THE" OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 4, 1913.
Hen
rosit This If ear
SECTION TWO-PART TWO.
IN REVIEW
Iswites Disaster
s IFifuo Drive on west W
: : M ' . : ;
!
i I
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS
'prttit1. 1W18. by th Tribune AmoclatloD, th Nnr Tork Trtbiln)
THE fourth year of the world war for the western nations, the gloomiest
'of "the whole struggle, was ended under conditions which arc jnore favor
able and give more real cause for optimism than any that have existed in the
past 12 months.' We are entering -the fifth year of the contest not with any
rrospect of peace now r even, within the period of another year, but under
circumstance's strikingly recalling the situation after the first battle of the
Marne. The second arid we may believe the final blow of Germany, Jias been
parried, if not broken. If we have not broueht the new Namileionic edifice j
to thecuin of a Waterloo, there are signs that the recent jjefeat may prove!
In soma degree suggestive oi Leirsic.
GENERAL MARCH CONFERS WITH SECRETARY OF WAR BAKER
The i'JO' 'f the fourth yfar of the
Struggkf is measured !y two major
vents :M he collapse of Russia and the
T
the
coming 3 of tine I'nltedl ritates. Whii
the ye.;ir ripened m, e were, all of us, still
hoping ngainHt hyp that the Russian
operations In G alii Ma might prove the
firm s.ign of rfnHtwanr of Russian
republic might repeat the achievement
of the first Krenrh republic, and. In
defending the liberty of the Slav world,
brilliant but foredoomed Brusiloff offen
sive Jn Gallcia faded Into the shameful
and lndlscribntle flight of -the Russian
troops from the field of victory into the
darkness of demoralization ; and disinte- I
gratlon. There was a moment when it !
seemed as if lumbers was again in j
. danger, we read the old names of towns !
and rivers, the scenes of victories by the I
Russians in 1314, but In a few brfet j
hours, the Russian offensive in Galicia :
contribute mightily to the salvation of succumed to the internal (disease of the
western civilization.
But before the campaign had come to
n end Russia had ceased Jo be a mili
tary factor; treason and sViadness had
donei their work and henceforth the dis
integration, within was to be rapid ;
while German troops, released from the
. east, were to carry peril to the very
Russian nation. After August, in point
of fact, Russia was gone. T j
Meantime, In the west the British of
fensive in Flanders pursued Ksunlucky
road to complete failure, jit had been
the conception of Haig and Robertson,
striking north from Ypres and out 6f
i the famous old salient, to "break the
edge of Paris and threaten Kir Douglas German line, cut off the troops on the
Hair's mighty force with the fate which
had been prescribed for the "contempti
ble little irmy" of Field Marshal Sir
John French In the opening days of the
war.
Race for
Supremacy
The world.
particularly the allied j
Belgian seacoast or compel their retreat.
free Ostend and Zeebrugge, abolish the
submarine bases on this coast and, press
ing eastward throw the Germans behind
the Scheldt and "Compel their later re
tirement out of Franca from the Lys
to the Meuse. ;
In this effort Plumer i had made a
brilliant beginning in June at Messines.
wor.n. ai mow in perce.vm tQ dlfl as a result of the Picar(,y
to be the consequences , of the Riinilin deat of h nt ha(J RO han.
collapse. When the full German storm , second Uon had
broke in March of the present year it , ended cog and when Plumer
took the allies by surprise and brought ,,. , , ,, ,v,
n unready coalition within measurable ,.,,, v,V A ,K
, . . . , i weather was already changing and the
alfltance or one oi ins (crfai mudnicm
of human history. But when the March
niow ' " yZ already sure to fall, for German troops
danger wa. perceived. then he r were hastening westward from . Russia,
came a race between America and Ger- doggedly and grimly, the , British
many a race between our yo ,ng roops a Q heJr taflk
hurried across a submarine-infested ... . v , ,w t,,,,.u
ast flower of German - , , . j ., . .
lready changing
golden moment had passed. In point
of fact, the campaign of the British was
ocean, and the
ete'rans thrown upon the allied lines
In offensive after offensive, seeking a
decision before America came.
As early aa June of 1917, when Nl
velle's Alsne offensive failed. It became
. clear that unless America came to the
rescue the war would be lost to our
allies and Germany would win on the
continent something recalling Napo
leon's success against Austria in 1805,
In Flanders rivalled If It : did not pass
that of the Somme the previous year,
while great hopes, excited bi a brief
but brilliant success before Cambrai,
gave way to new developments when
j one more opportunity was sacrificed.
