South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-04-27

dier-General Frank /. Bridges. adju
tant-general OF Indiana. is compiling
information regarding various topics.
directly connected with the Indiana
national guard. and has asked several
well known guardsmen 10 submit
treatlseS 20 him on some OF the mill
tary subjects now Of interest. In the
first OF these papers. Captain Glenn
Van Auken OF Auburn, a member OF
the state senate and adjJtant of the
Third infantry, /. y. c., discusses
the United states Army Rifle"
Van Auken's paper follows:
The United States has the finest
military rife in the world. 1t is
known as the United States magazine
rifle, model 1908, Caliber so. The
government thinks so we'll Of this
rife that il has discarded every other
model and armed all its forces, in
Guiding the infantry cavalry. navy,
marine corps and national guard with
the new Springfield, as il is common
~ called. The war department also
has some 900, 600 in reserve for emer
gencies. 1t weighs eight and a half
pounds, and with sword bayOnet at
tached. nine and one-half pounds. It's
total length is AZ inches. Like all
high power rifles il has the bolt action
and the mechanism is OF the greatest
simplicity and fool-proof strength.
Twelve thousand shots have been
fired with one OF these rifles without
loss of accuracy and with no indica-
ton Of weakness. II may be used as
a single loader or fred from the mag
azine. into which five cartridges are
showed in a light brass clip. Twenty
three aimed shots have been fired In
one minute with this rife, used as "A
single loader. and 20 shots in the
same time, using magazine fire.
Bullet Faster Than Sound Wave.
The cartridge contains so grains
OF pyrocullulose smOkeless powder
behind a sharp pointed cuprO nickel
Jacketed bullet of lead and tin cOmpo-
sition, weighing $50 grains. The same
cartridge is used in all the machine
guns of the army and navy which
simplifies the problem Of ammunition
supply.
The velocity. accuracy and strik-
ing power of this load in the new
Springfield are almost beyond belief.
The bullet leaves the muzZle at the
rate or 200 feet a second, and goes
the first 500 yards In less than a sec
iOnd. Its extreme range is three miles
and the bullet travels a mile before
the sound OF the discharge catches
up. The velocity Of the bullet grad
ually decreases. while sound uniform
" travels LOO feet a second. In
other words a man half a mile away
could be struck by the bullet before
he heard the sound OF the discharge,
II he could hear il at all. The sight
has an adjustment for wind. and for
elevation up TO $3.50 yards.
hill Five With one shot.
AT loo yards the bullet will pen
citrate 46 one-inch boards, or a five
inch brick wall, or a half-inCh steel
plate. At 600 yards il viii penetrate
ID One-inch boards or is inches OF
- fna In
five men have been executed with one
bullet TO save ammunition, using a
rife similar 10 ours.
Phenomenal records have been
made by American rifemen with the
new Springf cid. II has proven super
Tor 20 any foreign make in all the
great international matches OF recent
years in this country and abroad. An
American team won the champion
ship Of the world at the Olympic
games at London in 1908. and anOth-
er American team deCisively retained
the championship at the olympic
games at stockholm in 1912. These
and other teams have been picked in
1ree-fOr-all try-outs, and most OF the
individuals have come from the ma
uOnal guard.
National Rifle Tournament.
Each year the war department
and the National Rife association.
working together, conduct the nation
al rifle tournament. which. in recent
years. has been held at Camp Perry,
.. The war department takes care
OF its three great championship
matches. the national team. the ma
tional individual and the national in
dvidual pistol
The National Rifle association han
dies the remainder OF the matches.
which extend over a period OF three
or four weeks. In the fall of 1913. at
camp Perry. each arm Of the regu-
lar service and the national guard OF
nearly every state was represented by
teams OF ? men and other individual
competitors At the same time and
place the international rifle and pistol
matches are held. and eight foreign
teams and numerous individuals from
Europe and South America competed.
There were over 1000 competitors on
the ground every one Of whom was q
crack shot. The National Rife assoc
citation distributed over $4,000 in
money prizes. besides a large number
OF valuable medals. cups and trophies.
in number OF competitors, IN value OF
prizes i'm interest and in Importance.
the national rife tournament Is the
greatest sporting event in the world.
Il such a serious and valuable event
10 the country can be called a sport
ing event.
indianapolis Man Wins.
Indiana has been represented
By strong teams and some OF the I'm
est individual shots in the country.
Sergeant CLARK OF indianapolis won
the national individual match in 1911.
and also the long range tyro at 1000
yards Lieutenant Garland OF Rens-
selaer was fourth IN the national indi-
vidual in 1913 with over 600 com
pefinE. and two other Indiana men
were i'm the first So prize winners.
Several other matches and many 9th
or high houors have been won by
Indiana men. IN 1915 the Indiana
team stood third n their division in