MILITARY NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1390, 16 March 1912, Page 12

MILITARY NOTES.

£Editkd Dγ Ecbeios.)

SERVICE RIFLE AND APERTURE SIGHT.

OJfIIUNDSEN'S RANGE-FINDER.

The committee of tho Lord's Day 0b» servance Society liavo received tho following commuuicntion from tho Secretary for War in reply to a protest with regard to tho use of the riflo range nt Crowdcn on Sundays:—"Tho Army Council, after full consideration of the question of Sunday riflo shooting in nil its aspects, have ducided that musketry practices may be carried out on Sundays, provided that all attendance at Buch practices is purely voluntary, and that the amenities of tlio locality in which tho practice takes placo are not interfered with. As it does nut appear that tho ride shooting which took place at Crowden infringed theso conditions, tho , Council are Unablo to take any action in. tho mutter." The society has replied expressing "great regret that tho Army Council should have resolved to tako a atop which in tho past history of our country had . had such disastrous results for both Church and State."

, Quito a curious effect has been produced in America by the abolition of the Army canteen, which was put in force some years ago. Tho New \ork correspondent of tho "lancet" states that a letter has been m-epnred by Dr. W. W. Keen, of Philadelphia, himself a total abstainer and non-smoker, and signed bv 275 of tho most prominent practitioners in tho country, praying Congress to restore tho soldiers club. Nothing stronger than laager beer was over sold at the canteen, together with tobacco and certain food delicacies. The profits were applied to the soldiers' mess. Sinco tho abolition of tho canteen, drunkenness, desertions, and disease have been extremely prevalent, and constitute a serious menace to tho Army. The canteen was immediately replaced by a circle of "dives" of the worst description, where adulterated whiskey was sold to tho men, who were then robbed by thoso who haunted these,places.

Tho report of the National Hiflo Association for the last year, issued in anticipation of tho winter general meeting at the Royal United Service Institution on I'pbruary 12, states Hint the amount received in entrance fees, etc., at tho Bisley prizo meeting was .£13,708, against JJH.353 in 1010, and tho amount given in prizes was i' 13,497, against .£15,529 in tho previous year. The most notable addition to the prize list was the (jucen Mary's Prize, for which the Queen presented n gold medal. The competition was very successful, securing 1295 entries. Tho weather during the prizo meeting was exceptionally fine; the average number sleeping in, cnnip, Sell; and tlio ammunition provided by the War Office gave general satisfaction. Tho miniature liislev meeting, held during (he ordinary meeting, was an attractive and popular feature, nnd 'the Rifle Club movement, inaugurated in 1900, continues its satisfactory projrrnss. Up (o the close of last year 2352 rifle clubs had been affiliated to tho association, representing a total membership of 129,9G2. Tho year's additions were U full-range clubs and 255 miniature rango clubs.

Tho Whitehall correspondent of thi "Military Hail," whoso information is usually reliable, slates that a slight concession to the supporters of the aperture, sight has boun made in tho now riflo. The Amoncan plan of utilising a small hole ur "ipeep" in tho sliding bar of the backlight has been ndoptod and tho present "U* shaped ojxm sight-will be done away with. Miniature riflemen, continue* "Mars," would havo preferred to see the aperture sight used by them adopted by tlio authorities, but even tho "peep" hole sight is a sign that the War Oflice and. the Hytho experts: are at last convinced twit aperture sights-are-bettor limn tho open sight. ■Jlucll'-iiiiglir bo written of tho slowness of tho authorities to make available the progress of mechanical Bcienco as applied to weapons, end tho latest departure is clearly duo to tho action of the National Eillo Association in. permitting aperture sights. Tho ncep sight is, however, a compromise, ana an endeavour to fit the rifle to the average man. Some day, perhaps, it will In> appreciated that it is worth while to let the sharpshcotor use any "jims" that improve his capacity to shoot straight and leave the rank and file marksmen, who must always form tlio mass of nn army, to uso a weapon fitted according to their capacity.

Sergeant Oimmindson's notable invention, the "negative angle sight," which, gives tho rifleman, his ranee automatically, has been described for the first time in public at a meeting of experts held at the Institution of Electrical Engineers (writes the London correspondent of tho Melbourne "Ago"). The wastage of rifle iiro under modern war conditions is enormous. Some estimates have put it as high as 95 per cent. This is duo to various conditions, but mainly, of course, to tho difficulty of judging distance. Diecussiiig tho new system of sighting nt tho, meeting referred to, Sir George Greenhill (formerly of tho Ordnance College) said it indicated that ever since the introduction of firearms the method of sighting for tho battlefield had been wrong. Hilbl crto the requisite elevation of eight had , demanded a correct estimate of the range.,' .Tho new negative nniflo sight is construct-; cd in such a way that the set point of; elevation will produce trajectories of (ho! pre-dcterinined height without relation to ; distance. The height of tho trajectories . is determined by tlio height of the ob- , jectivo or target, and may be stated, for convenience, as double (he height of tlio.: latter. Aim is token not at tho target, but at some distance under it, the distance being easily estimated by comparison with the target. For examplo. supposing the target to bo a soldier advancing on foot, his height may bo taken at Sit. On. The trajectory selected for opera- • tion a.?ainst such a target would thereforo bo double this height, say lift, Ihe rillcman aims then, not at the target, but at a point 111 feet boloiv tho ground, which he estimated at a depth equal to tho height of the Unset. It is as if the man target were advancing over a sheet of reflecting ice ami the aim was taken at the head ot his imago inverted by, reflection., J hie fixed amount of negative ami, 5J feet, creates an angle below the ground line, which nutonittlicallv subtracts from tho fixed angle of elevation on the rifle. J. he nearer the target is the greater will bo this subtracting angle, and consequently tho less remaining angle of elevation, in other words the an«lo of elevation Jβ negatived by tho amount of this varying niiKln, which has accordingly been toimed "negative angle," hence the nnmo riven to tho system. It enables one setting of sight to hold over a range up to 700 vards. An .alternative setting for use ruainst «. prone enemy serves lor tlio snap-shooting at shorter ranges up to 400 vanls-tho range at which, according to Lord Roberts, decisive fighting will take place in modern war. It has been claimed, as an advantage of the British military rifle, that a Used sight wires practically over a ranee of, 500 yards, with aim "taken on th« old principle. But during most of the, fighting m Hio South African war, this sight, ns Lord Roberts has pointed out,, caused our men (x> miss infallibly at tho short ranpo with tho small target, 18 inches vertical, of a man lyin- , ? down. , Professor Porta, a j-erognised authoritv on sights and rnnpe finders, support<4 Sir George Greenhill's statoinonls, and declared that the new rifle sight, for distances at which decisive shooting would take place in modern war, surpassed everything of its kind hitherto dovised. Sergeant Ommmidson states that his system may be applM wifh much greater effect to naval ordnance, as the use of loloseope sights and fine medianical appliances admits of much greater negative allowances being made with exncfitmlo. The War Office has virtual y adopted the no* eight, but desura Jo have it further tested with a view o we. iiifr how far it can remove the inherent deficiencies of tho present army rifle.