Ypres Again
In Peril
On the map there was proof of German
('f " - cij! " i X , Ur " nl II II
llm Vr.w- . l4y--& r rtj I
I wmmfiwwm j i "s&gS - " U4JW u -1 J
Zz8k rBRm. ki j . II
m
General March, chief .of staff, and Secretary Baker in conference upon receipt of daily communique from General Pershing.
hypnotized by the long period of posi
tional warfare In the west.
Using all of his advantages, the Ger
man seems to have decided upon me
following course : At the outset of the
campaign he planned to throw an enor
mous, force. , a host' as great as he hart
employed at the Marne, against 50 miles
of the British front between th Oise
and the Scarpe, crashing the army
which buckled the British to the French
front and opening a gap between the
British and French armies. Thereafter
he purposed to throw the British -back
upon the channel and the French In
upon Parta and, holding the one with
relatively small forces, containing him
behind the Somme or the Olse. settle
with the other.
In this conception it is still open to
debate whether the German Intended to
strike his second blow against the Brit
ish or the French, to seek Parts or the
channel porta, although I think recent
events have proven that hia Intention
was to contain the British and destroy
the French. But in any event tnls was
the course he chose when the British
had not been exactly contained, not in
the least separated from their French
allies, but subjected to the severest de
feat In British military history and
brought within sight of ruin.
Germany
On Offensive
passed and the allies had been allowed
time-to study the German method and
prepare an answer Ludendorff was abla
in late May to duplicate his March suc
cesses, and. sweeping across the Aisne
and the Vesle. the victorious - German
troops reached the bank of the Marne
once more, after nearly three- years of
absence. Nor was this all ; the British
positions in Plcardy had lacked any "
dominating military strength, but the
French positions at the Alsne were
among the finest on the western front.
And, as at the Somme, Ludendorff had
In a week regained all the ground lost
In the months of the British offensive of
1916 and the German retreat In the
spring of 1917, he now in three days
retook all the ground gained by Nlvelle
In his Ill-starred offensive of 1911. and
In addition drove south between Rhelma
and retook Soissons. French since Sep
tember 12. 1914.
The British defeat In Ficardy waa tha
greatest in British military history ; the
French reverse on the Alsne surpassed
the disaster of the first days of the Ver
dun campaign. As a result of the two
successes the German waa once more
within striking distance of Paris, and
had thrust wedges forward toward the
French capital down the Oise and the
Marne valley a June was only : Just come
and America's forces were still too weak
to exercise any decisive influence. There
remained the relatively restricted-tasks
of eliminating the Comniegne and
, Rheims salient, the one a menace to the
! continuity of his nnorativ front lie-
On March 21 the German struck be- tween the Oise and the Marne, he other
tween the Scarpe and the Olse. 40 di-j a threat to the rear of his front, and
visions against 15, swiftly dstroyed the j then he could undertake the final ven
Fifth British army, swept over its ruins i ture. a drive straight south upon Paris,
to the outskirts of Amiens, opened the I which, even if It failed to take the city,
road down the Oise valley to Paris as j might bring his heavy' artillery within
far as Noyon and took Montdldier and bombarding distance and enable him to
cut the main road from Parts to i destroy the city if it refused to surreh-
Amiens by artillery fire. Only the swift- i der. and with this de-truotion he hoped
est possible work on the part of the t
French rushing to the. aid of their Brit-
Prussia in ln and against Russia in ; retreat. The Tpres salient disappeared
the British troops seized (the whole of
the Passchendaele Ridge j and critics
talked of the advance from; this vantage
ground in the next year to Ghent and
to Lille,- little dreaming that a few days
of battle would then suffice to compel
the surrender of these hills, won by so
much sacrifice and . effort, and that
Ypres Itself was again tp; be in peril,
in pern as deadly as that of October.
19H.
In this autumn the French army was
passing through a period of reorganiza
tion and renaissance. Its defeat in May
had shaken, it to the very foundation.
For a' few brief weeks Its morale was
lower than at any time since the war
begin. To Petaln, who succeeded Ni
velle. was assigned the grim task of re
storing confidence and discipline, while
behind the army the nation, under Cle
menceau, cleaned Its high places of those
who had conspired against victory and
held secret conference with the foe. A
few minor successes above the Alsne
and about Verdun served to prove that
the task was being accomplished, but
for the balance of the campaign of 1917
the French army was limited to the de
fensive, or to operations which were but
local offensives.
