The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1918-06-21
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feigned attack on the part of the roe.
This is in part due to the German theory 'iiht
certain percentaye of hits will result from CIV
en- number of shots The Boche infantryman' eA-
cept at short range. does not direct his aim al
particular adversary. He fires for genera re-
suits.
A German officer. for instance, learns that there
certain number of the enemy In given
zone about 100 yards square, 500 yards In front
Of his position. He estimates that if his company
sprays this for halfhour certain perceh'-
age of casualties will be inflicted, dependent upon
the rnpidty Of fire. number OF marksmen ana size
Of zone.
An American farmer boy could tell him now err
roneous this theory is He knows, because ex-
perience has taught him. Time and time again
he has fred with shotgun into fiock OF DUCKS
a covey OF grouse on the wing punched appar-
entity so closely that miss Is hardly possible.
There are $50 or 200 Individual shot in the load
vet such an attempt nearly always scores COM
plete miss. Naturally this percentage of failures
must be still higher In rife shooting.
An attacking party may be advancing in what
looks like dense mass There is to the eye very
little space between the men. general results
shot ought to score hit. In point OF fact, II
usually does not. Spaces between the moving men
constantly opening. Very little OF the 'front.'
offers vital target. shot through KNAPP
sack, helmet, through baggy breeches or thick
leggtngs even through the feshy part of the body,
will not stop a charging foe. The only way to
make sure Of hit is to pick an individual tar-
get aim at dead center, and fire accurately. An
infantryman in full equipment Is good deal ike
hawk on a fence post. You are likely to get
lot Of feathers from your shot and very little
hawk.
The ability to shoot accurately has made the
American rifeman dangerous. This same skill Is
making our infantryman superior to his foe on
the western front. General Pershing recognizes
the need Of maintaining this advantage, for In his
be taken in rifle instruction at the cantonments
since this is the most valuable weapon both in
ofense and defense
Put n company of crack German troops against
an equal number Of Let them direct their
fire based on the general results" theory at our
men while our boys follow the American method
of selecting an individual target. An average
company OF Sammies would contain about ten
experts 20 sharpshooters, 35 marksmen and
large number of frst-class rifemen. The result
would not be hard to determine.
1t is because of the deficiency of the Germans
as r,demen that their general staff has resorted
40 largely to the hand grenade. For the same rea-
son the French and British have done the same.
We read stories of infantrymen chasing troops
q quarter of a mile to get close enough to throw
hon1 orenades at them. Well-directed rife fire
would have been far more effective. There are
times at short range when the grenade Is su-
perior weapon. One tossed into group of men
will do more damage than a single rifle bullet,
tod and the distance at which they can be used
effectiyely Is short Since the French and British
are better shots than the Germans they send
more riaemen over the top and fewer grenadiers.
The British regular army had great reputa-
,on for shooting. Most Of these had seen serv-
ice in Egypt, Africa other colonies where con-
d,t,ons in a degree resemble ours. The work these
veterans did in the first battle OF Ypres and AZ
tho retreat from Mons, where with practically no
artillery they held four or Ave times their number
shit do fnNQ uYTnU
The Latin instinct is to use the knife. For
this reason the French and the italian revert
often to the bayonet. Because the German does
not like close hand-to-hand work he prefers the
grenade.
The Canadian Is our born brother at arms. The
conditions that have made US made him. His eff
fect,veness as a soldier Is due to his individual
initiative and to his skill with the rifle. What IL
true of him is true of our soldiers. Already they
show a tendency to stick to the rife. When they
get going well the Germans will pray to be put
against any troops except Amer1cans-and the
chief reason for this dread will be Sammy's eH-