The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-07-19

the long lines of khaki tents swarm
lrhaki-clad men. There is a noise OF
shouting and splashing In tin basins,
and then the ranks form In front OF
the mess shack, each man armed with
cup and plate, eager for his morn
ing chew.
AT the officers mess things are
bit more leisurely. but no less DUST
nesslike. Breakfast, which 10 very
good, as are all meals at the Scnool
Of Fire. is served in temporary
building, which Is the dining hall for
the regular militia officers and their
guests. The talk is all OF problems
and ranges and height OF burst; Tor
| a good artillery officer is, above all,
a good technician. His profession Is
as complicated and as exact as that
of a civil engineer. and he Is wholly
absorbed in it.
BY O'Clock the batteries are IN
der way, led by the colonel and ms
STAN of militia officers and regular
| Instructors F-Battery hill is the
destination. At a hard troI the long
lines of guns and caisson rattle over
the rocky mountain roads, giving the
green recruits perched on the TIMBER
seat such a shaking up as he never
dreamed Of.
The position chosen for defense is
la grassy hilltop, looking across a
wide, timbered valley of the Poconos.
Far away on the opposite mountain
side. dflieent search with spy glass
reveals little brown and gray specks,
barely visible among the second
growth forest. These are the canvas
targets and they represent infantry.
or Batteries in position, as the case
may be. They are anywhere from
two to four miles distant, and tnvts-
ible to the naked eye.
Never Sees the Mark
Within fifteen minutes F-Battery
hyu has been converted into a for
mtdable fertilization. The batteries
are swung into line down on shout
der of it and below the crest. Linn
hers and horses are 200 yards away
to the rear. On the highest crest
the officers take their stand. Here
are set UP the instruments not un-
like surveyors transits, by which the
range and direction are found. Five
minutes suffices to establish tele-
phone connection between the ONO
ers on the hilltop-the brains OF the
battery-and the guns themselves, a
hundred yards away. For the man
who fires never sees the mark; he
merely sets an instrument in accord
ance with directions received by tel
ephone. A hundred yards back OF
the line detachment OF the stgnal
corps has erected a field wireless sta
ton, by which communication with
base of supplies thirty miles to the
rear may be maintained. All OF these
communications are as perfect and as
up to date as anythat could be found
upon a European battlefield.
Back of the line Of guns a ladder
forty feet high has been erected and
braced with guy wires. From the
top of this an officer is scanning the
horizon with a glass. He has nothing
to do with the military situation, how
ever He is merely making sure that
NO wandering automobile or farm
wagon Is on the line of fire. When
all is safe, a range officer in the VI
cinity of the targets will send up
smoke bomb.
Meantime. the officers of the staff
are eagerly scanning a panoramic
photograph of the supposed enemy.s
position. This photograph was made
a few hours before by the official
photographer of the signal corps,
and is one of the very newest devel-
opments In artillery work, being far
more exact and graphic than any map
that could possibly be drawn.
Purely Mechanical.
To describe to a layman the exact
means of directing artillery fire would
take a small book. Suffice 1t to say
that one instrument finds the approx
, innate range of the target. while an
other one finds its direction with re-
lation to a hxed point in the rear.
Upon the gun itself is another 1nstru-
ment which is lined upon this point.
the distance between the range find,
ing instruments on the hilltop and
the battery itself being accurately al
| lowed for. The gunner has merely
to set his instrument In accordance
with the telephone directions of the
officer. and then see the reflected i'm
age of the aiming point in his in
strument. His part in the game is
purely mechanical. To set the In
! strument promptly and load and fire
with rapidly is the whole duty or
| the crew that mans the gun.
It is on the hilltop that the real
instruction is going forward An of
ficer of the regular army is In charge.
He selects one of the militia officers
and tells him that on the opposite
hill is a battery in position, which
| is to be destroyed. The militia Of
ficer locates the target through his
glass. He then directs his non-coni-
missioned officers to find the range.
while he gets the direction the regu-
lar officers watching critically his ev-
cry move. If he gives bone head"
order. a whistle will be blown and he
win be sharply 1ectured. Otherwise.
he will be allowed to work out the
problem for himself.
The range and direction are found
approximately In the least possible
time. Then the order to IRE is given,
repeated by the telephone. operator
ON the hilltop and roared out by the
oficer In charge OF the battery. Two
guns speak. A few seconds elapse
and then far away. somewhere in the
vicinity of the targets. two little balls
of white smoke suddenly appear In