Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-06
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The new course in rifle practice in
augurated this week for members OF
the District of Columbia National
Guard and the Naval Battalion on the
range at Congress Heights. is showing
gratifying results. Maj Thomas King,
In charge Of the practice at the range.
declared that much better scores are
being made by the men, and that the
new system far surpasses the old.
by the new system Of rifle practice
LOO yards and the skirmish fire have
been eliminated. The men are shooting
| at rapid fire from the 200 and 300 yard
ranges, and slow fire from the 200. 800
me Ist battalion Of the I'd Infantry
was on the range this week firing.
companies A and went to the range
Ing were on the range They shot dur
ing Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday
and Thursday Companies G and d fired
their scores and Companies E and F
went to the range Friday and Satur-
day Companies G and H and the Signal
Corps are to shoot their scores Monday
and Tuesday. Companies 1, X, L and NJ
ar, are to be on the range Wednesday and
start shooting Friday. Two companies
Of that infantry will stay on the range
FOR two days each, and the 1st Separate
Battalion will follow. The shooting
Will end August 2.
The rife range Is to he opened again
about September ID and will not close
until October 81. During that time mem
hers of the guard who do not shoot at
the July matches will have an opportunity
to do so. About October L. the annual
competitive matches Of the guard will he
shot. They will continue for three
days.
Members of the guard competing for
the rife team to shoot at Camp Perry,
kOhio. August -. are daily practicing on
me range There are now twenty-one
men in the competition. The scores of
the contestants are close and 1t is stated
there will be some difficulty in eliminating
the three men to get the team down
to its correct number. William E. Har-
vey is directing the shooting of the con-
testants for the team.
X x X
Orders for the annual encampment Of
the brigade are to be issued next week
The camp this year is to be at Harpers
Ferry and will be held from August
to Is.
Promotions announced from guard
headquarters during the last week are:
I ~.
to captain; First Lieut.. Practorious to
| captain: First Lieut.. O'Neal to captain;
Second Lieut. Hazard to first lieutenant.
Second Lieut. Johnston to first lieuten-
ant; Second Lieut.. Wall to first lieuten-
ant: Second Lieut.. Windsor to first lieu
tenant: Sergeant Wedderburn of Com
pany G.. appointed second lieutenant.
Second Infantry: Corporal Bacon, Com
pany NJ. TO second lieutenant; Private
Sniffin. Company F, to second lieutenant
Private diff. Company G, to second lieu
| tenant. and Private Mickey, Company l.
to second lieutenant.
Any one passing the Missouri Avenue
Armory Of the 1st Battery n. G. D. c..
VIA notice great deal of activity, for
the battery is getting ready for it's most
important encampment in recent years.
| II will go to Tobyhanna, Pa August l
Tor ten days for target practice with the
big guns. something 1t has not done since
the modern three-inch gun was given to
the District guardsmen. Every one is
working hard learning his part in the
setting of the sights and how to handle
the big rifles, with as much energy as if
the battery were preparing to take part
| In actual war. 1t Is the ambition of each
to make the best score of any of the bat
| teries from the eastern states that will
| go TO the Tobyhanna range. and to this
end every man is working hard.
x :.
| When the battery entrains for camp it
H..
| Louis Z. Noet. who underwent examina-
zion as commanding officer to fill the
! vacancy caused by the resignation of
Capt. J. Harry Shannon. Lieut.. Vogt ex-
| poets this to be the best encampment the
battery has participated in.
| The battery will carry none of its big
| guns or horses. simply going on foot to
| the train with its personal equipment and
| blanket rolls. When it reaches Toby
| hanna it will use the guns and horses Of
| one of the Fort Myer batteries which
are now on the camp grounds. This will
| be big help to the guardsmen. as here
| tofore they have had to break in green
horses for the first few days. thus losing
much of their time in getting them train
| ed pulling the guns and behaving as a
| perfectly good battery horse should be-
| have.
One of the recent improvements in
the battery armory has been the build
ing or a new quartermaster's storage
| room. under the direction of c. NJ
SerSt May, and very soon the familiar
scene of militiamen running around
| trying to exchange a pair of shoes too
small or shirt too large will be
eliminated under Sergt Mays new
| system of issuing property.
x :: x
| The attendance of the battery since
| the announcement of the encampment
| has been very good, and new recruits
l II
But experienced men will be welcomed,
as Lieut.. Vogt wants to carry a battery
of full war strength to camp this sum-
mer.
| The ammunition allowance for target
practice is the same as allowed d bat
terry of the regular army. Two hun
dred rounds of shrapnel will be issued
for the firing. Common shrapnel fill
ing is composed of 252 balls. each ap-
proximately 167 grains in weight. The
balls are IS inch in diameter The balls
are poured around a central tube. ex-
tending to the fuse. and rest upon
steel diaphragm. the interstices con-
tanning a smoke-producing matrix. In
action the case is not ruptured upon
the explosion of the bursting charge.
The head is stripped and the balls are
shot out of the case with an increase
of velocity of about 274 feet a second.
The time of flight of a shrapneI shell
at $500 yards is 724 feet a second. and
the time of fight is 21.92 seconds. The
weight of shrapnel is fifteen pounds.
From this some idea of what the bat
terymen are going to fire at this en-
campment can be obtained
X X \
When the District battery reaches
Tobyhanna the regular troops will be in
camp and all that remains to be done is
! for the militiamen to pitch their tents on
the same street with the regulars, at