Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-07-01
America Sticks to the Rifle

With the entrance Of American
troops into the front-line trenches the
rifle is coming into its own in the
European war. Hitherto, except with
the Canadians. it has not played the
part that might have been expected OF
Already the deadly accuracy OF
its toll of German victims. for the rifle
is the favorite a p Of our troops
The reasons for this are several
The American is a hunter by tradi-
ton. 1t is in his blood, because his
father and grandfather before him
won the wilderness with the old muz-
zle-loader. Daniel Boone and Dave
Crockett and Kit Carson are all old
friends of his. The wild west is ia
miliar territory, even though he may
never have crossed the Mississippi
For he has read the tales Of trap
pers and hunters and practiced them
on a small scale in the woods outside
his village.
The American Is a marksman by
training. What boy has not spent
long days in the woods with a gun in
his hands? What youth, excepting
only some born and reared in the
largest cities, has not come home a,
night in triumph with a bag Of cot
t~ontails?
The third reason why Sammy sticks
to his rife in the trenches is that il
is the best military arm in the world
For these three reasons, then-be-
the rifle is his weapon by ira
dition and by training. and because
the n he carries is the best manu-
fo ofi1NoH ann foFo - L.. A.
rife against the hand grenade and
the bayonet. He can use any of the
three, but for choice give him a clean
6OO-yard shot at a moving spot OF
gray outlined against the dun Elan
ders background of a scar-torn hill
1t has been. acknowledged for years
that the American regular army,
small though it was prior to. 1917, is
the finest body of marksmen in any
army. Our teams. competing at Camp
Perry and at Bisley against the best
shots Of Europe and the Western
hemisphere. prove conclusively thai
the superiority still rests with us.
The United States government has
made for its army the most perfect
military rifles v produced. These
are the Springfield model of 1903 and
the 1917 model, both of which are be-
yond question better guns than those
used by any other army in the world
The cartridges for these weapons are
the best now in use. Orders have
been placed for 100000 rifles. The
production now averages $4,000 a
week, sufficient to equip three divi.
sions. One billion cartridges have
been ordered for practice in the train.
ing camps. Our manufacture Of rife
cartridges exefls in amount that OF
Qnv nfhar -rnN 6na Arv1a al4re
turned put 125,ooo,0o during the
past month.
The policy Of the government has
been to appropriate about thirteen
dollars a year for the rifle practice OF
each soldier in the army. Target
ranges have been built in all parts O.
the country. These were available
not only for the use Of the Army and
the, National Guard but also for rifle
Germany has 1beea unable to dc
this. With a, standing army SO great
as the one maintained by the Kaiser
in peace times, such an approximation
would have I interfered with other
plans. If $13 a year had been spent on
ammunition for the rife practice o.
each mar in the German standing
army and reserve.@the Teutons woult
be far better shots than they are to.
day. But this gain would be at the
expense Of the funds necessary fol
the supply Of munitions the genera,
staf was accommodating against the
day of need. Prior to the war the
German soldier fired only about IL
ball cartridges a year on the range.
The rife ranges in Europe are few
and inferior. Land is far too valuable
to permit Of much being used for such
purpose. Scarcely any Of these range,
are suitable for practice at q distance
of rel 400 yards. An appropriation
Of $13 to the mar for ammunition
would not have made European sol.
diers anything like as expert a. ours
The lack Of opportunity to shoot un-
der the field conditions, which are the
foundation of q good rifeman's work
In actual battle stress. would neces.
sarily have debarred this.
The American il a hunter. He used
to be a rifieman from necessity, eince
his safety and his food depended on
his skill He Is now one from choice
There are few Of our youngsters who
do not W " have access 10 a. 20
rifle, and but few who do not ret an
occasional chance to use a shotgun,
The hunting instinct is still strong II
US. It IL estimated that about $500
900 sportsmen in this country hunt
every year with rife or q s1oteun.
Even in thickly settled districts
game is still plentiful enough TO offer
enticing sport The ~tlicense fee il
small. amounting ususlly to only 81.
Ammunition is cheaper here than else
where. The finest and least costly
fnachine-made guns are produced In
this country. Most important, We
have no established a~ristocracy which
controls the shooting preserves, to the
exclusion OF the general public.
The conditions 70 Europe arc total