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Var Department Considers
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BT RENE BACHE.
WE ARE to have "tanks" of our
own. War Department experts
are already contemplating the
construction of a few experimental
ones as soon as more definite informa
tion is obtained in regard to their
design.
For quite a" while past our military
authorities have been experimenting
with caterpillar tractors of great size
tor dragging huge loads over territory
impossible for wheeled vehicles. Now,
in view of their recent adaptation for
fighting purposes on the British front
along the Somme, the experts are figur
ing on the best method of providing
them with guns and armor.
Caterpillar tractors, it appears, are
to be employed for transporting great
guns from point to point along our
eeacoasts, in places where there are
Tio permanent fortifications. On the
fortified island of Oahu, in the Ha
waiian Archipelago, a regiment of
"horseless artillery" (the first of its
kind in the world) is to employ these
contrivances in lieu of animals. But
they will not be armored.
Take a big machine of this descrip
tion; house it in with steel plates
thick enough to be proof against rifle
bullets and shrapnel, and you have
Just such a "walking fort" as the recent
dispatches from the' Somme front pic
ture. If (as reported) each "tank" is
large enough to require four tractors
to carry it, the affair might well be
called a "monster."
One should realize that the crawling
mechanism, by which one of these ve
hicles progresses, is not in the ieast
like an arrangement of wheels. It is
a pair of endless belts, running the
entire length of the car, and engaging
with the ground by steel feet in such
fashion as strongly to resemble the
walking of a caterpillar.
The Germans are sure to Imitate
them, and before long doubtless we
shall read of fights in which the "land
dreadnoughts" of caterpillar pattern
are engaged against one another.
Meanwhile it Is to the British an Im
portant advantage to be first in the
flold with this novel Instrument of
warfare Just as was the case with
poison gas, when the Germans utilized
it as a surprise at Tpres. Our Army
officers detailed as military observers
with the British forces will promptly
furnish the War Department with de
scriptive details of the "monsters"
construction, and the Ordnance Bu
reau will set about the business of
copying them, with improvements.
The mode of locomotion employed by
the tanks has a suggestion of weird
ness. They are described as moving
reptile-fashion not on wheels, but as
If crawling on their bellies. As a mat
. ter of fact, they do move on wheels.
How else (when one comes to think of
it) could they progress? But the
wheels odd though it .may seem do
not touch the ground.
No imaginable wheels (as ordinarily
employed) could enable a vehicle to
move at will over an area torn up by
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shell fire. Picture to yourself a belt
of territory thrown Into almost vol
canic .confusion, with mine craters 30
feet deep here and there, and Inter
rupted at frequent intervals by
trenches. But (as the news dispatches
say) the "tank" straddles the trenches:
mine craters are no obstacle to it: It
knocks down and passes clean through
substantial buildings in its path: It will
even traverse a wood, uprooting such
trees as are not broken out of the
way by its weight and momentum.
It is described as "waddling along."
its appearance and mode of progress
suggesting a .monstrous prehistoric
reptile. So, indeed, might a 20-ton
diplodocus or some other huge dino
saurian have moved, ages ago a crea
ture likewise clad in armor plates,
though unprovided (unlike the new
machine of war) with weapons of of
fense. Some observers have likened it
to a gigantic toad. Straddling a trench,
it directs through the latter an enfi
lading fire, exterminating Its occu
pants. Squatting upon a "dugout" in
the path of following infantry, it deals
with the underground stronghold as
if it were a wasp nest, wiping put its
defenders.
To complete its destructive work. It
is said to employ a supplementary
weapon, "of which no account (say the
dispatches, censored by British author
ity) may yet discreetly be given." Is
it possible that a hose, extruded from
the "tank," Is thrust into trench or
dugout, emitting a stream of nolsor
gas Into the enemy's defensive refuge?
No means of destroying human life
seems to be too horrible to use nowa
days, when science is employing all the
resources of higher knowledge for this
ruthless purpose.
The British Prime Minister, Mr. As
quith, gives credit for the idea, of the
"tanks" to Winston Churchill. Mr.
Churchill is a man in whom the Im
aginative faculty is strongly developed;
but in all likelihood. If he were ques
tioned on the subject, he would con
fess that his conception had its origin
in a fictional suggestion made by the
ingenious novelist, H. G. Wells, who,
in one of his stories, gives an account
of an armored land-ship so constructed
as to crawl over and through the most
difficult obstacles.
