All this relates to short-distance fighting, but grenades were also used for ranges beyond the reach of the pitcher's arm. Even back in the sixteenth century, the range of the human arm was not great enough to satisfy the combatants and grenadiers used a throwing-implement, something like a shovel, with which the grenade was slung to a greater distance, in much the same way as a lacrosse ball is thrown. Later, grenades were fitted with light, flexible wooden handles and were thrown, handle and all, at the enemy. By this means they could be slung to a considerable distance. Such grenades were used in the recent war, particularly by the Germans. The handle was provided with streamers so as to keep the grenade head-on to the enemy, and it was usually exploded by percussion on striking its target. These long-handled grenades, however, were clumsy and bulky, and the grenadier required a good deal of elbow-room when throwing them. [Illustration: FIG. 3. A rifle grenade fitted to the muzzle of a rifle] A much better plan was to hurl them with the aid of a gun. A rifle made an excellent short-distance mortar. With it grenades could be thrown from three to four hundred yards. The grenade was fastened on a rod which was inserted in the barrel of the rifle and then it was fired out of the gun by the explosion of a blank cartridge. The butt of the rifle was rested on the ground and the rifle was tilted so as to throw the grenade up into the air in the way that a mortar projects its shell. STRIKING A LIGHT The lighting of the grenade fuses with a cigarette did very well for the early tin-can grenades, but the cigarettes were not always handy, particularly in the heat of battle, and something better had to be devised. One scheme was to use a safety-match composition on the end of a fuse. This was covered with waxed paper to protect it from the weather. The grenadier wore an armlet covered with a friction composition such as is used on a safety-match box. Before the grenade was thrown, the waxed paper was stripped off and the fuse was lighted by being scratched on the armlet. In another type the fuse was lighted by the twisting of a cap which scratched a match composition on a friction surface. A safety-pin kept the cap from turning until the grenadier was ready to throw the grenade.