The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1918-05-15

1YN MII ment as have not yet been
EXsNVNMI through this school have
S2R4Ial9S been ordered down in two
sections, the first of which
a'ready has been graduated.
upon the Coast Artillery corps has
oeeh thrust the burden of handling
the heavy ordnance with which the
army Is equipped. and which in the
heid Will be manipulated by meth
OBS more or less resembling the meth
ods already laid down for sea coast
ordnance. These methods are far
diiferent from those used by the field
artillery proper-that is, the light
three-inch rifles and 4.7-inch howitzers.
The present-day heavy artillery Off
Ger must be mathematical shark.
railroad engineer and an expert IN
handling gasoline motors, besides hav-
ing an intimate knowledge of gun
merry. says writer in the New York
Herald. His equipment has changed
from the battery commanders ruler
Of the field artilleryman to slide rule,
transit and book Of logarithms.
In addition he must understand per-
fectly the manipulation of heavy
masses-termed the art of mechanical
Maneuvers-for his guns will not be
securely emplaced in concrete, but
will be exposed to the mercieS of the
open road. with consequent Overturn-
ings and sudden shiftings. He must
know how to use tackle of all sorts.
and in general know all the tricks Of
the modern contractor.
The officers who came down to Fort
Monroe were nearly all graduates of
the National Guard courses prescribed
by the war department and were fully
competent to handle seacOast ordnance
in the forts to which they were as
signed. They thought that their
knowledge was ample, and it would
have been for this work, perhaps, but
after day or so they found out that
while this knowledge was essential
to them as basic, 1t was only the be-
ginning.
Gunnery the Big 1hlnq.
The big thing. of course. was gun
merry. This included practical knowl-
edge of ballistics-the science OF the
movement of bodies through the air
BaIlstics is very exact science, ana
in these days Of precision is absolute
" essential for the artilleryman. Re-
duced &c language for the layman, 1t
consists in the knowledge of just how
far a given piece of ordnance Will huri
It's projectilc under all conditions.
Very simple. say you. Yes, under
standard conditions. Every gun When
~ is turned out from the maker Is
known to fire a certain prolectlle L"
, certain range at a certain elevation.
Those data are compiled in tables ana
arc theoretically the same for all guns
~ tho same calibcr and model. These
tables are known as range tables ana
IN. conditions given for the firing OF
nroicctiles for these theoretical ranges
Known AS range table conditions.
Remember this.
Now some VI INC
t,b,e conditions or Assumptions are
that the earth is fiat and does not re-
vo,ve. that the atmospheric condi-
lions SIRE standard: that there Is no
wind: that the gun and target are on
tho same level, and that the action
~ gravity is constant throughout the
trajectory. w.. ,,u. ,ho+
An well and good. We know tna'
our gun. then. will fire its pr'jectile'
LOT rs say 10000 yards, under range
fable conditions. In other words given
thc above conditions, 1t WILL II prop
ncrly laid in direction. hit larger
IN ONO wards away, But unfortunate
10 for Ms the earth is not fiat, our tar
ret is 10000 yards away, ana =" iee'