The Arizona copper camp., 1918-07-27
SN|PER'S SCHOOL
IS CAMP PERRY

CAMP PERRY, Ohio.-Uncle Sans
School for Shippers" might be an ap-
propriate title for this training base,
where $50 young commissioned Off
GERS are learning to become the dead
liest of dead shots with the rifle.
A corps of American instructors Sec
ond to none in the world as crack
riflemen aided by half a dozen of the
best available British rifle shots, is
rapidly training the young Yankee
sharpshooter. The officers who are
students here now in the important
modern art of sniping will in turn
become instructors, so that the knoWl-
edge may be spread rapidly to thou
sands of American soldiers.
Many officers of the United States
army have long held that the rifle
still remains the most important and
deadly weapon for infantry work, des-
pite the modern use of grenades,
flame throwers, etc. The deadly work
of Yankee soldiers and marines with
the rifle in the recent Marne fight
ing goes a great way toward vindl-
eating the advocates of the musketry
school here They declared months
ago that no time should be wasted IN
the establishment of the "sniper's
school," but it took prolonged efforts
on the part of Colonel Mumma, the
present commander of this camp, and
other officers to convince the War De-
partment that the idea was worth
while.
Once the Department became con-
vinced it was not long before the most
expert riflemen available were gath
cred here to act as instructors, and
they were followed by the British
crack shots. The $50 future "sniping
officers" were young men especially
chosen for the work and came from
thirteen camps and environments
throughout the country.
In this school of advanced rifle work
the students are learning the modified
Enfield from the ground up, so TO
speak They are not only learning to
shoot with deadly precision, but they
are learning the integral parts so that
thew could almost put the gun together
blindfolded This, in fact, is an actual
part of the training, and the principal
parts of the weapon are assembled
while the students eyes are bandaged
All told, there are eighty parts IN
the formation of the Enfield, despite
the simplicity of it's mechanism. 1t
has a trifle longer barrel, and the
sight used is the circle peep sight In
stead of the notch battle sight OF the
Springfield. Also among other things
the student must know the effect OF
temperature, light and wind on his
craftsmanship and correct for them
quickly. He must estimate distance
within 10 per cent of the measured
figure if he is to be considered good
"sniping material and this is some
thing of feat in itself.
Young officer students consider it
great honor to be chosen for TINS
camp. Their enthusiasm is increased
through the fact that a satisfactory
completion of the course will mean al
most immediate promotion. Colonel
Mumma, the commander, was recog
nized as brilliant cavalry officer il
his old regular army days, as we'll as
being one of the crack shots of the
army, and he is highly popular with
the officers training here.
AS a demonstration of the quality o.
the instructors gathered from the ole
army, the work of one officer may bt
noted. This officer, who is siXty-fivt
years old and the senior instructor
here, qualified last year for the TWEEN
tieth time as expert rifleman. Yester
day, just to show that he is still go
ing strong, he put in ten straigh
bullseyes at 1000 yards. Then t.
prove it wasn't an accident, he ranl
the bell thirteen times more at 100
yards before he slipped outside tn
magic circle.
Besides the long and careful routin
of rifle instruction, the officer stu
dents are put through a thorougl
study and mastery of Colt and Smitl
& Wesson automatic revolvers. How
ever, before all things, Colonel Mum
ma and his staff of experts deman