JH07. But what was not perceived at
that time waa that it was going to be
a narrow question whether France. Brit
ain and Italy could hold against our
.coming, and, blind to the real facts, our
allies continued to ask of us material
and money rather than men until the
bitter awakening of March transformed
the whole situation.
The Russian revolution and the result
ing anarchy, which led to the demorali
sation of the Russian army. In fact
produced a situation In which France
and Britain could not win the war; It
, A ' ,11. J klnV. Y.
proauccHi a. cuuuiuuji in wuivn li o-
nihility of a German success was
patent, at least, to Germans and neu
trals. It brought back the old problem
of 1914, and In the next 12 months there
waa to be repeated the German effort
cf the Marne campaign. From August,
1917, onward the German problem and
the German hope was to organize a new
Mow which should crush France and
Britain-before America could arrive, as
Germany sought to crush them in 1914
before. Russian operations In the east
should demand attention.
Eastern Front
Abolished
In a word, we went back suddenly to
the conditions of the opening days of
the war. By the end of last year Ger-
and holding it carelessly and with little
thought of danger.
In a few short hours this Italian army
was destroyed in exactly the fashion
Radko Dlmltrieff's army had been de
stroyed at the Dunajec, and with conse
quences to other armies equally griev
ous. One day advancing and seemingly
on the; eve of decisive victory, Cadorna's
armies on the Lower Isonzo and about
Gorizla found themselves on the next
with their rear and flank Imperilled,
condemned to a swift and costly rush
backward, behind the Tagliamento and
then behind the Plave. The invasion of
Austria was over and the Hapsburgs
once more occupied at least a wide sweep
of their old province of Venetia, while
it was the fate of Venice, not of Trieste,
which was now In doubt.
Thanks to an Italian rally and to the
rush of British and French troops to
their stricken ally Venice was saved,
and the retreat ended at the Piave and
not at the Adtge, but Italy had suffered
one of the great defeats of history and
was henceforth condemned for long
months to the defensive. She had, in
fact, been on the edge or ruin : her es
cape had been by a slight margin, and
at the moment' the question of her fu
ture capacity to fight, brilliantly an
swered at the Piaave the other day, was
to give her allies grave concern.
Thus the calendar year and the cam
paign of 1917 ended amid the most
gloomy of all possible circumstances.
British successes in the early months
had been dimmed by the failure, the
bloody failure. In Flanders. The French
army had not merely seen Its hopes
come to nothing at the Aisne, but had,
for the first time, been shaken in its
confidence and was only beginning to
give signs of renewed constancy and ef
ficiency. The Italian army had suffered
one of the great disasters of the war.
The minor efforts in the Balkans had
been without even the smallest material
benefit.
To swell the balance on the wrong
side Russia was sinking to a hapless
derelict and Roumanla was obviously
soon to quit the war. All hope of an
offensive in 1918 had . now to be sur
rendered. ; The allied high command did
not perceive that the defensive which
was its role would be one beset with
difficulties so great that disaster might
impend, but K did recognize that there
was no longer any chance of victory In
1918 nor at any other time until Amer
ica should be able to replace Russia in
the battle line.
As for the German, he could look for
ward to a return to the west now with
his armies victorious In the east ; he
could look forward to superiority in
guns as a result of Russian and Italian
successes and to advantage in numbers
as a result of the suppression of the
Russian and Roumanian fronts. For
him the new year dawned brilliantly.
For his enemies it was the beginning of
a time which they already foresaw was
to be one of grave trial, but how grave
It was to be they could not suspect, and,
not suspecting, failed to provide against.
Superiority
Of Numbers
German strategy for the campaign of
1918 has already been fairly clearly re
vealed upon the battlefield
man had some forty-odd divisions more
than his opponents, exclusive of the
Americans. He had an Interior posi-:
tion, a unified command and a homo- j
geneous army. He had devised a new j
ish allies prevented the separation of
the two armies. The blow was checked
at the moment when further German
progress would have meant separation
and separation approximate ruin.
Rarely has any defeat taken the van
quished more completely by . surprise.
Suddenly the French and British alike
were aroused to the ract that their po
sition was critical, their numbers insuf
ficient and bound to be insufficient.
