140 OKIE HAMPTON EXPERIENCES, 1892. 
luck, therefore the credits for Fire Discipline should be considerably 
increased.” 
The difficulty of securing for each practice camp the services of an 
umpire accustomed to Field Artillery work should not be great. But 
it must be remembered that comparison of awards for Fire Discipline 
only holds good for batteries of the same group. The system on 
which marks for Fire Discipline were awarded at Okehampton was as 
follows:— 
The Commandant, as Chief Umpire, stood near the Battery Com¬ 
mander, while one of the Staff remained near the other flank, and both 
took notes during the practice. After the three series had been fired 
they met to decide whether the battery was first, second, or third class, 
considering its Fire Discipline, system and style, the capacity for com¬ 
mand shown by the commander, and the general efficiency of all ranks 
of the battery. Taking a perfect battery as worth 100, marks were 
deducted for failures in any of the above respects, and from the figure 
of merit thus obtained, marks were deducted for any lapses in drill and 
discipline that may have been noticed during practice. The result was 
the Fire Discipline award. The marks for Fire Discipline were always 
awarded before the record of hits was known. The reason for that is 
obvious. If the record of hits comes in, and one battery is found to 
be one short of the qualifying number for a certain prize there might 
be a temptation to give them another mark for Fire Discipline. 
Equipment. 
There is not much that is new to be said about the equipment. The 
sights are still a source of trouble to many, and the wave of fashion 
seems for a time to have set against the Scott's Sight. Perhaps the 
necessity of training 18 layers militated against its use. Whatever the 
cause, most of the practice was done with the open sights, and of the 
four batteries who are at the top of the Okehampton competitive 
group, three never used Scott's sight at all in the competition, and the 
other used it in one series only. 
There seems no reason why the deflection scale of the Scott's sight 
should not be graduated as on the tangent sight. The different read¬ 
ing is a frequent source of error. 
When tangent sights have been long in use, there seems to be more 
difficulty in clamping them securely, and they are very apt to shift 
unless placed in the socket with care. That was particularly brought 
to notice in the case of Major Curling's battery. His guns have pro¬ 
bably had more use than any other 12-prs. in the service ; and, although 
I think his men had been trained with as much care as men could be, 
he found that the sights did shift a good deal, and this was also found 
at the examination in laying. Some method of notching the gradua¬ 
tions might perhaps be arranged which would ensure an accurate and 
secure setting. 
Several methods of carrying the portable magazines have been sug¬ 
gested and tried. The Horse Artillery batteries had a platform fitted 
on the axletree, which answered very well. There is no doubt that as 
now carried they are a source of great discomfort and some danger to 
