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

up.
lery officer tested. He must be able
to tell whether these explosions four
miles away have been over the tar
get or short of 1t. This might seem
an easy matter, but in point OF fact
is very dificult Everything depends
upon correct sensing" as 1t is tech
nically called. The object of the
game is to succeed in placing some
shots over the mark and some under
it, when it win be easy to hit almost
any point between.
Bracket your target, and walk
through it," is the way the artillery
officers express it.
When the officer has thus located
the exact range Of his mark by ser
les of experimental shots, he is ready
to go into fire for effect. All four
guns OF the battery are now fred in
3 series of sa1yos, the shrapnel burst
ing, if the ahots have been well aim
ed, just above and In front of the
target. SO that they Will hurl their
When the firing is over the COM
mand Odicers assemble" is given.
The militia captains gather about the
regular army officer who is acting as
instructor. and are 1ectured by him
precisely as an instructor In mathe-
mates lectures q lot of schoolboys
about a problem on the blackboard.
The good points and the mistakes of
the problem which has just been
worked out are stated and explained.
Bad work is severely condemned. An
officer who makes fundamental err
rors is told that he must learn the
"A-B-C's of his business before he
can fire any more government am
munition at. SO shot. Really cap
able firing is somewhat mildly
praised.
This battery practice occupies the
greater part of all the time at the
School of Fire. 1t reproduces almost
exactly the condition of troops oper-
ating in the field. It has made com
petent artillerists out of many mill
tia officers, who, without it, would
have known almost nothing about
actual fire.
Three Inch Guns.
The guns used in this practice are
the regular three inch light artillery
of the United States army Each
battery consists of four guns, with
Timber and caisson drawn by six
peace strength. The artillery of the
United States army also includes
horse batteries. which are still light
err. and six and nine inch howitzers,
which are. of course, much heavier.
But in every army the three inch field
piece, or a. field piece of approximate
ly that caliber and capable of rapid
movement, is the basis of an efeec-
tive artillery. If we had q sufficient
number of militia three inch light
batteries, one of the most important
parts of an effective fighting force
would be provided for. Hence
the School of Fire all efforts are con-
centrated on developing such batter
les.
The artillery officers OF the regular
army say that the European war has
brought out nothing which will cause
a substantial modification of our light
batteries. The German army has
used great deal of portable heavy
artillery aga-nst Notifications, but
there are no heavy Notifications to be
demolished on this continent, and 1t
is regarded as certain that the Unit
ed States is not going to invade any
other continent. There have also
been reports that automobile artillery
is playing an important part in the
European engagements; but its is
pointed out by our regular army Off
fcers that the efficiency of motor ar
tillery is absolutely dependent upon
the fine roads In Europe, such as do
not exist over any extensive area In
this country. Hence the three inch
light batter drawn by horses re-
mains the backbone of the artillery.