The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-09-08
ARMY AND NAVY NEWS
Best Service Column In civ,

( Lieut.. Col. William c. Davis, OF the
coast Artillery Corps, has completed an
interesting report on the conclusions de-
rived from experimental firing in which
the Twentieth and Twenty-second COM
panies at Battery Worth and the One
Hundred and Sixty-third Company at
Battery Payne participated during recent
practice in the coast defenses Of Pensa-
cola.
THE necessity Of an aviation section
to be attached to every important coast
defense, In order TO secure early infor-
nation of the enemy's ships and possible
attempts at landing. to prevent enemy's
aerial reconnaissance Ct our coast de-
fenses. and to locate shd direct FIRE Of
seacoast cannon on land targets, is i'm
iperative." he says. The practicability
OF the aIrplane can not be doubted by
anyone who witnessed the work of Lieut.
r. C. Saufiey, u. S. n.
The defamation of a Finch torpedo
shell would probably result fatally TO all
personnel within fifteen feet of the point
of impact from shock alone; beyond about
this radius casualties would probably only
be such as would result from shell frag-
ments, and with personnel sheltered by
trenches, these would be few.
Against materiel this shell appears to
exert little destructive effect unless the
point of impact is within ten or twelve
feet thereof; in such cases all ordinary
overhead cover and splinter-proof pro-
lection would probably be demolished.
Therefore, the effective use of this shell
against field works would require ID a
large allowance of ammunition; % effec-
tive system for observation of fire-a con-
dition in a thick country only obtainable
by use OF aircraft Under these two con-
ditions there car be no doubt of the eff
fectiveness OF this weapon on a land tar
get, but the number of rounds to be fired
to accomplish definite results will be
much greater than most of US have
hitherto thought necessary"
| The Bureau of Navigation probably
will have a difficult time in recruiting up
to the new maximum strength of 400.
/ This means an increase during the re-
mainder of this fiscal year Of approx
mately 1000 men. This takes into con-
sideration the regular increase of Q, 200,
] the enlistments of the Flying Corps.
amounting to $50 men. and the Hospital
Corps, which is on a basis of 81 per cent
of the strength of the Navy and Marine
Corps.
| Forty stations have been, or will be.
opened. Additional facilities for recruit
! ing are afforded by the increase of the
appropriation for the purpose to about
| $40, 900. A new feature is the authority
| to employ postmasters as recruiting Of
fcers at the rate of S for every recruit
obtained. a similar arrangement having
been made. by authority of law. for the
beneft of the Army and Marine Corps.
| While the enlisted strength of the navy
is now about 100 above the maximum Of
last year. 1t is expected that IT will be
difficult to obtain the additional recruits
| this year, two months of which have
passed. There is a big demand for labor
| throughout the country. and higher
wages are being paid than prevailed last
year With the increase in the enlisted
force of the army, navy, and Marine
Corps, 1t is expected the navy will have
its share OF trouble in recruiting up 10
full strength
The Bureau of Navigation. however, Is
working hard at the task. and already
| four new districts, with the usual sub
stations. have been established, head
quarters being at Burlington. Vt; Nash
vile. Tenn; Peoria, Ill, and Parkers-
burg, w Va
| More than 900 army officers have sign
| fed their desire to be transferred from
one arm of the service to another. in
| accordance with a clause in the national
| defense act of June 3 Most of the 30
| transfers desired are from coast artillery.
infantry and cavalry to the field artil-
| lery This was expected in view of the