Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1918-06-20

feigned attack on the part Of the roe.
This is inI part due to the German theory tnat
certain percentage Of hits will result from BY s.v-
en- number of shots. The Boche infantrym s q
cept ut short range does not direct ms am q. :
particular adversary. He fires for general g.
Suits 'esas--4's
A German officer, for instance learns that there
are 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 zone for half-hour a certain percenc'
age Of casualties will be inflicted dependent upon
the rapidly of fire, number of marismen and size
Of zone.
An American farmer boy could tell him how er
roneous this theory is. He knows because ex
perience has taught him. Time and time again
he has fired with shotgra into a flock OF ducks
or a covey of grouse on tie wing punched appar-
emily so closely that a miss is hardly possDie.
There are $50 or 200 individual shot In the load,
yet such an attempt nearly always scores COM
plete miss Naturally this percentage OF failures
must be still higher in rifle shooting
An attacking party may be advancing IN what
looks like dense mass. There is to the eye very
little space between the men. "A general results"
shot ought to score a hit In point Of fact, IT
usually does not Spaces between the moving men
are constantly opening Very little of the front
offers vital target. A shot through KNAPP
sack helmet, through baggy breeches, or thick
legg!ngs, even through the eshy part of the body,
will not stop 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 a 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
HpprShfnp
the need of maintaining this advantage, for In his
reports he recommends that the greatest care
be taken in rifle instruction at the environments
since this is the most valuable weapon both IN
offense and defense
Put a company Of crack German troops against
an equal number of ours: 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 first-class rifemen. The result
would not be hard to determine e:
1t is because of the deficiency Of the Germans
4 as rifemcn that their general staff has resorted
SO urgely to the hand grenade. For the same rea-
son the French and British have done the same
Il We read stories of infantrymen chasing troops
quarter Of mile to get close enough to throw
hand grenades at them Well-directed rifle hre
would have been far more effective There are
times at short range when the grenade IS SUI
perior weapon. One tossed into group OF mel
will do more damage than a single rifle bullet
but the supply of grenades man can carry is linn
tied and the distance at which they can be used
EFFECTIVELY is short. Since the French and British
are better shots than the Germans they semi
more rifemen over the top and fewer grenadiers
The British regular army had great reputa
tion for shooting. Most of these had seen serv
ice in Egypt, Africa or other colonies where con
ditions in a degree resemble ours The work these
veterans did in the first battle of Ypres and al
the retreat from Mons where with practically NJ
artillery they held four five times their number
shows what craftsmanship can do for an army.
The Latin instinct is to use the knife. Fol
Il this reason the French and the italian rever
ofte, to the bayonet. Because the German doe:
not like close hand-tohand work he prefers thu
grenade
The Canadian is our born brother at arms. The
conditions that have made us made him. His eff
fectiveness as soldier is due to his individual
initiative and to his skill with the rife What Il
true of him is true of our soldiers. Already the!
show a tendency to stick to the rifle When they
\ get going well the Germans will pray to be pu
against any troops except Americans-and tn
chief reason for this dread will be Samlny's ex
pertness with the rifle