Jules Verne's undersea boat (fully
described in a book published nearly
half a century ago) Is realized today,
without any very essential modifica
tion,, in the submarine. Now we have
a later fictional suggestion reproduced
in concrete and practical form by the
armored engine of war that crawls
over the land. Who will say that the
Imaginative writer has not his func
tion as an originator of useful ideas?
This adaptation of the caterpillar
tractor for war purposes, however. Is
a response to fighting necessity. The
machine itself is an American inven
tion. It has been used for a number
of years past in Death Valley, Cal.
(where, of course, there are no roads),
for hauling borax, It is employed in
THE ' SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 8, 1910.
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some of our National forests to e!arry
heavy loads over otherwise Impassa
ble territory. Many such tractors, made
In Peoria, 111., were in the possession
of the Germans at the outset of the
war. They were utilized to drag the
great guns that besieged and destroyed
the fortresses of Liegfte and Namur ear
ly In the conflict. Hundreds of them
were turned to valuable account by the
Austrians and Germans during their
Invasion of Russia In 1915 to pull heavy
loads of supplies over roads so deep
in mud that no wheels could have ac
complished the purpose.
In view of what has here been said,
it will be fairly well understood what
the "walking forts" newly arrived on
the British front really are. House
the caterpillar . machine In with thick
armor plates, pierced for machine guns,
to defend it on all sides, and you have
a formidable war car. The tractor
alone, without armor, weighs 20 tons
and is driven by an engine of 125 horse
power. But if (as reported) the su
perstructure of each tank is mounted
on four such tractors, representing a
total of 80 tons (not counting armor)
and 500 horsepower, the new fighting
apparatus is a monster indeed.
The man in armor of - the. middle
ages was proof against attack by the
weapons of the rank and file of his
adversaries. In like manner the rank
and file of the Germans are helpless
against the armored caterpillar car,
at least temporarily. But In the strug
gle between defense and offense In
war the latter always wins in the long
run, and so it may be taken for granted
that an effective means of fighting
the "land dreadnaughts" (If only, by
others like them) will soon be found.
In the meantime they may accomplish
much. One reads In the news dispatches
of their effective use In the capture of
fortified villages walking over barri
cades "like elephants," crushing
through the walls of houses and spit
ting fire while sitting on a heap of
ruins. They are described as hunting
out machine guns (the most dreaded
engines of destruction to advancing infantry)-
and "smashing them under
their ribs." They are even spoken of
as "amfclfng in" on a German battery
of field guns and killing those of the
gunners who had not time to run
away. . ,
"Gott in Hlmmel!" said the Germans.
"How can we fight such things as
those?" There was a suggestion of
the supernatural about the armored
caterpillars. Machine guns were turned
loose on them, but "the bullets were
only blue sparks on the armor." The
walking forts are, said to be proof
against bombs, nothing short of a pro
jectile from a good-sized cannon will
seriously damage one of these "mon
sters." They crawl along in an "uncanny"
way. being -able, apparently, to go
ahead over almost anything. It
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wall Is in the path of one of them, It
"leans up against" the obstacle and the
latter collapses. Perhaps a well-built
stone wall might be too strong to
smash, but in that case the armored
"dinosaur" simply climbs over it. The
mechanism seems inhuman, almost su-
pernatural: yet it captures prisoners
STATE MUSEUM HERE WILL HAVE
EVERY SPECIES OF OREGON BIRD
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TWO CASES OF IPLAXD, SHORE,
THE State Fish and Game Commis
sion believes that a museum of
natural history Is one cf the best
educational mediums. To that belief
has been added action, and already the
windows of the Commission on the
ground floor of the Oregon building
are being filled with showcases of Ore
gon birds and animals. "
The specimens are not merely, gatb.
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and treats them mercifully. "Come in-
side." says a fnysterious voice. A hole
opens unexpectedly, a hand Is extended
and the quaking captive is dragged into
safety. .
The puzzle of the monster's loco-
motion is solved when one understands
that it crawls along on two endless
WADING AND WATER MRDS, SnOWIXO ACTUAL
WHICH TUG BIRDS LIVE,
ered from all parts of the state and
stuffed and put on exhibition at the
Commission's headquarters. The habi
tat of the bird or animal is repro
duced in. faithful detail, so that the
school child who sees the exhibit will
comprehend the conditions and en
vironment under which that bird or
animal lives.
number of showcases already have
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belts of short sections of rail. Jointed,
and which operates over a cogged
mechanism that lays the sections down
as the tractor moves ahead and picks
them up again behind, so that, as one
might say, the car runs continuously on
a self-laid track. The body of the car
Is supported by wheeled trucks some-
CONDITIONS V.NDEK
been prepared, and in them are speci
mens of many shore, wading, marsh
and upland hire's, and the smaller ani
mals. Officials of both the game and bi
ology divisions of the Commission have
had a hand in the preparation of these
exhibits.
