| Show MILITARY SCIENCE simplified bicycles and automatic guns are modern features it seems to be the general opinion among united states army officers that the development of military science in tho immediate future will be in the direction of simplified fortifications greater utilization of tho bicycle and tho ex tended use of some form of automatic gun the modern army engineer sees little use in raising great mounds of earth such as used to be done when hasty and even permanent works were needed the bigger the earthwork tho greater tho mark for the guns A hole in the ground has been the theoretical formula for fort building and now that wo possess fieldpieces field pieces with disappearing carriages it can be practically carried out A gun that is capa 3 blo of rising out of an innocent looking hole pouring forth great volleys of death dealing bullets and then sinking out of sight leaving hardly a trace of its presence and certainly nothing nofiro at is formidable enough to invest the new theory with all needful logic it would bo to an enemy what tho hollow road near waterloo was to the chiras of napoleon the rifle of tho baturo ail bo tho automatic rifle this is tho conclusion of military men not only of this but of other countries general wille a german army expert on tho subject of firearms says decisively that it will alti ulti bo tho rifle in general use by aho armies of tho world its particular point of merit is iti capacity for doing away with the mechanical operation of loading in effect it does its own loading leaving the soldier free to attend to iho business of firing thus concentrating his attention on his opponent and rendering his aim surer As pointed out by general wille tho force of the recoil of the automatic gun as employed for charging and closing the breech and the firer has only to let kofl the shot in order again to load the weapon so that tho number of shots discharged without an effort is precisely tho same as the total contents of the magazine the only comparatively weak part of the automatic gun lies in its springs but as they have been found j after tests mado in austria to withstand the wear and tear of from to 14 discharges this not count for much alvr york sun |