The Ger- i They had expected to maintain' a - suc-
I cessful defensive until America delib
! erately accomplished her military pro
gram. They saw themselves condemned
to a desperate defensive, while America
feverishly rurhed to France those di
visions without which a Ludendorff vic
tory seemed Inevitable. By April 1,
1918, the allied nations at last knew the
system of attack, which Included the
element of surprise and the use of gas extent of their peril and recognised also
to paralyze the rearward communica
tions of his foes ; he had a new small
knd mobile gun. which made rapid sup
port of swiftly moving infantry waves
possible, and he had generals who were
trained In Eastern warfare and not
French nerves and French spirit would
at last break and the army, after th
civil population, abandon a struggle
which had cost France so much and still
held out the threat of even worse suf
fering without any promise of ultimate
victory'- ;
It may be that this . German success,
which took the kaiser to the Marne, will
prove the high water mark of the pres
ent campaign : it may be that when the
German troops returned to the Marne
they were the advance guards of the
ultimate advance of the Germans n the
war. It is too early to prophesy, but in
any event when this June fighting wu
over Paris was plainly menaced, allied
fortunes were In a desperate state. Ger
man victory, so far as the European
phase was concerned, semed no longer
tmjiossible. At best the possibility of the
loss of Paris and of a retirement to the
south had to be considered.
Fourth Drive
Is Made
The first months of the fourth year
of war saw Italy winning considerable
successes alone the Tunnm ahora
many was free to strive for Paris again ; two vears Itaan soldiers had been
before the campaign of 1918 was well ; struggling to break throng the gigantic
opened the peace of Brest-Lltovsk and . Thermopylae between the Julian Alps
cf Bucharest had elim nated Russia and t and tne Adriatic hy whi(.n, ran th rad
Roumanla abolished the eastern front. t,, Trleste and tne Austrisn apltaI far
giver, to the rman. the mastery of he beyond thf road N Iebh had takpn
Baltic and Black Seas placed the ; more tnan a cent M
kaiser's generals In control of the colos-j larit carnpai(?ri of 1787. B3. October the
r ' I , . J , Prate seemed forced; Austrian recoil was
the eastern flank of a completed mitte- ; Fenera, north and and "
Been IDoingl Sino
i
fr TTS
i . f T;
Supplied W' 1
I -.-.V - v.. -.-.;.v..-.v. - -. I
that at least four months must pass
. - . . . . .. . . ( u 1. r . . ... .
" umwir wune wa over me tiae-naa
By his first attaCK i.udendorff, for ! changed. "Seeking to sweep the French
his had become the master mind In the ; out of the Compiegne region, open to the
German high command, employing the j lower valley of the Aisne, insure the con
method of a brilliant lieutenant. Hutier, tinulty of tho right wing of his oper-
had succeeded where all predecessors ative front between Soissons and Mont-
uropa; the immediate ana apparently
even an eventful menace of Slavdom.
I ne leuion wrmru m nvt won nis failures
age-long name wun ine siavn, nis way
to the Pacific lay open, while he still
commanded the Constantinople bridge
to the nearer east.
When the campaign of 1917 was over
the German could calculate and did cal
culate that he had. w'lth hands free and
resources, concentrated on the western
front, another chance to win the war In
the largest possi-Me sense, to dispose of
aot-
tals. looking southward, saw in Italian
success at least consolation jfor their own
Italy Meets
With Reverse
But in November Italy I suffered her
first great reverse of the war. Her
population and her army, like those of
the French nation, had been corrupted
by enemy propaganda and by defeatist
and pacifist efforts. The. taint of Bol-
France and Britain before America was ; shevism was alreadv beginning to do tt
ready, ana then to negotiate a favorable ; work in Italy as U had in;Russia. Sud
peace with the American foe. j denly. along the Upper Isonzo front, out
The story of the campaign of 1917, of the- mountains about 'iCaporett'e, a
after August 1. 1s briefly told. For our., German army appeared ahd struck "an
allies It is a history replete with mis- Italian army holding the 'tlank of Ca
fortune. In August and September the dorna's main forces to the southward.
William Atherton Do Puy
(Copyright, 191, by Otis Wood. Inc.) "
THE United States is today "in produc-
tion" on its stupendous artillery pro
gram. The classes of guns it is to make
are determined. A thousand factories
have been established to turn them out.
