Magazine (military)

“ With such ideas as these being instilled into the German army and German people year by year, we must not believe that at the first sign of reverse they will forget the teachings of forty years and demand consummation of immediate peace; and we must likewise realize that a revolution in Germany at this time has far less opportunity for success, for there is every probability that the German soldiers would fire upon their own people with the same subservience to their officers that they show in all their military operations. ”

“ I thought a magazine was one of the paper books that Maurice is always reading.’
‘Oh!’ said Claude, laughing, ‘a magazine is a store, and as many different things are stored in those books, they are called magazines. A powder magazine is a store of barrels of gunpowder. Now do you see why it was dangerous to light a fire?’
‘It blows up,’ said Phyllis ”

“ Four battalions—that is, 4,000 men—form a brigade of infantry, which is commanded by a brigadier-general, who is assisted by a brigade-major and a staff-captain.
Foot-soldiers are now armed with what is called a magazine rifle. The short Lee-Enfield, [178] which our infantry carry, can fire a dozen aimed shots in a minute; and if the magazine is opened, the ten cartridges in it can be discharged in less than thirty seconds. With this rifle, which is sighted up to 2,800 yards, a man can hit a large object a mile and a half away, and if he is a good shot, can kill a man at half a mile. ”

“ The anticipation is confidently adventured that a great revolution will be made in warfare by the magazine rifle with its increased range, the machine gun, and the quick-firing field artillery which will speedily be introduced into every service. It does not seem likely that smokeless powder will create any very important change, except in siege operations. On the battlefield neither artillery nor infantry come into action out of sight of the enemy. ”

“ The confusion was little greater than might have occurred under the same circumstances in the best-drilled crew afloat; and the harshest subsequent scrutiny discovered no want of discipline, except that toward the end a few men left their guns, declaring that they were ready to fight but, not to be shot down like sheep. About the magazine the confusion was greatest, for a crowd of men and boys were clamoring for matches, powder-flasks, and loggerheads, while the gunner and his mates were doing their utmost to pass up what was needed; but in reasonable time all wants could have been supplied. ”

“ But, in general, such warfare always necessitates an almost complete dependence on magazine supply. There are few or no “billets with subsistence” or “field dépôts” which are the backbone of the supply system in European warfare, and the regimental and column supply vehicles have generally such difficulty in keeping touch with the advanced dépôt of the line of communication that the striking radius of the army is strictly limited to the position and output of the line of communications. ”

“ After much preliminary work and exhaustive examination in accordance with the requirements of the law, the board appointed to select a magazine rifle of modern type with which to replace the obsolete Springfield rifle of the infantry service completed its labors during the last year, and the work of manufacture is now in progress at the national armory at Springfield. It is confidently expected that by the end of the current year our infantry will be supplied with a weapon equal to that of the most progressive armies of the world. ”

“ It's only as playthings I want the Things in the Back of a magazine.
To me they are toys, lyrics of matter, food of the senses.
The octroi would have no sympathy with my loiterings among their wares. It is a fête of my own, indolent and fanciful, unrecognized in commerce. Any article I may put to its forthright use in actuality becomes an idyllic toy when I find it in the Back of a magazine. The desirable Revolvers are not firearms with which to shoot myself and burglars, but only bijous to have and handle and caress. ”

“ Whenever the magazines or shell-rooms are opened, he is to take every precaution to guard against accident by fire; to examine particularly that all the men stationed in any way in or about the magazine, embracing all stationed within the magazine screen, put on the magazine dress and shoes, and on no account have any thing metallic about them, and that no improper articles are introduced. He will also see that all the articles required for sweeping and removing loose powder are at hand, and that those operations are performed before the magazine is closed. ”

“ This magazine was an enclosure of considerable size, about midway between the Selimgurh Fort and the Cashmere Gate, almost close to the British residency. As a storehouse filled with a greater quantity of guns, gunpowder, and ammunition, than any other place in India, a struggle for its possession between the British and the insurgents became inevitable: hence it arose that the destruction of the magazine was an achievement worthy of record, no less for its vast importance in relation to the ultimate fate of the city, than for the cool heroism that marked its planning and execution. ”

“ Reading descriptions of them would be stale business for people at home who read magazines—the little dirt burrows roofed with withes and leaves, where machine guns' crews squatted behind guns whose muzzles aimed out across the debatable territory; the observation posts, where the lads on duty grumbled at the narrow range of vision provided by the periscopes and much preferred to risk their lives peeping over the parapets; the tiny rifle pits, each harbouring a couple of youngsters; the gun steps, or scarps, on which men squatted to do sniper work and to try for hostile snipers across the way ”

“ A magazine rifle is one that can be fired several times successively without reloading. Like revolvers, the magazine arms repeat their fire, but instead of having several distinct firing chambers, they have but one, from which the empty cartridge cases are automatically extracted by the breech mechanism, for the magazine rifle is necessarily a breech-loader. ”

“ Recruits are taught the motions of loading and firing without cartridges, and preferably without a magazine in the pistol to avoid wear on the magazine lips. Loading and pointing practice should be had at all gaits. ”

“ Infantry. As everybody knows, Infantry is intended to go anywhere and fight anywhere. It is, therefore, equipped for all contingencies that may arise, and is armed with a weapon for use either at a long range or in close hand-to-hand fighting.
The German Infantry is [14] armed with a capital magazine-rifle, with a bore of ·315 inches, which, with a point-blank range of over 300 yards, will carry up to 2,400 yards. [Pg 24] The magazine is detachable, and holds 8 cartridges. The bayonet is a short sword-bayonet, very similar to the new English bayonet. ”

