GENERAL NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6647, 20 November 1899, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS.

TESTING NEW WAR MATERIAL. The thoroughness of the German Army is shown by a' report in one of the military papers of the use to which they put a village. The ground had been bought by the Government to enlarge the camp of instruction at Lockstedt. A village was on the site', and the military authorities i^ized on tbis as a good opportunity for testing the efficiency of the new artillery " materiel " with regard to buildings. Two artillery regiments were ordered up to destroy the place. The firing proved the excellent qualities of the iiew German field gun. At the fifth shot several houses were observed to be already burning, and when quick firing commenced, the whole village became a mass of flames in a few minutes. The new " materiel" referred to is a shell meant for use against the interior of shelters, buildings or entrenchments. A new fuse has been fitted to it which enables the shell to pass through without bursting, but causing the greatest destruction inside the covers where the enemy are placed. Still one questions the boast that the Geniwm Field Artillery has made a great advance on foreign artillery, and that up to the present it holds the first place in Europe.