The gauges have been made for quantity
production, taking care of such vital
requirements as that of interchangea
bility. So has a peaceful nation been
cuiivcrira imo a worKsnop ror wars I
in a brief 16 months. So miraculous is I
the transformation that there is a weird j
interest in turning back the calender to
that first of April, 1917, when Ameri
ca still stood on the sidelines.
There were but half a dozen of them, j
gunmen of the U. S. A., technical work
ers in a little office in the war depart-
ment at Washington. They were given
to pouring over diagrams and charts,
figuring ballistics and trajectories. They
were paper men. dealt chiefly in theories
because their government was doing
little in manufacture. Nobody was in
terested in their work because their
minds were full of rifles and
"ATy little girl is Subject to sudden
JL A attacks of stomach and bowel
trouble and Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin al
ways relieves her quickly so she is soon play
ing about as usual. I have used Syrupj Pepsin
for three years and would not be without it
now at any price."
fv.: .i. - 1n&?J2f-sc&tijk, : -:.-:. x.v.
j '
eegani
had failed. He had pierced and broken
an enemy front on an extent of 50 miles
and to a depth of 35. After three years
and a half of war of positions, of stag
nation, of siege and trenches, he had
carried an offensive Into open country
I beyond all defense zones. For the mo
ment, at least. It seemed as If the con
ditions of "warfare of the Marne time
were to be restored and the strupjiie in
trenches was at an end.
Heavy Browning machine gun, one of the "finds" of the war.
Gig'antic
Profo
Is Solved
materially increases accuracy. It also
gives a better look through the peep
hole which makes it easier to find the
target. It is regarded by experts as
being a great advantage over other
rifles.
These improvement? could all be
adapted to the production of the Enfield
In the plants developed by the British
business. The huge contracts from the
British had already paid for those plants
and American manufacture need not
bear that initial expense. American
rifles would cost a third less than had
the British pieces. The adjustments
were made by August. 1917, and produc
tion waa under way. Three months had
been lost but 10 months would have been
required to prepare for quantity pro
duction of Springfields. The ordeal of
the interim with no production had been
distressing but the circumstances were
held to Justify It.
Labor Is
j Secured
aiddier by clearing the French, out of
strong ground and carrying their line
into the open ground south of Senlis,
Ludendorff launched a fourth blow be
tween Montdidier and Noyon. between
the Avre and the Oise. This time thera
was no surprise, no collapse ; the German
machine ground its way forward for a
short distance, cleared th I.Mimv
i hcirhta and some valuable gro"ud along
the Otb. But by the third day it waa
j checked, and Mangln. the deliverer of
Verdun, was striking a counter blow nn
the Gerrran flank, which paralyzed th
offensive Complegne was not taken;
at a staggering cost the German had
gained a little ground, but his fourth
venture had been a failure.
When ludendorff prepared fV th
fifth stroke his Austrian colleague. Bo
revic, struck on the Plave and sought by
a supreme stroke, with the largest and
Quick Move
To Flanders
Checked in Picardy. Ludendorff car
ried his offensive to Flanders and again
achieved swift and substantial victory.
Breaking the allied line south of
Ypres he pushed forward 15 miles to
ward the channel ports, won back all the
lost ground of the Passchendaele cam
paign oi me previous year, iook i.em- j nuouiwr y wnicn naa yet ap-
mel. which looks down upon the rear of i peared In Italy under his command, to
Ypres, and threatened to reduce this re- crush the troops who had been beaten so
stored palient. which had for the Brit- t terribly at the Isonzo six months before,
ish Empire the same significance Verdun I But tn Austrian offensive failed Mis
carried for the French nation. This j mally, a brif advance, a short desperate
greater success was not attained, and a i period of days when Italian counter at
sharp repulse on April 2a closed the '. tacks held up the advance, then floods
Flanders battle, but this second episode an1 nw Italian attacks, and the Au
had served to demonstrate anew the ef- ; tr'ans were driven In disorder across
ficacy of German tactics and the ad- ,ne f'iave. losing a quarter of a million
vantage of German numbers and Interior i ot men. Innumerable guns and having
position. It reopened the question of the "uttered in a few brief days a defeat an
arrival of the kaiser at Calais and em- j destructive to their plans for this year
phasized again the greatness of allied i as Verdun had proved for the Germans
; peril. ! In lSlfi.
