Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1915-10-15

OF the weapons has been pointed. nor. u mortaTS
are TO be used been loaded
The piottera marks upon hia paper nfth point
ahead and In line with the four other dots. This
Is his predicted point" whore tho encmy veHseI
should be a minute later In this tntorNai OF
time It il necessary for the men In the Piott'n&
room 10 do u number OF things necessary 20 mass
il possible tor the weapons 10 score MT ~"
mere range Is not enough 10 know. Lot US as
sumo that tho foe Is to be attacked ny means OF
mortarN and that tho projecttcs are 10 ke"'
thousands OF feet into the air upon their lohk
hight that may take tho better part OF TWO
minutes before piunEinR upon tho vulnsfhbiH
decks OF the hostile dreadnaught
Il Is ncedfu to know how long the shells VIII
be I'm the afr Mt that range; how far tn" target
will move during tho flight OF the miss'lcH' now
much the path of tho proleetlies VIII De ihhu-
enced by drift due to their own rotation ana IN"
effect OF the prevailing wind tho exact powder
charge that viii be needed prope thu shells
this being determined by the range and tho state
OF the atmosphere aud finally, how much ahsah
the mortnrs must be aimed In order to allow Tor
these factors. These complications arc due tn
the method of Indirect IRE employed. and in this
particular the mortRra are not so accurate 49, tho
hie rifes and. therefore. moro dlmcult 90
handle IN order to insure good results The mai
point In tho plotting room IL No. and Two
minutes further along than No S. tho predicted
point" the latter being verified by tho angles
given by the observers at tho spottcr stations
moment
All or this haa taken longer 10 doacribe than
actunl performance calls for. because the error
factors which have been Just mentioned are tabu-
lated and are quickly worked out graphically by
means OF cunnlngly deviaed apparatus. II must
be evident that in interval Of four minutes
big ship IL 600 10000 yards on would not get
measuTably closer, and once tho proper range 10
found and the mortars loaded the shifting range
IL quickly verified and the guns set accordingly.
The men I'm the towers and those In the plot
ting room ara at work all the while At definite
intervals the instructions are sent by telephone
from the plotting room 10 each battery or mortar
nit and les. these vocal directions bs mlauuder.
stood the figures and orders AFRO ViHbly repro
duced. For this work the teiautograph Is en-.
poyed. and thus words and numbers In writing
check the telephone calls
AZ has been said there are four mortars In
each pit, and general thing there are four
of these pits at each defenAe station. In other
words salvo OF 10 high explosive shells can
no launched by Indirect nre at roe. II but
two OF these hit the enemy ahe would either be
destroyed or graveiy damaged. because mono of
her decks would be able 10 Withstand such an
assault. In practice tho performances OF such
battery have been splendid. An matter Of rec
ord. mortar company has Aired many "a
ten shots IN minutes 20 seconds. and In that in
terval made Hix hits while another company has
scored eight times out of ten shots during q
span OF . minutes 2s seconds. These mortar
proIectes weigh from 500 to 900 pounds. and
charged With from 80 70 60 pounds Of high
explosive
For the disappearing guns the modua operand
differs In gone particular. The time OF Night
of the shot is far shorter than In the case che
mortar she'll the powder charge IL not varied "a
suit different ranges. and the state Of thu atmoS
phere In not deciding factor. Therefore. cor
rections easily made for the rifle. whan
II does fire IL pointed right at tia target The
principal concern OF the battery commander II
the range and this Is telsphousd and
reproduced by the teiautogfaph NJ the firing sta
tions
The battery commander BtHo follows the enemy
ship with telescope range finder that employs
"A short vertical instead Of a horizontal base This
serves a check and at each gun there IL = tsls
scopic sight which In funetioncd Independent oil
the weapou-the operator looking over the para
pet and following continually the moving quarry
BY swinging ha telescops horizontally he rauast
ton below. and there the trainer swings IL.
weapon In unison and the elevator raises II.
.muzzle agfesabiy to Instructions from the range
nndera
When the rifles have been loaded and the mo
for action arrives these great var dog
rse upon their steel launches and thrust thai
muzzles above the heavy parapctS Of concrete
Instantly there ts thundsraua boom-ths speed
ing proiectltes their murdsrous mission
Before the thin veil Of smoke has been aasp
aside the guns have sunk behind cover ana hu
for the momentary flashing Of their n1uzzfsa Their
II nothing 70 show the spoilers on the hoatil
craft where the attacking guns lis