FIELD ARTILLERY. In the contest for military superiority among the great powers of the world, the greatest activity, the heaviest ex pense, and the largest number of experiments are in the direction of the development of field artil lery. The twenty years succeeding the Franco Prussian War saw practically no transformations of field-artillery material. At the end of these two decades the usual method of correcting de fects by remodeling old types had become im practicable. The years 1890-92 marked the end of the old systems (see ARTILLERY , and the be ginning of experiments, culminating in a general rearmament, which at the opening of the twen tieth century has been practically completed. The gun of 1890, a comparatively modern breech loading rifle, was already considered no longer good enough in 1900. The result of this rivalry of nations is the present rapid-fire field gun, a single one of which will deliver more aimed shots in a minute than a whole battery of the old guns. In nearly all of the yearly gadgets of European military powers extraordinarily large credits ap pear for the purchase of new field-artillery ma terial. An idea of the enormous expense incurred may be obtained from the fact that the cost of a single eomplet o gun and earria7e is. in round numbers. $5000. and each military nation re quires v•ral tbenard of these weapons.
The ions governine the establishment of a system of field artillery are briefly as fol lows: The maximum weight to be drawn by the team of four or six horses; say 3500 to 4500 pounds in Europe, for a six-horse team. It is generally agreed that the weight for field artil lery should not be greater than pounds per horse, and the weight for horse artillery 618 pounds per horse; however, these figures are con siderably exceeded in practice. In general terms it may be said that to increase the weight de creases the mobility, hut increases the stability when firing. After having determined the maxi mum weight the problem is to get the greatest rapidity of fire, the highest ballistic power, and the most destructive projectile possible within these limits. Other important considerations closely allied to these are mobility, stability of carriages, accuracy of fire, and many other de tails, of interest only to technical readers. Even with the numerous improvements that have been made in field guns, it has recently been found necessary do have a more effective long-range weapon against troops under cover, in intrenched positions, behind walls, natural irregularities of the terrain, etc. This has brought about the
adoption in different countries of one or more of the following devices for this purpose: the field mortar or howitzer, the torpedo shell, and the use of varying charges in the ordinary field gun.
The standard field gun in all countries is so nearly similar that it is not necessary to describe each one separately. As being one of the most modern and at the same time one of the most powerful weapons of this class, a brief description of the proposed Swiss gun, provisionally adopted in 1901, is here given. This gun was manufac tured by Krupp, and is the result of several years of careful study on the part of the Swiss tech nical commission appointed for the purpose. It is of nickeled steel of 7.5 cm. (about three inches) ealihre, provided with a sight of the Corrodi system. The breech mechanism is a wedge of the Leitwell system. Obturation, as the act of closing the breech of the gun to prevent the escape of gas is termed, is secured by the metal lic cartridge-case; the trigger is a repeater. the firing spring armed only at the instant of fire, and a safety arrangement permits the piece to he without danger while it is loaded. The carriage is a rigid one, with a spring trail spade, provided with a traveling brake. may also be used for a firing brake. In firing the whole piece recoils upon the spade, which re lieves itself by compressing the column of springs, whose extension causes the return of piece to 'battery,' as the position of readiness for firing is technically known. The ammunition consists of shrapnel with metallic cartridge-case. The ea rtridge-ease can be used ten or twelve times; the shrapnel has a double-action fuse made of aluminum, and its effective range is 56o0 meters (over 5750 yards). The limber of the piece and caisson are identical, each carrying -10 pounds: the caisson-body is composed of a single chest carrying 56 ponds.
The armament of the field artillery of the nations of the world varies to a certain extent. with different armies, and is constantly 'hanging with tlie new developments of each sue eyed year. The main features of the equip ment of the more important powers. as as can be determined from the small amount of informa tion allowed to leak out. are given in the sue reeding paragraphs.