William L. Finley. State Biologist,
wishes to expand the exhibits until
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what llko small railroad trucks. Tha
wheels. however, never touch the.
ground, but run on the rail sections.
Imagine a, vehicle that runs on two
such endless belts (in lieu of wheels),
each of them being the full lensth of
the car. Unlike wheels, the belts (be
Ini? composed of short sections) re
able to adapt themselves to any con
figuration of ground they may pass
over. Owing to the length of the belts
the car Is able to straddle a trench;
or it may in its progress waddle la
and out of mine craters and other ma
jor Irregularities of the terrain.
Of such character, with armor added
and an armament of machine gunaw Is
the new military engine employed by
the British forces on the Somme front
It la manifestly a. formidable mechan
ism of war. and presumably It is des
tined in the future to play an Impor
tant part in military operations not
only in the present conflict, but In
some international bickerings where
we ourselves will be obliged to participate.
servlc and Servility.
y Chicago Tribune.
When Anthony Trollope visited the
United States during the Civil War he
noted, as almost all foreigners have
done, the'rudeness of the natives. Por
ters accepted his luggage with bad
grace, and though they were paid what
they asked for their services, courtesy
did not go with them. Even conductors
on the trains expressed Irritation over
the discharge of their duty. Other
writers from foreign countries have
made the same observation without the
kindly analysis which Trollope ven
tured. He said that we were a people
drunk with liberty, a land where no
man dared do a service even for society
without being churlish about It- Uncle
Sam was wearing liberty and equality
like a chip on his shoulder.
Mr. Trollope would probably find less
to criticise on that score now. One may
find recrudescences of this studied dis
courtesy In the newer parts of the coun
try, but servility and courtesy have dis
associated themselves in the minds of
most of us. Perhaps business has put
a premium on politeness. But whether
the reason be commercial or cultural.
American churlishness is vanishing.
every species of bird and animal liv
ing within the state Is represented la
the cases.
T. G. Pearson, executive officer of
the National Association of Audubon
Societies, who recently lectured In
Portland, emphasised the fact that
such a museum should be collected at
once, for many of the species are dis
appearing and in a few years will per
haps be irretrievably lost.
Oregon has some of the largest bird
reservations in the United States. Mr.
Finley declares, and the bringing of
that data to the minds of the public In
a popular, as well as a scientific and
educational way. will be of lasting
benefit to the whole country as well as
to the state.
Three Arch Rock Is the largest habi
tat of petrel, cormorants, etc, along
the entire Pacific Coast.
Breeding; Plaeea Neted-
Th bird colonies In Klamath and
Malheur Lakes have the reputation of
being among the largest breeding
places In the country.
These Mr. Finley would have repro
duced, so that the public school teacher
could take her class to the exhibit
rooms for study.
R. Bruce Horsfall. who Is doing sci
entific research work for the Commis
sion, has prepared the exhibits, and
will continue In that capacity. He Is
reputed to be among the best qualified
men In the United States.
Mr. Finley has contemplated other
educational work for the coming Fall.
He will lecture on the advantages of
teachers imparting the natural history
of the state to their pupils. He also
has arranged to have exhibits main
tained at most of the county fairs this
Fall, under the direction of the State
Fish and Game Commission.
Effeet ef Noise Flak.
Popular Science Monthly.
Contrary to general opinion, a num
ber of motorboats cruising about a
harbor with more or less noisy engines
have no appreciable effect upon the fish
in nearby waters. It has long been
thought, particularly by fishermen, that
the presence of a noisy motorboat
would drive the fish away. Exhaustive
experiments recently conducted by the
Bureau of Fisheries prove this theory
to be Incorrect. In testing the effect
of motorboat noises on fish a number
of young scup, known to be sensitive
to sounds,were placed In a large wood
en cage. This cage was fastened In
quiet water at the end of a wharf and
a motorboat with a very noisy engine
was run at varying distances past the
cage. At no time did the fishes ap
pear to be disturbed by the noise, ex
cept when the splash from the boat hit
the cage. Then the scup generally
would dive to the bottom of the recep
tacle. Another test was made with
baited lines. When a number of fish,
had commmenced to nibble at the bait
a motorboat was backed up under its
own power until its stern was directly
over the lines. The fish continued to
nibble until driven off by the back-
nasa front the propeller.
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