“ Accidents come when least expected."
"True, Hal; but in the chapter of mishaps likely to befall a war-vessel, explosion of the magazine is almost unknown, save in battle-time. What are the conditions now? We are at peace, and I who know the spirit of discipline in the American Navy can tell you that the same careful look-out and the same precautions are taken in everyday life as during a war scare. It is a strict rule of the service that the officer on watch shall inspect the ship at a certain hour at night, and report all lights dowsed, and magazines in a safe condition. ”

“ To use the rifle as a single loader, formerly the magazine had to be detached, when a spring plate in the shoe, which is pushed aside by the insertion of the magazine, starts back into its place and nearly fills the magazine slot, so as to prevent cartridges falling through to the ground when fed into the chamber by hand. ”

“ The magazine is down there,” said I, pointing to a part of the deck that formed the ceiling of a small compartment just forward of the lazarette. “It is entered by that hatch, and, therefore, if the men require ammunition—and it is likely as not they’ll go ashore armed—they must pass through this cabin to get at the magazine. Nothing must be disturbed.”
At this point the lad arrived to prepare our supper. Miss Aurora walked to her berth. I sat upon a locker and watched the youth, as he went round the table furnishing it for the meal. ”

“ Then, indeed, is the blood of the newspaper man stirred by the scenes about him. The decks throb with the rush of hurrying feet as the men hasten to their stations. The gun crews are casting loose the great guns, the murderous rapid-fire cannon and the secondary batteries. Some are hastily donning equipments, others filling sponge-buckets and still others stripping themselves of all superfluous clothing, laying bare their brawny forms. ”

“ France.—The breech mechanism of this rifle (see fig. 15) calls for no special remark. Its bolt is very similar to that of the British rifle. Its special peculiarity is the once popular tube magazine under the fore-end. This box magazine. It is more has many defects as compared with the cumbrous for the same number of cartridges; its feed and cut-off mechanism is very complicated; the balance of the rifle is altered as the magazine empties ”

“ Heavy artillery firing is not by sighting, but by directions given them by mathematical calculation. The [55] guns, even, are streaked with paint to resemble the surrounding country, so that they may be more effectually concealed.
The concealment of artillery magazine stations, or other important stations, has been brought to great perfection. Sometimes a road leading to them is roofed by canvas and painted to resemble the surrounding scenery of rocks or foliage. ”

“ You'll be given ammunition. You or your brother or both, will be put over the magazine, and will shoot anyone, except myself, who approaches it. Anyone, you understand, whether non-commissioned officer or légionnaire. ”

“ On the other hand, the system of requisitions, either for immediate supplies or for secondary magazines, gives far greater velocity and impetuosity to an active army; and if it be so regulated as to repress pillage, and be levied with uniformity and moderation, it may be relied on with safety in well-cultivated countries; but in more barren and less populous districts, an army without magazines, especially in case of a prolonged stay or a forced retreat, will be exposed to great suffering and loss, if not to total destruction. ”

“ The entire Army has now been equipped with the new magazine arms, and wise policy demands that all available public and private resources should be so employed as to provide within a reasonable time a sufficient number to supply the State militia with these modern weapons and provide an ample reserve for any emergency. ”

“ I should almost doubt whether on such occasions the possibility of exclusive "magazine feeding" has ever been entertained. Even smaller opportunities of being acquainted with these conditions are given to the officer in ordinary manoeuvres, and yet it is extremely difficult on purely theoretical lines to become familiar with the machinery for moving and feeding a large army and to master the subject efficiently. ”

“ It was only a few months after the Armistice, and I felt disinclined to return to cub-reporting on a daily newspaper. I elected myself to the loftier-sounding profession of Free-Lance Newspaper Correspondent. I purchased a palm-beach suit and an automatic pistol. I was going south into the land of romance—of tropical moons glimpsed through whispering palm-trees—of tinkling guitars echoing through Moorish patios—of black-eyed señoritas and red-nosed soldiers of fortune—of all the many things beyond the ken of mere cub-reporters. ”

“ In time one was to have risks enough in trenches. It was on such an occasion as this, on another part of the French line, that two correspondents slipped away from the officers conducting them, though their word of honour was given not to do so—which adds another reason for military suspicion of the press. The officers rang up the nearest telephone which connected with the front trenches, the batteries, and regimental and brigade headquarters, to apprehend two men of such-and-such description. ”

“ The committee of war correspondents with Lord Roberts' army, who undertook to conduct, for the first time in history, a full-fledged complete daily newspaper published in an enemy's capital two days after the conquest thereof, are all busy men in their own line of industry. They have constant daily work to do, they are trusted by their own newspapers to devote their whole talents and energies to the interests of the public at home. ”

“ Near the workmen, their comrades, who do the more legitimate duty of the soldier, are standing on their arms, to repel any sortie from the enemy. Their guns, with the burnished barrels [Pg 256] and bayonets glistening in the sun, are stacked in long rows, while the men stand in little groups, or sit under the trees, playing cards, reading letters or newspapers. More than twenty thousand copies of the daily papers of the western cities and New York are sold in the army at ten cents each. The number of letters which go out from the camps in each day's mail is nearly as large. ”

“ When we read of the military being called in to assist the civil power in backing up the press-gang, of parties of soldiers patrolling the streets, and sentries with screwed bayonets placed at every door while the press-gang entered and searched each hole and corner of the dwelling ”

“ During this day not very much was done—some progress was made with the six gun battery—magazines, platforms, etc.
[March] 22nd. Not being aware of a change in the detail I went out at 3 A. M. Found the magazines of No. 2 finished, the small magazines of No. 1 the same. Took charge of large magazine of No. 1—whilst Mason was engaged with [66] those of No. 3. ”