The Naval Guns at Ladysmith.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 244, 13 November 1903, Page 4

The Naval Guns at Ladysmith.

AN UNEDIFYING SQUABBLE. The dispute between Rear-Admiral Lambton ami Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Hunter regarding the shooting of the naval guns at Ladysmith is interesting, but not very edifying. General Hunter, in his evidence before the War Commission, made some very disparaging remarks concerning the naval gunnery. "It left everything to be desired," he declared.- "The naval guns were fired from fixed, permanent platforms ; there was no motion in the platform to disconcert the! gunners ; but the practice made with the naval 4.7'8 was—l do not want to tfse too harsh a term—well, it was such' that I offered to take the girls out ©f- tbeschool to come and serve the fjfcmS;. and make as good practice."

Admiral Lambton, when this Por-| t-ion of the evidence was read to him by the War Commission, replied that in his opinion the practice made by the naval guns was toril- 1 liant in the extreme—shot after shot. He pointed out few changes of temperature in the ccrdito made enormous variations in tlie' range, amd he proceeded to give Iws> opinion of General Hunter in lawgwage equally outspopen "Of course, he (Hunter) shows himself to be an extremely ignorant man. He is ® very gallant man, but it is bravei'y and stupidity combined in his case. He talks about a fixed range when the range was always varying. Ther« were several numskulls there, and apparently he was one of them, who had not sufficient intelligence to understand that though the distance was always the same the range was always altering. General Hunter is a very young general, and a great friend of mine—nt least, I thought he was—and a very brilliant man ; but Ido not suppose he has ever seen a big gun before, and he certainly knows nothing whatever about the shooting—th« firing. In this conflict of opinion it is of interest to read what Sir George White had to' say upon the subject before the War Commission. He Btoted that the naval guns were of "veify great assistance" in keeping the enemy's guns at a greater distance from Ladysmith than they would otherwise have been. The service was of the utmost importance to the beleagured city. He considered that the fire of 4.7 naval quick-firers was; accurate and well maintained all through the siege, and both the 4.7 and the 12-pounder guns of the nary outranged the naval military guns by 100 per cent. Sir George .also stated that at no time during the siege was his attention called to any inaccurate shooting on the part of the naval 4.7 guns. Since the publication of the evidence Admiral Lambton has written to the Admiralty demanding an unreserved apology from General Hunter, and in the meanwhile has asked the Press to refrain from further comment. General Hunter has re* plied with- a statement to the effect that what he has said he adheres to. There for the present the matter rests, and as 1 the general leaves for India almost immediately perhaps that will be the end of it. Whatever may be the real truth regarding the naval shooting, it will be generally agreed that General Hunter would have been better advised had he couched his indictment in less offensive language. It is sincerely to be hoped that the publication of the War Commission's evidence will lead to no more unseemly squabbles of the kind.