e the other, to a height of almost 180 feet
above the sea level, the heavy guns and pieces being placed below and
the lighter ordnance in the upper tiers. The guns range from 17.7-inch
caliber down to 8.2-inch. Germany calls Helgoland the "fortress
impregnable," and the developments of the war seem to indicate that the
description fits.

SMALL GUNS OF VARIED INTERESTS.

In the smaller guns used in warfare there are many varieties of
interest. The United States prior to and with their entrance into war,
particularly during the period of the trouble along the Mexican border,
experimented with almost every known make of rapid fire machine and
field gun, and there was for a time much criticism because the
government did not adopt for army use the Lewis gun, which was adopted
by some of the foreign countries.

The German army rifle carried by all the infantry is of the Mauser type,
first introduced in 1888 and gradually improved until 1898. The weapon,
because of the adoption of the improved model in 1898, has come to be
known as the "ninety-eight gun." It is a quick-firing weapon, from which
20 to 30 shots a minute may be projected by the soldier. The gun is
universally used and has a caliber of 7.9 millimeters, which provides
for the use of the smallest bullet which will work sufficient injury on
the enemy to make its use profitable.

Experience in the Russian-Japanese war proved to the military
authorities that the use of a smaller caliber was not advisable. It was
found that the smaller bullet could, and in many cases did, pass through
a man's body without actually rendering him useless, and that in a large
percentage of cases--more than one-third--the wounded were back with
their troops within a few months.

In the United States all of the forces are now provided with standard
arms or weapons. The army, the Marine Corps and the organized militia of
the States, absorbed into the body proper of national troops, have the
same firearms--the same service rifles, the same machine guns and field
guns and the same automatic pistols. One kind of cartridge--containing a
cylindro-conical bullet of copper-nickel, with a lead core--serves for
all rifles and for the machine guns as well.

OLD FLINTLOCK IN WAR.

Many people, perhaps, will be surprised to learn that the Mexican war
was fought mainly with the antiquated flintlock muskets. When the
trigger was pulled the flint came down hard upon a piece of steel, and
the re