Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-09-06
Strategy Winning Factor in War and Uncle Sam's
 Men Always Studying.
WAR LIKE A GAME
With Huge Board and TOy-Like Ships Officers Are Taught at War Col. lege the Strategy of
 Battle.

Washington, Sept. 3.-Naval officers on shore duty here believe the Euro pean war will not close before at least one great battle has been fought on the sea. Secrecy being prime factor in modern warfare, no one can tell beforehand just when and where and how the battle will be fought Something may be learned, however. by paying a hasty visit to Uncle Sam's naval war college at Newport, Rhode Island.
 Officers are taught how to fight at the war college. They study war from a scientific point of view. They learn tbat brute strength does not al- ways win the day. Often a wrestler of slight build will throw a more husky opponent because of the slight mans superior skill. It is the same in war. The sagacity of a great strategist will often overcome great odds and win battle.
 War is a game. It is a good deal like chess. There are certain funda- mental rules under which modern war must be conducted. There are chess players who can win against ovel whelming odds, and the same thing is true of war.
 Give some admirals a fleet bu, half the strength of an enemy's fleet md they will win nine times out of tea. It is because they are greater strate- gists than the enemy's leader. Vie tory usually goes to the leader who knows the most about the business of war.
 It is to teach naval officers to over come great odds that Uncle Sam con ducts his classes of Newport. For the most part the students are men destinied to command nightly dread thoughts, fleet units, and p1rhaps en. tire fleets.
 CheckerbOard of War.
 In a sample lesson a wooden table 2O-feet square, representing d portion of the open sea. is the game beard. 1t is marked off in 4-inch ulta. each 4-inches representing four miles. The board theoretically is 240 miles square and each square inch of it's surface represents one square mile of ocean.
 When the battle or manoeuvers are to be played near a naval base, port or island, the topography of the ooas, line is drawn, minutely accurate to scale on the table. At the e;.d of the game this is erased or, if tae scene of the conflict shifts to another polnt near land, the old coast line is erased and a continuation of it substituted
 pio0nc tho nr f;,,xy boats, being less than an inch long, representing dreadnoughts, nattie- ships of the second line, cruisers de- stroyers, submarines, auxiliaries and merchantmen.
 Ship of one fleet .are enameled blue an dthe other red. A pin is thrust through the piece SO t1.at .nen the pieces is moved, it may be r,rm- ly fastened to it's new position Colored flags are attached to the top of the pins to indicate which type of war craft the flag represents.
 Studying Gun Fire.
 An instrument, called the range finder when used on real warships will at once give the distance Of any object from it. It works out prob- lens mechanically. On this inst:u ment and the accuracy with which i, is read the sureness of modern gun fire depends. For the war game Uncle Sam's strategists have invented sub stitute. It is a stick ah,uJ yard long. divided into units each repre- senting 300 yards, 1 inch standing fol one mile.
 Maximum battle range is about l5,. 900 yards for effective fire. Wher warships Of waring nations come within that range there is practical. ly no escape from battle. To mee this condition the range finder sticl is used during the war game One officer continually measures the distance between the tcy flee with his scale and calls off the rango When the tiny fleets come within tl. range of 15,OO0 they egin firing.
 If ship steams at twenty knots fol an hour it will travel just twent, inches over the game board. Whel | battleship changes it course ii loses headway. The loss of headwa, increases with the number of de turned.
 The foregoing-and other essentia details-being settled, every conceiv able exigency that might arise i, worked out from every point of view on the game board. The students talk, thelr work seriously and, theoretical ly at least. we have number of wal college graduates who could go ou 70 battle against foe with a fleet O superior strength and still win th.