The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-04-29
AMERICANS THE
BEST SHOOTERS
Mexicans Not Proficient. -Michi-
gan Is Good Among the Militia

Owosso, Mich. April 29.-"When IL
comes to trading steel jacketed bullets
with the MeXicans, we should have
all the best of it, said Major NJ. },
Phillips.
AS our soldiers are better trained
i'm other departments than the Next
can soldiers, SO are they better train
cd in craftsmanship.
ITO make a lighting man across the
border, first YOU catch your peon Then
YOU give him beltful of ammunition
and "A rifle. Sometime he gets a uni
form. That is the extent of the train
ing. There is no drill, no target prac-
tice: just get out and hike. The peon
lacks intelligence and ambition; he has
no natural taste for machinery He
does take a childish delight i'm firing
his rifle in order To hear the explosion.
But he cannot repair it If some little
thing goes wrong.
"When the enemy is encountered,
both sides get under cover and waste
ammunition. Very, very few of them
aim their weapons They raise up
over the entertainments and empty the
rifles in the general direction of the
enemy. That is why there are so many
long drawn-o scraps between feder-
ais and constitutionaists; they can
fight for days with few casualties.
When out i'm the open, they often fire
from the hip or the knee, as the Span
iards did in '9S. The MeXicans have u
few sharpshootcrs, but the general
average of efficiency is very low"
Served at Santiago.
Major Phillips volunteered as Il
sharpshooter before Santiago, July 1,
1892, and for six years has been brig
ade inspector of small arms practice
i'm the Michigan National Guard. For
several years he has been member of
Michigan rifle teams in the national
matches.
! There are no better marksmen any
where than Americans. | don't mean
by this To infer that all regular mill
tiamen are wonders with the gun. The
tendency in recent years is to let the
expert perfect himself, while the gem
eral shooting average of the whole
company has been raised. When Il
man joins the regular army now he is
taught how to sight and aim correct
ly. how to hold the piece, and how to
release the trigger without jerking il.
The result is that, while only one or
two men out of the company become
really great shots, the company as u
uhn1a 1a1iNat. Z. t,nt1p1arhnS ~
from 600 to 500 yards, and that is
what counts in battle
Advises Target Practice.
Michigan has one of the best shoot
ing brigades in the National Guard of
the country. 1t required lot of work
to earn that record You would DO
surprised To learn how many men
there are i'm Detroit and the other large
company stations who had never fired
a gun of any description until we took
them i'm hand
IF we are called out. we will mob
ilzc at Fort Wayne. and that will give
MS great opportunity To brush up
the craftsmanship of the brigade. The
range on Mack avenue will be uailizcd
by one or two companies every day,
have written to General Kirk the chief
of staif, and to Major Nandercook. the
adiutant- general urging that this
chance be used | would like To burn
up about 100000 rounds of ammuni-
ton before we are ordered south from
Detroit. It would cost Uncle Sam
about $4,000 but would be mighty
good investment"