Saving Steps at Target Practice 



AN electrical target that signals the 

 exact accuracy of the marksman to 

 an indicator on the firing line has been 

 installed on the shooting range of the 

 United States marines .at San Francis- 

 co, Calif. The method of signaling the 

 accuracy of shots which is now employed 

 on nearly all government ranges is not 

 at all satisfactory, as it is difficult to con- 

 vey to the man on the firing line the 

 explicit information of the closeness of 

 his shot to the bull's eye. 



An elaborate system of flag and disc 

 signalling is usually employed. This re- 

 quires, at least on the long distance 

 ranges, the use of field glasses. When 

 the marksman fires a shot at a -target, 

 the "spotter" in the distant pit lowers 

 the target and raises a signal to denote 

 the numerical accuracy. A white disc 

 denotes a bull's eye; a red flag, a miss, 

 with other emblems to denote whether 

 the bullet pierced ring No. 4, 3 or 2. 



This procedure requires a large corps 

 of men both in the pits as spotters, and 

 on the range behind the individual 

 marksman, as scorers. ]\Ioreover, it is 

 confusing, and there is no satisfactory 

 way of signalling whether the bullet 

 which missed the bull's eye went too far 

 to the left or right ; too high, or too low. 



The electrical target, as it is called, 

 corrects a great many of these faults, 

 although its installation cost is consider- 

 ably higher. In appearance, it resembles 

 a number of large ventilating fans su- 

 perimposed one upon the other, each one 

 smaller than the one beneath it. The 

 bull's eye is a thick metal disc, painted 

 black, which extends in front, of the 

 blades. • Steel plate is used in the con- 

 struction. Behind the plates are elec- 

 tric contacts. 



On the firing line is an electric indi- 

 cator, which, in design, is a replica of 

 the target. Each leaf of the target is 

 represented by a miniature electric lamp 

 on the indicator. When a bullet strikes 

 one of the blades of the target, the con- 

 tact made closes an electrical circuit con- 



sisting of batteries, a cable to the in- 

 dicator and one of the lights on the in- 

 dicator. The action is immediate, the 

 marksman knowing instantly not only 

 his score but the exact place on the tar- 

 get where the bullet struck, so that he 

 can adjust his rifle sights to conform 

 with wind and temperature conditions. 

 The target and indicator are marked to 

 resemble a clock face, following a long 

 established practice on rifle ranges. 



A 



The enormous electric flat-iron float has 



taken its place as an important feature of 



all civic parades 



An Electric Flat Iron Float. 



AFLOAT that was conceded to be 

 among the best of the one himdred 

 and seventeen in a recent parade held by 

 the business men of Liberty, N. Y., was 

 a representation of a popular electric 

 iron. It was mounted on a small run- 

 about. 



Following the business men's parade, 

 the Firemen of Liberty held a parade 

 and the "Iron" float was selected for 

 ])articipation as one of the best decorated 

 in the previous e\ent. 



Realizing the advertising advantage, 

 the company which made the float has 

 had it mounted on the roof of the power 

 house where it can be seen from all 

 ])arts of the city. 



The February Popular Science Monthly will be on sale Saturday, January 

 fifteenth (West of Denver on Thursday, January twentieth). 



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