i Already American troops were begin- j And now. last of all. checked on the
I nlng to cross the seas in great numbers ; j Olse and at the Complegne salient we
' Foch had succeeded to supreme com-! have seen Ludendorff in recent days
I mand : France and Britain were repair- j launch his fifth offensive, a colossal at
Ing previous errors, but henceforth, as '- tack from the Marne to th- Argonne
he awaited the coming of the Amerl- uter restricted to a local operation to
cans to save a new Waterloo. Foch was break In the Rheims salient and clear
, bound to recall frequently the words of his flank and rear against the day when
Wellington, the Impatient longing for I h -hould reaiim hi. irtv. f- t.i
i v. ri - - - ' " '
One of these guns is discharged and the ; ernment plants, were the chief source of
train is sent skuttling half a mile down supply and were incapable or large pro- tjroblem of labor had been most
cannon i the track to take un the recoil. ' ductlon or quick expansion. To make ..( k,nnn. fn, i.
and this was a nation imbued with the : Let us make all these guns right j gauges Indispensable to large production j Ance. there had been a demand for 40 -ideas
and ideals of peace. In fact they awav and make them In ouantity. Call ! itself was a bigger task than the produc- i
Lion liseu. An inuusir? wumu oc i 13; jn the nation
Huns Reach
The Marne
The third German
blow was in the
or I he should resume his drive
The results of this venture are bHng
written on the map at the present hour."
Its failure was lmrH!ito nr.A -.
: sector complete. Its failure !n all sectors
was complete when Foch launched his
(S
From a letter to Dr. Caldwell written by
it. Jai. F. Smith, 600 Virginia Ave.,
Pittsburg, Pa.
)
Dr. Caldwell's j
Syrup Pepsiki
The Perfect Laxative j
Sold by Druggists Everywhere
50 cts. QZ) $1.00
were made to feel themselves Interlopers,
discordant elements in an otherwise me
lodlus symphony'. They were an Incre
ment left over from th time when
force ruled the world, useless pensioners
of a' benevolent government.
Where War
Breaks
Then in a day war came.
America was called upon
ttself from a dove cote to
Constipation is a condition to be guarded against from
infancy to old age. Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin is as
safe and pleasant for children as it is effective on even
th strongest constitution. A trial bottle can be obtain
ed free of charge by writing to Dr. VV. Jo.
458 Washington St. Monticello, 11L
Caldwell,
Uer night
to convert
an arsenal.
There must be haste, imcomparable
haste.
The musty half dozen men who had
been studying guns ! Let us summons
them. Let us ask them what are the
weapons with which an army must be
equipped . to fight. What is the snap
shot, of a line of battle with its guns
in place?
Half the men must have rifles on
their shoulders, the specialists said, they
are In the front line. Then there are the
machine guns, also sticking out into
No-Man's Land- Machine guns are
vastly important. Then, half a mile or
so back, are the 75's. That means that
the bores are 73 millimeters, or about
three inches. The French 75 Is the
backbone of their fighting ability a
simple, portabje, all-around field piece
in the gunmen of the TJ. S. A. and have
them get busy. Bring those bloodthirsty
killers back from Elba,
Ordnance Expert
Available
So they called. In the first place.; Col
onel John T. Thompson, who had ': been
Instructor of odnance and gunnery at
West Point and who was the gunman
who knew more than any other Ameri
can about the manufacture of that
gat-den variety of rifle with which the
infantryman goes forth with a belt full
of cartridges and a sticker in the end.
His .had been -the guiding hand- in the
development of the Springfield rifle. To
be eftire Colonel Thompson has grown
tired of studying designs aid being
cursed as a madman when he asked
congress for money for rifles, of ad
ministering ordnance plants that j were
not allowed to manufacture, and! had
retired and gone up to help the Reming
ton people make rifles for the British, j
He himself had created a vast plaint at i
Eddystone. He has been getting experi
ence in production. Would he come- back
and become manager for the government
In the production of small arms.
He would. He started with a desk
J .. 1 1 T. . V. 1 J
which backs up the fantry On this , - g an(J amunlton -for
line also ara 4 J r'es- an army of 2.50.000 and production was
lUKtcri . men i n' ' ' - 1 1 ' . 1. . v 1 .7
and six Inch howitzers. The difference
between a rifle and a howitzer is that
the . former points straight at its target
and blazes loose, while the latten -throws
Its missile way up in the air and drops
it on the enemy.
developed ; before adequate Springfields
could be made.
There was ah alternate possibility. A
great capacity for producing rifles had
grown up in the three years of war
through their manufacture for the Brit
ish government. But these plants were
equipped to manufacture the British En
field. It would take 10 months to change
them over to Springfield production.
