The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-10-13
perior. o4oeFs or a SUI
Close Order Fioh,,nn

sll.ics on the subject OF ciosa
DER fighting. America 0iose or
open oruer, as we'll as the -
eaAils the best ADVANTAGE Of CO
from the Indians. And in thao'Nei,
wa, the sklrmish line grew of NJ
au more Importance until il hacana
lne battle order in the .a.t nNaIe
the struggle. In the Spanieb a OF
space intervals became q eafar ~ II
hShting than nj the ar1ior
.upan. The tendency i'm So,,th
Airlca also was TO scatter Pnssin
the Did solid fornaGona
IN Nlanchurla. The result uvaS 49,
Ehgllsn critics scoffed az tho closely
packed infantry advances in tho Go
man maneuvres of previous
Open order, all critics adrnit iS o.,
immense advantage when fire can he
o~oncehtated on an equal numbe Of
enemy IN close order. But when tho
Ddtlle line is of enormous eyrent tba
side which utilities its advantage Of
nuiloeIs by ~thlckening,it its line, as the
m do, can deliver p mucb
heavle fire than the thin line THIS
advantage is improved when the side
OF superior numbers refuses 70 he
checked. German theory considers
human life it's cheapest war material
Ieneral Grant followed the same mol
ICY, figuring that he could afford TO
enemy one. 0
Battles at Half Mile Range.
Data is yet lacking as To- tho Of
1~ectiveness of the bayonet. Reports
speak as if the two sides have often
ciashed hand to hand. This. thinks
the American expert whose views are
mere quoted, is a misleading. When
one side is unable to check an at
.ack: a bayonet charge by the at
ackln party has a decided moral
effect. The defense feels that if
rifle fire can not stay a charge it is
ABOUT Tune TO get out. However. most
battles are fought at ABOUT half a
mile range, and unless the Wav for
an advance has been prepared bv ar
tllery, or the opposing side is weak
IN numbers, the range is seldom
shortened.
Mucr criticism, even ridicule. has
developed upon the German method
of vOlley firing with the rifle butt
placed to the hip. This is condemned
ecaus 1T does not permit of any &C
curacy in fire. On the other hand
even the American army has abandon
ca the idea of having a force Of crack
SHOTS and now merely aims at a good
general average. Too much has per
maps been made of the precision Of
the modern rifles. Each rifle develops
e~ccentricities from day to dav. and
IN battle there is no way to ascertain
the errors or to get an %cur
range, especially in a damp coun-
try where the bullets raise no dust.
Yet a we'll placed rife fire does tell.
and this is the only thing hat saved
the British forces from humiliation
at Mons. The old Boer trick of
shooters to fire at will in an en-
deavor to pick off officers while the
remainder SEN in vOlleys proved a
disastrous surprise to the Germans.
The old saying that it takes a ton Of
lead to kill a man is still true. 1t is
estimated there is one hit in every
$500 shots as accuracy of instrument
Of fire.
1t is still too early to earn the
part cavalry is now playing. Ameri-
lean army officers are divided into two
schools on the subject of cavalry,
those who believe cavalry should play
its historic part in battle, and those
who regard cavalry as effective only
in scouting, in acting as mounted in
fantry when it is necessary to rush
men to a weak point, there to dis
mount n advance on foot, and lastly
in following up a rout. Artillery fire
and barbed wire entanglements have
so far cause a great slaughter on
horses. The United States war college
had enough faith in cavalry, how
ever, to plan a division Of it at the
time Intervention in Mexico was
threatened.
Machine guns figure largely in the
reports. but they are still believed to
be of real advantage only in sweeping
streets and open roads, since their
fire is scattered and they have a
tendency to jamb. They appear to
do their greatest damage in pot-shoot-
ing. r.
Popular imagination is greatly stir
red by reports Of airships. But these
are not feared by soldiers, except in
cases wher they are able to signal to
the enemy the range to their artil-
lery. Even in scouting they fly several
miles high. SO high as to be unable
to detect anything more than the
movements of large masses of men.
providing the atmospheric conditions
are favorable. Deplored troops would
be hard to distinguish. h amount
re oyp1oSiyac the machines are able