The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1913-08-10
SANDY HOOK M0RTARS
ROAR IN The NIGHT
Ten PrOjectiles. Aimed at Tar.
get Moving at Sea.
Make Hits.
EVERY SHOT FIRED SCORES
Great Practice by 10th Coast
Artillery-ROckets Tell
Of Passing Ships.
EVERY SHOT FIRED SCORES

In the first night service practice with
mortars ever held in New York harbor
ten half ton prOjecties OF cast iron were
fired from twelve inch mortars at For,
Hancock, Sandy Hook, last night and
every one OF the ten landed within l5O
feet OF the target. which in mortar prac.
tice is considered "A hit.
All of the shells, had they been shells
instead Of cast iron practice projectiles
would have hit a battleship had there
little white target, according to the fgur.
ing of the officers in charge OF the prac-
tice. II was considered extremely fine
work
The practice was under the genera
command of Col. +. A. Allen. commandei
of the coast defences OF southern New
York. which includes Forts Hancock
Wadsworth and Hamilton. The firing
was done by the Seventy sixth Compan,
Coast Artillery Corps. Capt. William c
Colvin comma nding. The fire commando,
WAS Lieut.. col. Morris X. Barroll and thu
umpire. whose job II was to do the scor
ing and figure out Just how good eacf
shot was-there weren't any bad shot,
to figure on--was Lieut.. Col. Delamer.
Skerrctt.
Towing the Target.
The most exciting post among the ofil-
GERS was filled by Lieut.. Rodney Smith
who lack in 1901 or around there. wh.r
he was a cadet at West Point did some
sensational football playing as a member
OF the Army team. Last night Lieut.
Smith was in command Of the tug Har-
vey Brown which was at one end Of a
500 yard towing line. whose other end was
hitchcd to the target at which the halt
ton chunks OF iron were being tossed.
Lieut. Smith and the Harvey Brown
just towed the target around and watched
the fash from the mortar and then the
geyser which shot high into the air wher
the mass OF iron splashed into the ocean
Then too he kept an eye out for passing
vessels, and warned those directing the
fire from the shore by means OF red
rockets when II was necessary. And OF
course ne was out there where he could
see at first hand just where the shots
landed and when everything WAS over he
helped In figuring out the score.
For the purposes Of the practice
small section of the Atlantic was fenced
in temporarily on two sides this Sc
questered portion OF the ocean was marked
of by the rays OF two fixed searchlights
which were pointed straight out to sea
The searchlights were about n mile apart
and their rays diverged enough to max:
the further side of the enclosure quite d
bit longer than mile This further side
of the enclosure had for its only marker
a second little tug. which trotted back and
forth between the two big white rays
about Ave miles of shore. All these pre-
cautions were for the benefit of passing
shipping.
Pussles for the Gunners.
Lieut. smith and his target kept
between the two big rays at a distance
from shore varying around three miles.
sometimes a lot less and sometimes little
more 80 the officers in charge Of the
firing would have something to do in the
way Of calculations to determine just how
far they must shoot II they were going
to hit that battleship.
Mortars. as most everybody probably
knows. are unattractive, short. fat. little
"a
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picked nm tho skywaro splash OF water
which marked the place where the pro-
1ectile had hit
The target which Lieut.. Smith was
towing around nj, this time WAS a white
pyramid twelve feet square at
the base and a little less than twelve feet
in height
Vessel !" the Danger Zone.
The firing began promptly at $40
o'clock The Man was IN fire Mt one
r,nu,, interval. mr. Laen a. near m
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