Should we try to make Springfields or
should we go over to the English gun?
It was a vital question to decide. The
world was burning up. What should
we do?
Rifle Design
Determined
Then a mile or so farther back are
the six inch rifles and six Inch howitzers,
the eight-Inch pieces and even the 9.5
calibers. These are the. busy bees on
such occasions as that f starting a
drive. The Germans use, them for in
stance, in drenching our trenches with
mustard gas before a drive.
;Then finally, way back are the 10
tnch, 12-Lnch, 14-inch,- even bigger guns,
that fife- from' emplacements or .from
arriaarea arranged en railroad trains.
8000 rifles a day. He can increase pro-
l duction as fast as the government wants
! him to if he can but get his orders a 1
1 little inadvance. i
; There was the question, for Instance.
of what sort of' rifle should be made for
American troops. The army was using
the Springfield, a rifle developed by the
United States army, and held to be the
best such rifle in the world. At any rate
representatives of the United States had
gone with it into contests In marksman
ship with 19 nations and had In every
! case come off with the top score. I The
army took pride in the Springfield.
But there were no plants developed for
quantity production- The Rock' Island
arsenal and the Springfield arsenal, gov-
Our gunmen acted. Action is a spec
ialty with: most gunmen. They tried to
do the right thing. No one can ever know
If some other procedure would, have been
better. They said : Go ahead and make
all the Springfields possible at the gov
ernment arsenals. It's a fine shooting
gun. Then use the rifle capacity de
veloped fpr .the British. Make British
Enfields in those great factories at Ed
dystone, pa., Ilion. N. Y.. and Winches
ter. Mass; Put two types of gun in the
army, which is bad, but get rifles and get
them fast. Make this sacrifice on the
altar of speed.
But In jthe Enfields we will make a few
changes.! We know the world is burning
up and ' the Springfield hose Is a bit
weak. We must have high pressure at
the earliest possible moment but we
must also retain the other elements of
maximum efficiency. We will not swal
low the British gun whole. We will de
lay production for months, maybe, but
we will get under the wire in time. We
will add all the good points of the
Springflild to the Enfield.
Then jthe Americans introduced an
other nojvelty in their rifle. They moved
the rear sight back about a foot
brought j it that much nearer the eye.
That places a greater distance between
the nlndj sight and the front sight which
There were such deli
cate problems as that of obtaining barrel
stralghteners. A barrel straightener is
a creature born, a genius, a phenome
non. He looks down a gun barrel and
has the accuracy of eye that picks out
any defect in Its straightness. If there
is a bend some place, indiscernible to the
eye of the ordinary mortal, he sees It. He
taps the barrel with a hammer ever so
lightly. The ' infinitesimal bend is
straightened. There were but seven bar
rel stralghteners in the United States.
There was no need to insert advertise
ments or look for them in the ordinary
ways. The genius with this rare capacity
must be found by other methods, and was
found.
Colonel Thompson has caught up on
rifles and Is not hurrying now. Any
good day the United States is likely to
produce as many rifles as do the British
and French combined. The weekly pro
duction of rifles 10 months after the war
broke out was 10 times as great as that
of the British 10 months after war came
to them. There are today 200 commis
sioned officers -of the gunman -variety
working on rifles alone. Including am
munition, 80,000 workmen are employed
on the task, together with 10.000 woman
workers.
Then there is the matter of the woven
web cartridge belt of the American. It
has many advantages over the leather
belt of the German. When the leather
belt gets wet it draws up and fails to
function properly. The American car
ries 220 rounds of ammunition with him
12 pounds of it. The German soldier
carries but 120- rounds and 30 of these
cartridges are In his knapsack. Obvi
ously the American has more than a 10
per cent advantage In shots up his sleeve,
and a rifle that will operate one third
faster than that of the enemy.
The automatic is another arm which
the American Insists In taking over the
top w-ith him. This has -been an open
country where men - used pistols much
more than - they did in Europe. And
the guns they handled were not of the
' iCooUudad a ffcea SWtaIais Seetioai
larger sense even more terrifying than j ver orable counter attack. In which
the first. Although two months had (Concluded on Pg. Fifteen. Thi. lirtioo)""
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right off with fingers No pain!
!
A
TO
Drop a little Freesone on an aching
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Why wait? Your druggist sells a
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sufficient to rid your feat of every
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jnuctf talked of ether discovery o
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