New-York tribune., 1918-08-15
Distances
By Captain II. 3. c. Pollard, of the
British Army

be able to Judge distance approx
mately, and every commissioned
officer and officer is expected to do it with
fair accuracy. 1t is essential part of
his training. Without it he cannot give
his orders correctly.
One of the best ways of teaching men
distance judging is on route marches At
halt the men estimate the distance of OBJ
jects visible ahead of them along the road.
When the march is resumed these estimates
checked by pacing the distances. In
this way the men are taught to take an in
terest in distance judging, and a competi-
tive spirit is encouraged among them
In the same way the ranges of all promi-
nent objects near camp should be carefully
taken with range finder, and the men
should be taught by heart the various dis
tances. Natural objects such as houses,
average sized trees roads where men or
traffic move should be preferred to merely
landscape features, for experience goes to
show that men retain mental picture of
such objects best.
In addition to the "mental picture"
method of estimating ranges there are Ger
full. One of these is the observation Of
objects through n service rifle barrel with
the bolt removed and the eye placed imme-
dately above the butt plate Thus a stand
ing man completely fills the diameter Of
the barrel at 800 yards distance. If he
occupies one-half he is some five hundred
and fifty yards away, and at eight hundred
yards he occupies third This system is
good for ranges up to 800 yards, but it re-
quires good light to see a dismounted
man through the barrel at this range.
For close ranges the following table
should be committed to memory but men
with vision below the normal should make
out table to suit their own particular
cyesight:
Mouth and eyes of man can be seen at
90 yards
Eyes appear as points at 100 yards
Buttons and details of uniform can he
seen at 200 yards
Face can be seen at 300 yards.
Shoulders are square at 400 wards
Shoulders go bottle-shaped at 500 wards.
Head is visible a dot at 600 yards.
Head is invisible at 700 yards.
Man looks like post at 800 yards.
In long distance the best way is to select
an object which appears to be half wav. TO
estimate the distance to it by one or other
OF the methods and then to double the est;-
mate.
FLASHES of guns at night are useful for
range flndlng. Sound travels about three
hundred and sixty yards a second Amore
accurate computation can be made bv count
ing eleven beats to three seconds. each heat
between the sight of the flash and the no;so
OF the sound equalling one hundred ward.
But here again practice is required To cst,-
mate the beats correctly.
i'ateral distances are usually estimated
by the number of fingers required to covor
the object but this, Of course, can be dono
only when the direct distance is know,
The fingers are held at arms length and NOT
close up to the eye
One hundred yards is covered at 5oo
yards by six to seven fingers
One hundred yards is covered at ooo
yards by three to three and half tineers
one hundred yards is covered at 1.5oO
yards by two fingers
One hundred yards is covered at 2ooo
yards by one thumb
All the foregoing rules for good light
and level ground. In bad light. in mist
when looking across u valley or when csti-
mating distance lying down the tendency is
to overestimate distance.
The general rule to remember is that o
distinct object will lead to underestimation
and an indistinct one to ovcrcstimation.