everything is
stripped and the glassware slowed away.
The picture of the girl l left behind
me- is carefully wrapped up and put out
Of harms way
In the turrets are the stripped crews
testing TANNERS and hoists. Slowly the
lean mrzzies Of the guns sweep the air
as tho training gear turns The ar,.",cl
structure. There IS no excitement or new
BUSINESS inside, the, men feel sure of
Their game-3t their stations the sight
setter and p.uSman are swapping lies
abou: Ease bad and shipping over and
OF the top of ihe turrret a dungaree clad
ensign Is rolling last cigarette before
crawling int his booth. In the lee OF
the turrets are 81 read the signal flags
tee signal star connected with the con- ,
Mug tower by telephone as it woull Ire
in hattie.
The men who form a fire-control party ,
are climbing up the cage mast, from the
top Of which the correction of the ships
fire, this by means of Judging through .
their glasses the distance between the
splashes Of the shells and the targets
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

chance, hence night practice becomes O
serious affair.
An overture to night firing is the setting
of the target screens. and in preparing
the target raft for the night work, no
switches to throw, but it's case OF
muscle, return to the old days of Drawn
and seamanship. The southern drill
ground Is no coy corner for small boats,
and working alongside the RATS, step
ping the masts with the rolling swell
monkey wrench sailor gets his only dose
of seamanship.
In the five-inch battery swift-movinR
men are feeding the guns. Vaulting
through space, the plugman wheels about,
opens the breech, the loader throws IN
the she'll the powder follows. The sight
setter, telephone strapped TO his ear.
leans over his Illuminated disks, nerv-
ously his forehead wrinkles, one slip on
his part may leave the target bare.
AS the pointer bends over the telescope,
presses the firing key, the binding flash
obliterates everything, and when your
eyes are back at normal you notice the
tracer-shell eject its light in the night
curving on toward the target, which il
strikes, throwing up a geyser of fioures-
cent foam modelled against the dark SKY
by the searchlight rays. Again the
breech is open, the air valve elects the
flare from the bore and looking into it
you see violet flames curl around the
rifiing-powder and shell are again home.
slam banging noise fills the casemate.
the whole ship quivers. somebody sings
out 'hit'-loaders crouching on the deck
ready TO spring up with the ammunition
appear like runners, waiting for the start
confusion. without excitement, each man
a part OF the team working to win.
Cease firing" then secure" calls the
bugle 1 tbs am.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

in no time other spoilers have taken
up the work from the low position on
the, off side Of the coming tower or
from the torpedo directing station.
Another f1ash-dring double -barrel-the
circling sheet Of flame, twice never the
same in shape; the guns leaping back
In recoil, the kissing noise as the COM
pressed air cleans out the bore, pushing
jet of fire before it; the targets, hidden
by the whirlpool of spray raised by the
projectiles. are instantaneous parts of this
Kaleidoscope A rfcochet skips the sur
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23

A N Ultimate Postcard
"A uate Course in War Is
Given to Grizzled Veterans
of Many Campaigns at the
Least Known Of the Govern
ment's Institutions - From
the War College Are Grad
uated the Men of the Gen
eral Staff, the Selected Fit
test of the Fighting Men of
the Nation-There, Too, Is
the War Departments Secret
Service That Spies on the
Armies of the World.