531 
NOTES ON AUSTRIAN ARTILLERY. 
¥ BY 
- LIEUT.-COLONEL DE C. DANIEL, R.A. 
a 
Bane at Gérz last summer I was able, thanks to the courtesy of the 
Commandant of the Artillery, to visit the barracks. I found the 
officers most willing to show me over every part, and to afford me 
any information I wanted. 
The artillery of the garrison consists of three field batteries, under 
a Lieut.-Colonel. In peace time only four guns and a small number of 
wagons are horsed per battery—the number of horses in each being 44. 
The remaining guns and all the ammunition are stored in the citadel, 
whilst the spare carriages are kept in a large gun-shed. These are 
stacked in two tiers, the upper one resting on planks laid along the 
wheels of the lower, thus greatly economising space. In the story 
above is kept the spare harness, amounting to several hundred sets, 
each hung on one peg, except the collars which are stocked according 
to sizes. On mobilization the horses would be paraded below in 
batches, the harness thrown out of the large loft door, and the fitting 
would be carried out in a very short time. 
The stables, one per battery, are long, well ventilated buildings with 
a height at centre of arched roof of 18 feet. The windows with out- 
side wooden shutters to exclude heat and glare. Down the centre is a 
passage 9 feet wide, slightly raised in the middle with a shallow drain 
on each side. ‘The stalls are 10 feet long by 53 wide, containing only 
a corn manger—the hay being placed on the ground ; a far better plan 
than putting it up in racks. Both bails and posts are well protected 
by straw bands for about 3 feet. 
The bedding is first formed by selecting trusses of strong straw 
5 feet long—these are laid flush with the side drains, tightly packed 
down to a thickness of about a foot, and secured by a light batten 
across. On this permanent part, and on the stall beyond, some loose 
straw is scattered at night and removed in the morning. ‘The per- 
manent bedding is allowed to remain 3 or 4 months, except in cases of 
any horse contracting an infectious disease. When I visited the stables 
the bedding had only been laid for a few days—the stables smelt 
particularly sweet and were scrupulously clean, and I was told that 
even after it had been down for months there was no offensive smell. 
A great deal is due to the care taken—an orderly being told off night 
and day to catch the urine in a small bucket on the end of a 4-foot 
handle whenever the horses staled. 
ll. vou, Xxur. 72 
