Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-22
4HE SCORER STANDING AmctlART SHOWS OF
PRoJLcTHEs HITTING THEIR Marks cor1ANpEE In BAckeRorD
iaWRITlNG SIGNALS

ing dreadnoughts battleships OF the sec
ond line, battle cruisers, destroyers,
submarines, auXiiiaries and merchant
men. Ships of one fleet are enameled
blue and the other red. A pin is thrust
through the piece so that when the piece
is moved, it may be firmly fastened to
it's new position. Colored- flags are at
tached to the>.top of the pms to indicate
which type of war craft the toy repre-
sents. -
the range finder, which, when properly
read, will at once give the distance OF
any object from it. 1t works out me-
chanically problems in trtgonometry- On
this instrument and the accuracy with
which it is read the sureness OF modern
gunfire depends entirely. For the war
game Uncle Sans strategists have in
vented substitute. 1t is stick about
yard long. divided into units each repre-
senting 500 yards, when one inch is taken
equal to a mile.
*@t.s,s
Maximum battle range is about 1900
yards for effective fire: When warships
os warning nations come within that
range there is practically no escape from
battle. To meet this condition the range
finder stick is used during the war game
One officer continually measures the dis
lance between the toy fleets with his
scale and calls off the range. When the
tiny fleets come within the range of
1900 they begin firing.
So that the ships can be moved rapidly
another scale has been designed II is
twenty inches long and represents TWEEN
ty nautical miles. If ship ste ans at
twenty knots for an hour 1t will travel
Just twenty inches over the game board
II the craft proceeds at but ten knots for
half an hour it will cover but five inches
When a battleship changes its course it
loses Roadway. When the ship turns
but few degrees the loss is not so
great.
The loss of Roadway increases with tho
increase in the number of degrees turned
This is such an important matter In ma
neuvering a fleet of ships that 1t must
be considered in the war game. A semi
circular scale has been devised which
shows the loss Of Roadway for ships turn
ing any number of degrees when going at
any speed.
Men are the cheapest things in war
Dreadnoughts. destroyers, submarines
guns. artillery and ammunition require
months and months to replace. There
have been times when a leader would
have sacrificed five or six whole compa-
MES of men just to recover as many field
pieces. Men in any number can ALWAYS
be obtained and trained in. at most, a
few months. In time of strife and trou-
DIE tney mock 10 the standard of their
country in hordes. A modern war can
last but a few months and it would be
obviously impossible to replace dread
noughts and submarines in such a short
time. The same condition Is true for
lesser things. A broken breech block
would probably render q mighty twelve
inch gun useless all during war.
There is no guesswork about the war
game. 1t is pathetically serious. The
toy ships represent real ships Of ma
tions-the United States. Germany.
Great Britain. France and Japan. The
problems solved are ones which seem
most likely to worry Uncle Sam during
the next WARRIOR the most part they